Dorothy Violet Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington ( Ashton; 30 July 1889 – 11 July 1956), styled Lady Gerald Wellesley between 1914 and 1943, was an English author, poet, literary editor and socialite.

Background

She was born in

White Waltham White Waltham is a village and civil parish, west of Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is crossed briefly by the M4 motorway, which along with the Great Western Main Line and all other roads c ...

, the daughter of Col. Robert Ashton of Croughton,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

(himself a second cousin of the 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde), descended from wealthy cotton manufacturers, and his wife (Lucy) Cecilia Dunn-Gardner (later Countess of Scarbrough), and stepdaughter of the 10th Earl of Scarbrough. Her family nickname was "Dotty".

Poetry

As Dorothy Wellesley, the name she took after her marriage to Lord Gerald Wellesley, she was the author of more than ten books, mostly of poetry, but including also ''Sir George Goldie, Founder of Nigeria'' (1934), and ''Far Have I Travelled'' (1952). She was editor for

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in London Boro ...

of the

Hogarth Living Poets The Hogarth Living Poets were two series of books published by Hogarth Press, under the editorship of Dorothy Wellesley. The editions were limited, and the books are now rare. First Series (1928-1932) 24 books. *1. Frances Cornford ''Different ...

series. She also edited ''The Annual'' in 1929. According to

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

, Wellesley was one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. He gave her sixteen pages in his '' Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935'' and praised her in the introduction. According to Wellesley, "Within two minutes of our first meeting at my house he said: ‘You must sacrifice everything and everyone to your poetry'". Yeats discovered her poetry while researching the ''Oxford Book of Modern Verse''. He said "My eyes filled with tears. I read in excitement that was more delightful because it showed that I had not lost my understanding of poetry." Only later did he find who she was and what was her station in life. Yeats scholar R. F. Foster, however, has written that she was "a moderately accomplished if minor poet" though adding that "the quality of some of her work has been vindicated by time". She was introduced to Yeats in 1935. He went on to edit and revise her poems as well as soliciting her comments on his own work. Together they edited the second series of ''Broadsides: New Irish & English Songs'' in 1937. Yeats spent much of his final time towards the end of his life with Wellesley at her Sussex home. She was at his deathbed in 1939.

Personal life

Dorothy Ashton married Lord Gerald Wellesley (later 7th Duke of Wellington), on 30 April 1914. They had two children: #

Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington Brigadier Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington (2 July 1915 – 31 December 2014), styled Marquess of Douro between 1943 and 1972, was a senior British peer and a brigadier in the British Army. His main residence was Stratfield ...

(2 July 1915 – 31 December 2014) #

Lady Elizabeth Wellesley Lady Elizabeth Clyde (born Elizabeth Wellesley, 26 December 1918 – 25 November 2013) was an English socialite. She was the daughter of Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, and Dorothy Violet Ashton, and thus a great-great-granddaughter of ...

(26 December 1918 – 25 November 2013) They separated in 1922 but did not divorce. According to a 2009 memoir by her granddaughter,

Lady Jane Wellesley Lady Caroline Jane Wellesley (born 6 July 1951) is a British television producer and writer. She is the daughter of Valerian, 8th Duke of Wellington. Early life Wellesley was born on 6 July 1951, she is the third child and only daughter of Val ...

, Dorothy Wellesley left her husband and children when she became the lover of

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful nov ...

. Wellesley and Sackville-West took several trips together, including one to Persia, with artist Marjorie Jebb and art historian Leigh Ashton. After that relationship ended, for eight years Wellesley became the lover and companion of Hilda Matheson (1888–1940), a BBC producer, who had herself had a three-year love affair with Sackville-West. Matheson moved to "Penns in the Rocks", a farm on the Wellesley estate in the Sussex village of

Withyham Withyham is a village and large civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The village is situated 7 miles south west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Crowborough; the parish covers approxi ...

. A certain distance was called for due to Dorothy's sometimes erratic and demanding behaviour. This relationship, a key stabilizer in both their lives, ended tragically with the death of Hilda during a routine thyroid operation.

Death

The Duchess of Wellington died at

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. After her death, her widower proposed to her half-sister, Lady Serena James ( Lumley), widow of his former brother-in-law the Hon. Robert James), but she refused him.

In popular culture

She was one of a series of society beauties photographed as classical figures by

Madame Yevonde Yevonde Philone Middleton (née Cumbers; 5 January 1893 – 22 December 1975) was an English photographer, who pioneered the use of colour in portrait photography. She used the professional name Madame Yevonde or simply Yevonde in a career last ...

. Dorothy Wellesley is portrayed by Karla Crome in the 2018 film ''

Vita and Virginia ''Vita & Virginia'' is a 2018 biographical romantic drama film directed by Chanya Button. The screenplay, written by Button and Eileen Atkins, is adapted from the 1992 play ''Vita & Virginia'' by Atkins. The film stars Gemma Arterton, Elizabet ...

''.

References

Sources

* ''Letters on Poetry from W. B. Yeats to Dorothy Wellesley'' (1940, Oxford University Press) edited by

Kathleen Raine Kathleen Jessie Raine (14 June 1908 – 6 July 2003) was an English poet, critic and scholar, writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently Plat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellington, Dorothy Wellesley, Duchess of 1889 births 1956 deaths Dorothy Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington English socialites British duchesses by marriage English women poets People from Maidenhead 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers English LGBTQ writers Wives of knights