Garret Colley Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington (19 July 1735 – 22 May 1781) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

, as well as the father of several distinguished military commanders and politicians of Great Britain and Ireland.

Early life

Wesley was born at the family estate of Dangan Castle, near

Summerhill Summerhill or Summer Hill may refer to the following places: Australia *Summer Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Summerhill, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston * Summerhill (Mount Duneed), a prefabricated iron cottage in Victoria Canada * ...

, a village near

Trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

.C.F.J. Hankinson, editor, ''DeBretts Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 147th year'' (London, U.K.: Odhams Press, 1949), page 1100. He was a son of

Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington Richard Colley Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington ( – 31 January 1758) was an Irish peer, best remembered as the grandfather of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Biography Richard Colley (as he was christened) was born around 1690, the son ...

(son of Henry Colley, MP), and Elizabeth Sale (a daughter of John Sale, Registrar of the Diocese of Dublin).G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14'' (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...

, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume IX, page 235. He was educated at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, and was elected its first Professor of Music in 1764. From early childhood he showed extraordinary talent on the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, and soon began composing his own works. As a composer he is remembered chiefly for glees such as "Here in cool grot" (lyrics by

William Shenstone William Shenstone (18 November 171411 February 1763) was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, ''The Leasowes''. Biography Son of Thomas Shenstone and Anne Penn, ...

) and for a double Anglican chant. It was the future Duke of Wellington who, alone of his children, inherited something of his musical talent.

Career

Wesley represented

in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

from 1757 until 1758, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Mornington. In 1759 he was appointed Custos Rotulorum of Meath and in 1760, in recognition of his musical and philanthropic achievements, he was created Viscount Wellesley, of Dangan Castle in the County of Meath, and Earl of Mornington. He was elected Grand Master of the

Grand Lodge of Ireland The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, a ...

in 1776, a post he held until the following year. Like his father, and his mother-in-law Lady Dungannon, he was careless with money, and his early death left the family exposed to financial embarrassment, leading ultimately to the decision in the nineteenth century to sell all their Irish estates.

Personal life

Wesley married Anne Hill-Trevor, eldest daughter of the banker

Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon ( 1694 – 30 January 1771), was an Irish politician. Born Arthur Hill, he adopted the surname Hill-Trevor in 1759. He was the second son of Michael Hill of Hillsborough, M.P. and Privy Councillor, and ...

, and his wife Anne Stafford, on 6 February 1759. His godmother, the famous diarist

Mary Delany Mary Delany ( Granville; 14 May 1700 – 15 April 1788) was an English artist, letter-writer, and bluestocking, known for her "paper-mosaicks" and botanic drawing, needlework and her lively correspondence. Early life Mary Delany was born at C ...

, said the marriage was happy, despite his lack of financial sense and her "want of judgment". They had nine children, most of whom were historically significant, including: *

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of ...

(1760–1842), who married

Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Wellesley, Countess of Mornington (née Roland or Rolland; 5 November 1816) was a French actress who became the mistress, and later the wife, of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley. As an actress, she was known as Gabri ...

, daughter of Pierre Roland, in 1794. After her death, he married Marianne Caton, daughter of

Richard Caton Richard Caton (1842, Bradford – 1926), of Liverpool, England, was a British physician, physiologist and Lord Mayor of Liverpool who was crucial in discovering the electrical nature of the brain and laid the groundwork for Hans Berger to disc ...

, in 1825. * Arthur Gerald Wellesley (d. 1768), who was named after his maternal grandfather but died young. *

William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, (20 May 1763 – 22 February 1845), known as Lord Maryborough between 1821 and 1842, was an Anglo-Irish politician and an elder brother of the Duke of Wellington. His surname changed twice: he was ...

(1763–1845), who married Katherine Forbes, daughter of Adm. John Forbes and Lady Mary Capell (a daughter of the 3rd Earl of Essex, in 1784. * Francis Wellesley (1767–1770), who died in childhood. * Lady Anne Wellesley (1768–1844), who married Henry FitzRoy, a younger son of

Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton General Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton (25 June 1737 – 21 March 1797) was a British Army officer who served in the Seven Years' War and a politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1759 to 1780. The second son of Lord Augustus F ...

(descendants of an illegitimate son of King Charles II). After his death she married

Charles Culling Smith Charles Culling Smith, sometimes called Culling Charles Smith (c. 1775 – 26 May 1853) was a British politician and courtier. Family He was the son of Charles Smith, Governor of Madras, and nephew of Sir Culling Smith, 1st Baronet. On 2 Au ...

. *

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

(1769–1852), who married Catherine Pakenham, daughter of

Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford Edward Michael Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford (1 April 1743 – 3 June 1792) was an Irish sailor and landowner. Early life Pakenham was the son of Thomas Pakenham, 1st Baron Longford and Elizabeth Cuffe, 1st Countess of Longford. His parents had ...

and Catherine Rowley, in 1806. * Gerald Valerian Wellesley (1770–1848), who married Lady Emily Cadogan, daughter of

Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan Charles Sloane Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan (29 September 1728 – 3 April 1807) was a British peer and Whig politician. Early life Cadogan was the only son of Charles Cadogan, 2nd Baron Cadogan and his wife, the former Elizabeth Sloane. His ma ...

and Mary Churchill (daughter of Charles Churchill); he was the father of Adm. Sir George Wellesley. * Lady Mary Elizabeth Wellesley (1772–1794), who died at age 22. * Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley (1773–1847), who married Lady Charlotte Cadogan, also a daughter of the 1st Earl Cadogan, in 1803. They divorced by

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...

in 1810, and he married, secondly, to Lady Georgiana Cecil, daughter of

James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury, (4 September 1748 – 13 June 1823), styled Viscount Cranborne until 1780 and known as The Earl of Salisbury between 1780 and 1789, was a British nobleman and politician. Background Salisbury was the so ...

and Lady Emily Hill, in 1816. Four of Lord Mornington's five sons were created peers in the

Peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

s of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The Barony of Wellesley (held by the

Marquess Wellesley A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

) and the Barony of Maryborough are now extinct, whilst the Dukedom of Wellington and Barony of Cowley are extant. The Earldom of Mornington is held by the Dukes of Wellington, and the Barons Cowley have since been elevated to be Earls Cowley.

Legacy

Four streets in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...

, which formed part of the estate of his son-in-law Henry FitzRoy, were named Mornington Crescent, Place, Street and Terrace after him. Of these, the first has since become famous as the name of a London Underground station.

References

External links

*
Article from thepeerage.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mornington, Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of 1735 births 1781 deaths 18th-century classical composers 18th-century British male musicians Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Classical-period composers Earls of Mornington Irish Anglicans Irish classical composers Irish MPs 1727–1760 Irish male classical composers Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Meath constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Musicians who were peers Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom People from County Meath Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington