Anne Wellesley, Countess Of Mornington
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Anne Wellesley, Countess of Mornington (''née'' Hill-Trevor; 23 June 1742 – 10 September 1831), 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 State rel ...
aristocrat. She was the wife of the 1st Earl of Mornington and mother of the victor of the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
,
Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...
The 1st Duke of Wellington.


Life

Anne was born Anne Hill in 1742. She was the eldest daughter of the banker and politician Arthur Hill, MP, who sat 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 the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...
, and his wife, Anne Stafford. Arthur changed his name to Arthur Hill-Trevor in 1759, and he was elevated to the
Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...
as the 1st
Viscount Dungannon Viscount Dungannon is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation came in 1662 when Marcus Trevor was made Baron Trevor, of Rostrevor in the County of Down, and Viscount Dungannon. These titles became extinct ...
in February 1766, giving him an hereditary seat in the
Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...
. Thus, Anne was only known as Anne Hill-Trevor for a short while during 1759, just before her marriage. Her mother was notably eccentric, and her financial extravagance was a source of worry to a family already struggling with mounting debts. She was a friend of Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, the famous Ladies of Llangollen.


Family

Anne married the then 2nd Baron Mornington in 1759. He was created the 1st Earl of Mornington in 1760. The marriage was said to be a happy one. Anne and Lord Mornington had nine children together, and seven of them survived to adulthood: * Richard, Viscount Wellesley (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842); later 1st
Marquess Wellesley A marquess (; ) is a Nobility, 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 with the rank of a marquess or the wife ...
, 2nd Earl of Mornington. * Arthur Gerald Wellesley (? – 1768), named after his maternal grandfather and died at six or seven. * The Hon. William Wellesley (20 May 1763 – 22 February 1845); later William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, 1st Baron Maryborough. * Francis Wellesley (1767 – 10 March 1770), died at three. * Lady Anne Wellesley (13 March 1768 – 16 December 1844), married (1) The Hon. Henry FitzRoy (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 Fit ...
), (2) Charles Culling Smith. * The Hon. Arthur Wellesley (c. 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852); later 1st
Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
. * The Revd and Hon. Gerald Valerian Wellesley (7 December 1770 – 24 October 1848), father of George Wellesley. * Lady Mary Elizabeth Wellesley (1772 – 1794), died at 22. * The Hon. Henry Wellesley (20 January 1773 – 27 April 1847); later 1st Baron Cowley. Lord Mornington died in May 1781, leaving her and their eldest son Richard, who was 21 then, to raise the rest of the family. She disliked Arthur when he was young. She said that he was "food for powder and nothing more" and constantly worried about his future. In 1785, Lady Mornington went to
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to live, as a way to economise. She took Arthur with her and sent him to the Royal Academy of Equitation at Angers, in Anjou, after she returned to Britain in 1786. She was granted a pension of £600 in 1813 by Parliament after Arthur's success in the
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
.Muir, R. (2015). Wellington: Waterloo and the fortunes of peace, 1814-1852. New Haven; London: Yale University Press. Her husband's titles were in the
Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...
, entitling him to sit in the
Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...
, which was disbanded following the coming into force of the Act of Union with
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
in January 1801. Four of her five sons who survived to adulthood earned titles in
Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...
, entitling them to sit in the
United Kingdom House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, while the fifth, Gerald Valerian, became a bishop, giving him precedence comparable to a peer.


References

{{Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, state=expanded 1742 births 1831 deaths 18th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish people Wellesley family Irish expatriates in England Mornington Daughters of viscounts Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom