Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington

The Duke of Wellington
Born	21 August 1885(1885-08-21)
Died	4 January 1972(1972-01-04) (aged 86)
Tenure	16 September 1943 – 4 January 1972
Spouse(s)	Dorothy Violet Ashton
Issue	Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington Lady Elizabeth Clyde
Parents	Arthur Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington Lady Kathleen Bulkeley-Williams

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.

Background and education

Wellesley 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.

Career

Wellesley 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 served as Lord Lieutenant of the County of London between 1944 and 1949 and as Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire between 1949 and 1960. In 1951 he was made a Knight of the Garter.

Architecture projects

Among his architecture projects was the remodeling of the London home of Anglo-American member of Parliament Henry "Chips" Channon. He also designed a folly tower for Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners.[1]

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)

Family

Wellington married Dorothy Violet Ashton (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. They 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. According to a family memoir written by her granddaughter Lady Jane Wellesley,[2] "Dottie" Wellesley left her family to become a lover of Vita Sackville-West (who wrote her entry for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).[3] 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.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Wellington
• Duke of Wellington's Regiment - West Riding

Honorary titles
Preceded by The Marquess of Crewe	Lord Lieutenant of the County of London 1944–1949	Succeeded by The Earl Wavell
Preceded by The Viscount Portal	Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire 1949–1960	Succeeded by The Lord Ashburton
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Henry Wellesley	Duke of Wellington 1943–1972	Succeeded by Arthur Wellesley
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Henry Wellesley	Earl of Mornington 1943–1972	Succeeded by Arthur Wellesley
Dutch nobility
Preceded by Henry Wellesley	Prince of Waterloo 1943–1972	Succeeded by Arthur Wellesley
Spanish nobility
Preceded by Anne Rhys	Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo 1949–1968	Succeeded by Arthur Wellesley
Portuguese nobility
Preceded by Henry Wellesley	Duke of the Victory 1943–1968	Succeeded by Arthur Wellesley