Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington
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Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, KG
(21 August 1885 – 4 January 1972), styled Lord Gerald Wellesley between 1900 and 1943, was a British diplomat
, soldier, and architect.
He was the third son of Lord Arthur Wellesley
(later 4th Duke of Wellington) and Lady Arthur Wellesley (later Duchess of Wellington, née Kathleen Bulkeley Williams). He was educated at Eton College
. He married Dorothy Violet Ashton
, daughter of Robert Ashton, on 30 April 1914.
He served as a diplomat in the Diplomatic Corps
in 1908. He held the office of Third Secretary of the Diplomatic Service
between 1910 and 1917, and the office of Second Secretary of the Diplomatic Service between 1917 and 1919.
He was invested as a Fellow
of the Royal Institute of British Architects
in 1921, and as a Fellow
of the Royal Society of Arts
in 1935, and was Surveyor of the King's Works of Art 1936–1943.
He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1939 in the service of the Grenadier Guards
. He fought in the Second World War between 1939 and 1945.
In 1943, he succeeded his nephew Henry
as Duke of Wellington, Earl of Mornington
, and Prince of Waterloo
. His nephew's other title, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, passed to Henry's sister (his niece) Lady Anne Rhys, before she ceded it to him in 1949.
He held the office of Lord Lieutenant of the County of London
between 1944 and 1949, and the office of Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire
between 1949 and 1960.
He was invested as a Knight of the Garter
in 1951.
. He also designed a folly tower for Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners.http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2008/01/10/faringdon_folly_2008_feature.shtml
(21 August 1885 – 11 July 1956) on 30 April 1914; they separated in 1922. She was the daughter of Robert Ashton of Croughton, Cheshire
(himself a second cousin of the 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde
) and was descended from wealthy cotton
manufacturers, and his wife (Lucy) Cecilia Dunn-Gardner
, later Countess of Scarbrough. Her stepfather since 1899 was the 10th Earl of Scarbrough
.
The Wellesleys had two children :
The marriage failed quickly. Dorothy Wellesley, a poet, was either bisexual or lesbian
. According to a family memoir written by her granddaughter Lady Jane Wellesley,http://www.mailonsunday.ie/home/books/article-1087417/The-legacy-Iron-Duke-WELLINGTON-Jane-Wellesley.html "Dottie" Wellesley left her family to become a lover of Vita Sackville-West
(who wrote her entry for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/918.html Curiously, Gerald Wellington had been engaged, before his marriage, to Sackville-West's lover Violet Trefusis
. Dottie Wellington later became the lover and long-time companion of Hilda Matheson, a prominent BBC
producer.
One scholar, Frank O'Shea, has claimed that Lord Gerald Wellesley himself was homosexual, while his wife was bisexual.
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(21 August 1885 – 4 January 1972), styled Lord Gerald Wellesley between 1900 and 1943, was a British diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, soldier, and architect.
He was the third son of Lord Arthur Wellesley
Arthur Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington
Arthur 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...
(later 4th Duke of Wellington) and Lady Arthur Wellesley (later Duchess of Wellington, née Kathleen Bulkeley Williams). He was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. He married Dorothy Violet Ashton
Dorothy Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington
Dorothy Violet Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington , styled Lady Gerald Wellesley between 1914 and 1943, was an English socialite, author, poet, and literary editor...
, daughter of Robert Ashton, on 30 April 1914.
He served as a diplomat in the Diplomatic Corps
Diplomatic corps
The diplomatic corps or corps diplomatique is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body.The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission who represent their countries in another state or country...
in 1908. He held the office of Third Secretary of the Diplomatic Service
Diplomatic service
Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel enjoy diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to other countries...
between 1910 and 1917, and the office of Second Secretary of the Diplomatic Service between 1917 and 1919.
He was invested as a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
in 1921, and as a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Royal Society of Arts
Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
in 1935, and was Surveyor of the King's Works of Art 1936–1943.
He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1939 in the service of the Grenadier Guards
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
. He fought in the Second World War between 1939 and 1945.
In 1943, he succeeded his nephew Henry
Henry Wellesley, 6th Duke of Wellington
Henry 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...
as Duke of Wellington, Earl of Mornington
Earl 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...
, and 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...
. His nephew's other title, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, passed to Henry's sister (his niece) Lady Anne Rhys, before she ceded it to him in 1949.
He held the office of Lord Lieutenant of the County of London
Lord Lieutenant of the County of London
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of the County of London.The post was created in 1889, absorbing the duties of the Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets, and abolished in 1965, when it was merged with that of Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex to become the Lord Lieutenant of...
between 1944 and 1949, and the office of Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire
Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire. Since 1688, all the Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Hampshire.*William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester 1551–?*William Paulet, 3rd Marquess of Winchester bef...
between 1949 and 1960.
He was invested as a Knight of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
in 1951.
Books
He was the author of the following books :- The Iconography of the First Duke of Wellington (1935)
- The Diary of a Desert Journey (1938)
- The Journal of Mrs. Arbuthnot (1950)
- A Selection from the Private Correspondence of the First Duke of Wellington (1952)
Architecture projects
Among his architecture projects was the remodeling of the London home of Anglo-American member of Parliament Henry "Chips" ChannonHenry Channon
Sir Henry "Chips" Channon was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. Channon moved to England in 1920 and became strongly anti-American, feeling that American cultural and economic views threatened traditional European and British civilisation. He wrote extensively...
. He also designed a folly tower for Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners.http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2008/01/10/faringdon_folly_2008_feature.shtml
Family
He married Dorothy Violet AshtonDorothy Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington
Dorothy Violet Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington , styled Lady Gerald Wellesley between 1914 and 1943, was an English socialite, author, poet, and literary editor...
(21 August 1885 – 11 July 1956) on 30 April 1914; they separated in 1922. She was the daughter of Robert Ashton of Croughton, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
(himself a second cousin of the 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde
Thomas Gair Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde
Thomas Gair Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde was a British industrialist, philanthropist, Liberal politician, and peer.-Early life and career:...
) and was descended from wealthy cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
manufacturers, and his wife (Lucy) Cecilia Dunn-Gardner
John Dunn Gardner
John Gardner , formerly of and later of Chatteris House, Isle of Ely, in the county of Cambridge, known as John Townshend until 1843 and sometimes styled "Earl of Leicester", was a British Member of Parliament from 1841 to 1847, elected to represent Bodmin as a Conservative...
, later Countess of Scarbrough. Her stepfather since 1899 was the 10th Earl of Scarbrough
Aldred Lumley, 10th Earl of Scarbrough
Major-General Aldred Frederick George Beresford Lumley, 10th Earl of Scarbrough, KG, GBE, KCB, GStJ was a British peer and soldier. His first name is sometimes rendered as Alfred, not Aldred....
.
The Wellesleys had two children :
- (Arthur) Valerian Wellesley, Marquess Douro (later 8th Duke of Wellington), born 2 July 1915
- Lady Elizabeth Wellesley, born 26 December 1918
The marriage failed quickly. Dorothy Wellesley, a poet, was either bisexual or lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
. According to a family memoir written by her granddaughter Lady Jane Wellesley,http://www.mailonsunday.ie/home/books/article-1087417/The-legacy-Iron-Duke-WELLINGTON-Jane-Wellesley.html "Dottie" Wellesley left her family to become a lover of Vita Sackville-West
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
(who wrote her entry for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/918.html Curiously, Gerald Wellington had been engaged, before his marriage, to Sackville-West's lover Violet Trefusis
Violet Trefusis
Violet Trefusis née Keppel was an English writer and socialite. She is most notable for her lesbian affair with Vita Sackville-West, which was featured under disguise in Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography....
. Dottie Wellington later became the lover and long-time companion of Hilda Matheson, a prominent BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
producer.
One scholar, Frank O'Shea, has claimed that Lord Gerald Wellesley himself was homosexual, while his wife was bisexual.