b. 1769-05-01
d. 1852-09-14
Arthur Wellesley began his military career in 1787. In the mid-1790s he embarked on two extended, ultimately successful, campaigns: first
in India, and then in the Iberian Peninsula.
Given the nickname Nosey by his men, he was elevated to Duke of Wellington in 1814 for his victories in the Peninsular War. The following year Wellington achieved his greatest military triumph at Waterloo
over Napoleon.
As a Conservative peer and prime minister, he passed the Catholic Emancipation Act
of
1829, but later failed to prevent his political opponents from passing the Great Reform
Act. He ended his political career in
1846 by supporting the government of
Sir Robert Peel, despite opposing the repeal of the Corn Laws.