Christian Wellesley, 4th Earl Cowley
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Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
Christian Arthur Wellesley, 4th Earl Cowley (25 December 1890 – 29 August 1962), known as Viscount Dangan from 1895 to 1919, was an English aristocrat and actor known by the name Arthur Wellesley.


Early life

Wellesley was born on 25 December 1890. He was the eldest son of
Henry Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley Henry Arthur Mornington Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley (14 January 1866 – 15 January 1919), styled as Viscount Dangan between 1884 and 1895, was an English aristocrat. Early life Henry was born at Wilton Place, London, on 14 January 1866. He was t ...
and his first wife, Lady Violet Nevill. His parents divorced in 1897 after which his mother married Col. Robert Edward Myddelton in 1898. From his mother's second marriage, he was the elder half-brother of Idina Joan Myddelton (wife of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe),
Ririd Myddelton Lieutenant-Colonel Ririd Myddelton, (25 February 1902 – 7 February 1988), was a British Army officer, Welsh landowner and courtier. Early life Myddelton was born on 25 February 1902 and was named after an ancient Myddelton ancestor. H ...
(who married Lady ''Mary'' Petty-Fitzmaurice, sister of the 8th Marquess of Lansdowne), and Thomas Foulk Myddelton. From his father's second marriage to Lady Hartopp (''
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
'' Hon. Millicent Wilson, the former wife of Sir Charles Hartopp, Bt and daughter of Lord Nunburnholme), he had two more half-siblings: Lady Diana Wellesley (wife of the 2nd Baron Glentoran) and Lady Cecilia Wellesley. From his father's third marriage to Clare (née Stapleton) Buxton (the former wife of Geoffrey Buxton of
Dunston Hall Dunston Hall Hotel is an Elizabethan Revival style Grade II listed building in the village of Dunston, Norfolk, Dunston, Norfolk, England. ''OS Explorer Map 237 – Norwich, Wymondham, Attleborough and Watton''. . It is part of the QHotels Collec ...
, and daughter of Sir Francis Stapleton, Bt), he had a younger half-brother, Hon. Henry Wellesley. His paternal grandparents were
William Wellesley, 2nd Earl Cowley Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Wellesley, 2nd Earl Cowley (25 August 1834 - 28 February 1895) was an English aristocrat and soldier. Early life Wellesley was born on 25 August 1834 at Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg. Retrieved March 26, 20 ...
, and the former Emily ''Gwendoline'' Peers-Williams (a daughter of
Thomas Peers Williams Thomas Peers Williams (27 March 1795 – 8 September 1875) was a British politician, military officer and landowner who was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of Parliament for Great Marlow (UK Parliament constituency), Great Marlow ...
MP for
Great Marlow Great Marlow is a civil parishes in England, civil parish within Wycombe district in the England, English county of Buckinghamshire, lying north of the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow and south of High Wycombe. The parish includes the ...
). His maternal grandparents were
William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny (16 September 1826 – 12 December 1915), styled Viscount Neville between 1845 and 1868 and known as The Earl of Abergavenny between 1868 and 1876, was a British peer. Background and education He was ...
and the former Caroline Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone (a daughter of
Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 2nd Baronet Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 2nd Baronet (28 August 1799 – 24 February 1869) was a British Member of Parliament. Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone was the son of Sir Richard Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 1st Baronet. He succeeded as second Baronet in ...
).


Career

He was educated at
Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town o ...
. He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the
5th Lancers The 5th Royal Irish Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War. It amalgamated with the 16th The Queen's Lancers to become the 16th/5th Lancers in 1922. History Early ...
and was an artillery officer during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. When his "father refused to make him any allowance he found himself unable to keep up with the other officers on his army pay and resigned." Upon his father's death on 15 January 1919, he succeeded as the 5th
Baron Cowley Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, ...
of Wellesley, the 4th
Viscount Dangan Earl Cowley is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1857 for the diplomat Henry Wellesley, 2nd Baron Cowley. He was Ambassador to France from 1852 to 1867. He was made Viscount Dangan, of Dangan in the County of Me ...
, and the 4th
Earl Cowley Earl Cowley is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1857 for the diplomat Henry Wellesley, 2nd Baron Cowley. He was Ambassador to France from 1852 to 1867. He was made Viscount Dangan, of Dangan in the County of M ...
.


Acting career

Wellesley then spent a few weeks as a cab driver before becoming a "paint room laborer with the
Quinlan Opera Company Thomas Quinlan, (10 March 1881, Bury – 20 November 1951, Holborn) was a musical impresario, best known for founding the Quinlan Opera Company. Early life and career Thomas Quinlan was the son of Dennis Quinlan, a railway clerk, and Ellen ...
of London. From there he went to the Gaiety Theatre as a chorus man with George Edward's company." Known on the stage as Arthur Wellesley, he played prominent roles in London in ''
The Hottentot ''The Hottentot'' is a lost 1929 American all-talking sound pre-Code comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Edward Everett Horton and Patsy Ruth Miller. It is based on the 1920 Broadway play ''The Hottentot'' by William Collier, S ...
'' at the Queen's Theatre in London, ''
Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatric ...
'', and '' Fallen Angels'', and was once leading man with
Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...
. He met his first wife while playing in ''
The Girl on the Film ''Filmzauber'', literally 'Film Magic', is a Posse mit Gesang (a kind of popular musical drama) in four scenes by Walter Kollo and Willy Bredschneider, with a German libretto by Rudolf Bernauer and Rudolph Schanzer. A parody of (then popular) sil ...
''.


Personal life

On 24 February 1914, Viscount Dangan married Mae Josephine Callicott, a former New York showgirl who was known as Mae Pickard, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. At the time of his wedding, it was reported that "Lord Dangan was cut adrift by his father some years ago, but is still, or at least was up to the time he married an American show girl, in the good graces of his aunt and uncle, the very wealthy
Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...
and Lady Hythe. Lady Hythe was the sister of Lord Dangan's mother." Before their divorce in 1933, they were the parents of: * Michael Wellesley, Viscount Dagan (1915–1922), who died young.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, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 482 * Lady Patricia Mary Anne Wellesley (1918–1944), who served with the
Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the World War I, First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in ...
during the
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. * Denis Arthur Wellesley, 5th Earl Cowley (1921–1968), who married Elizabeth Papillon, daughter of Pelham Papillon, in 1944. They divorced in 1950 and married Annette O'Hara, daughter of Maj. James J. O'Hara, in 1950. After her death, he married Janet Elizabeth Aiyar, daughter of Ramiah Aiyar, in 1961. * Lady Colleen Wellesley (1925–2003), who married Dr. Paul Hanlon, a son of Edward F. Hanlon, in 1945.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...
, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 937.
On 18 June 1933, a day after his divorce from his first wife, he was married to Mary Elsie ( May) Himes by the Rev. Brewster Adams, a Baptist minister, at the home of Harry Atkinson, Lord Cowley's attorney. His new wife, whom he met while "she was working as a hat check girl at a road house near Reno" was divorced from Joseph T. Himes of
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
three weeks before their wedding. Together, they were the parents of: * Garret Graham Wellesley, 7th Earl Cowley (1934–2016), who married Elizabeth Suzanne Lennon, daughter of Hayes Lennon, in 1960. They divorced in 1966 and he married Isabelle O'Bready in 1968. They divorced in 1981 and he married Paige Deming, daughter of Joseph Grove Deming, in 1981. After her death in 2008, he married Carola Marion Erskine-Hill, daughter of
Sir Robert Erskine-Hill, 2nd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...
, in 2012. * Hon. Brian Timothy Wellesley (b. 1938) In 1935, a forest fire raging over the foothills of the
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
threatened Lord Cowley's ranch home, known as Wellesley Ranch, in Lakeview, about five miles north of
Carson City, Nevada Carson City, officially the Carson City Consolidated Municipality, is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,63 ...
. His first wife died in London on 5 June 1946. He died on 29 August 1962. Upon his death, he was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son,
Denis Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, Bishop of Győr (13th century), Hungarian prelate * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), bar ...
. Upon the 5th Earl's death in 1968, his son
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
succeeded to the earldom. As Richard died without male issue in 1975, the earldom passed to the 4th Earl's second son,
Garret A garret is a habitable attic, a living space at the top of a house or larger residential building, traditionally small with sloping ceilings. In the days before elevators this was the least prestigious position in a building, at the very to ...
, who was succeeded by his son
Graham Graham or Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...
, the 8th, and current,
Earl Cowley Earl Cowley is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1857 for the diplomat Henry Wellesley, 2nd Baron Cowley. He was Ambassador to France from 1852 to 1867. He was made Viscount Dangan, of Dangan in the County of M ...
.


References

;Notes ;Sources


External links

*
Christian Arthur Wellesley, 4th Earl Cowley (1890-1962), Actor
at the
National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, Richard Wellesley, 6th Earl 1890 births 1962 deaths People educated at Eton College Christian Wellesley, 4th Earl Cowley Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom English people of Irish descent English actors