Creation date 11 May 1814 | ||
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Monarch The Prince Regent (on behalf of his father George III) Heir apparent Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Douro | ||
Duke of Wellington is a hereditary title of the senior rank in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It derived from Wellington in Somerset, and was created for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington (born The Hon. Arthur Wesley) (1769–1852), the Anglo-Irish Army leader who is distinguished for leading the decisive victory with Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher over Napoleon Bonaparte's forces at Waterloo in Brabant (now Walloon Brabant, Belgium); Wellesley later served twice as British Prime Minister. General references to "the Duke of Wellington" usually refer to Arthur Wellesley as the 1st Duke of Wellington, unless the context suggests a later date.
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The first duke's father was created the 1st Earl of Mornington and their male-line ancestors were wealthy agricultural and urban landowners in both countries, among the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy.
The dukedom has descended to heirs male of the body with 11 other titles in various jurisdictions.
History
The titles of Duke of Wellington and Marquess of Douro were bestowed upon Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington, on 11 May 1814 after he returned home a hero following Napoleon's abdication. He fought some 60 battles in his military career, and never lost a single one. He was considered 'the conqueror of Napoleon'. He stands as one of the finest soldiers Great Britain and Ireland has ever produced, others being the Duke of Marlborough & John, 2nd Duke of Argyll.
The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Wellington are: Marquess of Wellington (1812), Marquess of Douro (1814), Earl of Mornington (1760 – but only inherited by the Dukes of Wellington in 1863), Earl of Wellington (1812), Viscount Wellesley (1760 – inherited in 1863), Viscount Wellington (1809), Baron Mornington (1746 – also inherited in 1863), and Baron Douro (1809). The Viscountcy of Wellesley and the Barony and Earldom of Mornington are in the Peerage of Ireland; the rest are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
Apart from the British titles the Dukes of Wellington also hold the titles of Prince of Waterloo (Prins van Waterloo, 1815) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo, 1812) of the Kingdom of Spain, and Duke of Victoria (Duque da Vitória, 1812), with the subsidiary titles Marquess of Torres Vedras (Marquês de Torres Vedras, 1812) and Count of Vimeiro (Conde de Vimeiro, 1811) of the Kingdom of Portugal. These were granted to the first Duke as victory titles for his distinguished services as victorious commanding general in the Peninsular War (in Spain and Portugal) and at the Battle of Waterloo (in what is now Belgium).
The family seat is Stratfield Saye House, near Basingstoke, Hampshire. Apsley House, in London, is now owned by English Heritage, although the family retain an apartment there.
Dukes of Wellington (1814)
Line of succession
- Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Douro (born 1978) (elder son of the present Duke)
- Arthur Darcy Wellesley, Earl of Mornington (born 2010) (elder son of Lord Douro)
- Lord Alfred Wellesley (born 2014) (younger son of Lord Douro)
- Lord Frederick Charles Wellesley (born 1992) (second and younger son of the present Duke)
- Lord Richard Gerald Wellesley (born 1949) (second son of the 8th Duke)
- Lord John Henry Wellesley (born 1954) (third son of the 8th Duke)
- Gerald Valerian Wellesley (born 1981) (only son of Lord John)
- Lord James Christopher Douglas Wellesley (born 1956) (fourth and youngest son of the 8th Duke)
- Oliver Valerian Wellesley (born 2005) (only son of Lord James)
- Thomas Richard Henry Wellesley (born 2000) (great-grandson of Lord George Wellesley, fourth and youngest son of the 4th Duke)
Should the direct male line of succession from the first Duke of Wellington become extinct, the dukedom and its subsidiary titles in the British peerage will become extinct, as will the titles of Prince of Waterloo in the Dutch peerage and the dukedom of the Victory and its subsidiary titles in the Portuguese peerage. The dukedom of Ciudad Rodrigo in the Spanish peerage, together with its subsidiary titles, will continue to be held in the female line of descendants of the first Duke. The earldom and barony of Mornington, along with the viscountcy of Wellesley, which are all titles in the Irish peerage, will revert to the line of the Earl Cowley, a male-line descendant of a younger brother of the first Duke of Wellington.