Wellesley [formerly Wesley], Duke of Wellington Arthur

b. 1769-05-01

d. 1852-09-14

Arthur Wellesley began his military career in 1787.1 In the mid-1790s he embarked on two extended, ultimately successful, campaigns: first in India, and then in the Iberian Peninsula.2

Given the nickname Nosey by his men, he was elevated to Duke of Wellington in 1814 for his victories in the Peninsular War.3 The following year Wellington achieved his greatest military triumph at Waterloo over Napoleon.4

As a Conservative peer and prime minister, he passed the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829,5 but later failed to prevent his political opponents from passing the Great Reform Act.2 He ended his political career in 1846 by supporting the government of Sir Robert Peel, despite opposing the repeal of the Corn Laws.7

1. Norman Gash, Wellesley, Arthur, first duke of Wellington, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.

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Dombrain, Robert Peel

Colonial Despatches

The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871

Wellesley [formerly Wesley], Duke of Wellington Arthur