Duke of Wellington
Encyclopedia
The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington
in Somerset
, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom
. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
(1769–1852), the noted Irish
-born career British Army
officer and statesman, and unqualified references to the Duke of Wellington almost always refer to him. He is most famous for, together with Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
, defeating Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo
in Brabant
(now Walloon Brabant
province, Belgium
). The Wellesley family is, in origin, an Anglo-Irish
aristocratic dynasty.
(1760 – but only inherited by the Dukes of Wellington in 1863), Earl of Wellington (1812), Viscount Wellesley (1760 – inherited in 1863), Viscount Wellington (1809), Baron Mornington (1746 – also inherited in 1863), and Baron Douro (1809). The Viscountcy of Wellesley and the Barony and Earldom of Mornington are in the Peerage of Ireland
; the rest are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
.
Apart from the British titles the Dukes of Wellington also holds the titles of Prince of Waterloo
(Prins van Waterloo, 1815) of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo, 1812) of the Kingdom of Spain, and Duke of the Victory
(Duque da Vitória, 1812), with the subsidiary titles Marquis of Torres Vedras (Marquês de Torres Vedras, 1812) and Count of Vimeiro (Conde de Vimeiro, 1811) of the Kingdom of Portugal
. These were granted to the first Duke as victory title
s for his distinguished services as victorious commanding general in the Peninsular War
(in Spain and Portugal) and at the Battle of Waterloo
(in what is now Belgium
).
The family seat is Stratfield Saye House
, near Basingstoke
, Hampshire
. Apsley House
, in London
, is now owned by English Heritage
, although the family retain an apartment there.
Wellington, Somerset
Wellington is a small industrial town in rural Somerset, England, situated south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(1769–1852), the noted Irish
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
-born career British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer and statesman, and unqualified references to the Duke of Wellington almost always refer to him. He is most famous for, together with Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
, defeating Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
in Brabant
Province of Brabant
Brabant was a province of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815 until 1830 and a province of Belgium from 1830 until 1995, when it was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.-United Kingdom of the...
(now Walloon Brabant
Walloon Brabant
Walloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...
province, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
). The Wellesley family is, in origin, an Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
aristocratic dynasty.
History
The titles of Duke of Wellington and Marquess Douro were bestowed upon Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, on 11 May 1814. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Wellington are: Marquess of Wellington (1812), Marquess Douro (1814), Earl of MorningtonEarl of Mornington
Earl of Mornington is a title in the Peerage of Ireland, since 1863 a subsidiary title of the dukedom of Wellington. It was created in 1760 for the Anglo-Irish politician and composer Garret Wellesley, 2nd Baron Mornington. He was made Viscount Wellesley, of Dangan Castle in the County of Meath, at...
(1760 – but only inherited by the Dukes of Wellington in 1863), Earl of Wellington (1812), Viscount Wellesley (1760 – inherited in 1863), Viscount Wellington (1809), Baron Mornington (1746 – also inherited in 1863), and Baron Douro (1809). The Viscountcy of Wellesley and the Barony and Earldom of Mornington are in the Peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
; the rest are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
.
Apart from the British titles the Dukes of Wellington also holds the titles of Prince of Waterloo
Prince of Waterloo
Prince of Waterloo is one of the highest-ranking Dutch titles of nobility, retained by the Duke of Wellington.The title was given by King William I of the Netherlands, of the then recently united Low Countries, to Field Marshal The 1st Duke of Wellington as a victory title in recognition of...
(Prins van Waterloo, 1815) of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo, 1812) of the Kingdom of Spain, and Duke of the Victory
Duque da Vitória
Duque da Vitória is a Portuguese title of nobility retained by the Duke of Wellington.The title was created by Prince Regent John of Portugal on 18 December 1812 to honour the British General Arthur Wellesley, who was the general commander of the armies that eventually defeated the troops of...
(Duque da Vitória, 1812), with the subsidiary titles Marquis of Torres Vedras (Marquês de Torres Vedras, 1812) and Count of Vimeiro (Conde de Vimeiro, 1811) of the Kingdom of Portugal
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
. These were granted to the first Duke as victory title
Victory title
A victory title is an honorific title adopted by a successful military commander to commemorate his defeat of an enemy nation. This practice was first used by Ancient Rome and is still most commonly associated with the Romans, but it has also been adopted as a practice by many modern empires,...
s for his distinguished services as victorious commanding general in the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
(in Spain and Portugal) and at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
(in what is now Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
).
The family seat is Stratfield Saye House
Stratfield Saye House
Stratfield Saye House is a large stately home at Stratfield Saye in the north-east of the English county of Hampshire. It has been the home of the Dukes of Wellington since 1817.-Early history:...
, near Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. Apsley House
Apsley House
Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, is the former London residence of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic interchange and Wellington Arch...
, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, is now owned by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, although the family retain an apartment there.
Dukes of Wellington (1814)
- Other titles: Prince of Waterloo (Netherlands, 1815), Duke of the Victory (Portugal, 1812), Marquis of Torres Vedras (Port., 1812), Marquess of Wellington (UK 1812), Marquess of Douro (UK 1814), Count of Vimeiro (Port., 1811), Earl of Wellington (UK 1812), Viscount Wellington, of Talavera and of Wellington and Baron Douro, of Wellesley in the county of Somerset (UK 1809)
- Other titles (1st–6th Dukes): Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Spain, 1812)
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(1769–1852), "The Iron Duke", military commander and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, third son of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of MorningtonGarret Wesley, 1st Earl of MorningtonGarret Colley Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington was an Anglo-Irish politician and composer, best known today for fathering several distinguished British military commanders and politicians.-Life:...
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
- Other titles (2nd Duke onwards): Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley, of Dangan Castle (Ireland, 1760) and Baron of Mornington (Ireland, 1746)
- Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of WellingtonLieutenant-General Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington KG, PC , styled Lord Douro between 1812 and 1814 and Marquess of Douro between 1814 and 1852, was a British soldier and politician...
(1807–1884), eldest son of the 1st Duke, died without issue - Henry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of WellingtonHenry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of WellingtonHenry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of Wellington was the son of Lord Charles Wellesley and grandson of the 1st Duke of Wellington....
(1846–1900), second son of Major-General Lord Charles WellesleyLord Charles WellesleyMajor-General Lord Charles Wellesley was a British politician, soldier and courtier. He was the second son of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and Catherine Pakenham. He married Augusta Pierrepont, daughter of Henry Pierrepont, on 9 July 1844...
, himself second and youngest son of the 1st Duke, died without issue - Arthur Charles Wellesley, 4th Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 4th Duke of WellingtonArthur Charles Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington, KG, GCVO, GCTE, DL was a member of the well-known Wellesley family. He joined the military and served in the Household Division...
(1849–1934), third and youngest son of Major-General Lord Charles Wellesley - Arthur Charles Wellesley, 5th Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 5th Duke of WellingtonArthur Charles Wellesley, 5th Duke of Wellington was the son of Arthur Charles Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington, and Kathleen Bulkeley Williams....
(1876–1941), eldest son of the 4th Duke - Henry Valerian George Wellesley, 6th Duke of WellingtonHenry Wellesley, 6th Duke of WellingtonHenry Valerian George Wellesley, 6th Duke of Wellington was the son of Arthur Charles Wellesley, 5th Duke of Wellington and the Hon. Lilian Maud Glean Coats, daughter of Lord Glentaner. He was styled the Earl of Mornington between 1912 and 1934 and Marquess of Douro between 1934 and 1941...
(1912–43), only son of the 5th Duke, died without issue
- Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington
- Other titles (7th Dukes): Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Esp, 1812, held 1949–1968)
- Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of WellingtonGerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of WellingtonGerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, KG , styled Lord Gerald Wellesley between 1900 and 1943, was a British diplomat, soldier, and architect....
(1885–1972), third son of the 4th Duke
- Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington
- Other titles (7th & 8th Dukes): Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Esp, 1812, held from 1949–2010)
- Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of WellingtonArthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of WellingtonBrigadier Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, , styled Marquess Douro between 1943 and 1972, is a senior British peer and a retired Brigadier in the British Army...
(b. 1915), only son of the 7th Duke- Heir apparentHeir apparentAn heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
: Arthur Charles Valerian Wellesley, Marquess of Douro (b. 1945), eldest son of the 8th Duke- His heir apparent: Arthur Gerald Wellesley, Earl of MorningtonArthur Wellesley, Earl of MorningtonArthur Gerald Wellesley, Earl of Mornington , is the son of Charles Valerian Wellesley, Marquess of Douro, and after his father heir to the Dukedom of Wellington...
(b. 1978), eldest son of Lord Douro- His heir apparent: Arthur Darcy Wellesley, Viscount Wellesley (b. 2010), only son of Lord Mornington
- His heir apparent: Arthur Gerald Wellesley, Earl of Mornington
- Heir apparent
- Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington
Title succession
Line of succession
- Arthur Charles Valerian Wellesley, Marquess of Douro (b. 1945) (eldest son of the 8th Duke)
- Arthur Gerald Wellesley, Earl of MorningtonArthur Wellesley, Earl of MorningtonArthur Gerald Wellesley, Earl of Mornington , is the son of Charles Valerian Wellesley, Marquess of Douro, and after his father heir to the Dukedom of Wellington...
(b. 1978) (eldest son of Lord Douro) - Arthur Darcy Wellesley, Viscount Wellesley (b. 2010) (only son of Lord Mornington)
- Lord Frederick Charles Wellesley (b. 1992) (second and youngest son of Lord Douro)
- Lord Richard Gerald Wellesley (b. 1949) (second son of the 8th Duke)
- Lord John Henry Wellesley (b. 1954) (third son of the 8th Duke)
- Gerald Valerian Wellesley (b. 1981) (only son of Lord John)
- Lord James Christopher Douglas Wellesley (b. 1965) (fourth and youngest son of the 8th Duke)
- Oliver Valerian Wellesley (b. 2005) (only son of Lord James)
- Thomas Richard Henry Wellesley (b. 2000) (great-grandson of Lord George WellesleyLord George WellesleyWing Commander Lord George Wellesley MC was an English soldier and airman.He was the son of Colonel Sir Arthur Charles Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington and Kathleen Emily Bulkeley Williams. His great-grandfather was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington...
, fourth and youngest son of the 4th Duke)
See also
- Catherine Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonCatherine Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonCatherine Sarah Dorothea Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington was the wife of the 1st Duke of Wellington. She is commonly known as Kitty Pakenham.-Early Life:...
(1773–1831), wife of the 1st Duke - Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonElizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonElizabeth, Duchess of Wellington was born Lady Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of the eighth Marquess of Tweeddale. One of her brothers was the ornithologist Viscount Walden, and another the Admiral of the Fleet Lord John Hay...
(1820–1904), wife of the 2nd Duke - Dorothy Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonDorothy Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonDorothy Violet Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington , styled Lady Gerald Wellesley between 1914 and 1943, was an English socialite, author, poet, and literary editor...
(1889–1956), wife of the 7th Duke - Diana Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonDiana Wellesley, Duchess of WellingtonDiana Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington, Baroness Douro MBE was the wife of Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, and a British intelligence officer in her own right during World War II....
(1922–2010), wife of the 8th Duke