Wellesley, Arthur, Duke of Wellington, 1769-1852

Arthur Wellesley was born Arthur Wesley on May 1, 1769, in Dublin, Ireland, to Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, and Anne Hill-Trevor, Countess Mornington. He was educated at Mr. Whyte’s Academy in Dublin, Brown’s School in Chelsea, and later at Eton College. Later he enrolled at the French Royal Academy of Equitation in Angers, learning French and excelling at horsemanship, two skills that would serve him well. In 1787, he joined the British Army as an ensign in the 73rd Regiment of Foot and was a Lieutenant by Christmas Day, 1787. After serving in the Battle of Boxtel and going on expedition in Calcutta and the Philippines, in 1798 he changed the spelling of his surname to Wellesley, to differentiate himself from his elder brother’s position as Governor-General of India. He participated in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and became Governor of Mysore. In 1802, he was promoted to Major-General and sent to command the army in the Second Anglo-Maratha War. He returned Britain in 1805 with a fortune he had amassed from his campaigns. He married Catherine Sarah Dorothea Pakenham on April 10, 1806, and together they had two sons, Arthur and Charles. On June 18, 1815, Wellesley faced his most famous battle, Waterloo, where he and the allied troops of Europe defeated Napoleon Bonaparte. Years later, he served as Prime Minister of Britain for two years. After leaving that office, he remained politically active until his death on September 14, 1852. He was given a state funeral and is interred at Wellington’s Tomb in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.