Henry Arthur Mornington Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley JP (14 January 1866 – 15 January 1919), styled as ''

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 M ...

'' between 1884 and 1895, was an English aristocrat.

Early life

Henry was born at

Wilton Place Wilton Place is a street in Knightsbridge, London. It runs north–south between Knightsbridge to the north and Wilton Crescent to the south. It is home to The Berkeley, a five star hotel, and St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge. The Berkeley st ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 14 January 1866. He was the eldest son of

William Wellesley, 2nd Earl Cowley Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom), 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 W ...

(1834–1895) and the former Emily Gwendoline Peers-Williams (1839–1932). His only sibling, Lady Eva Wellesley, married, as his second wife, Randolph Wemyss, Laird of

Wemyss Castle Wemyss Castle (pronounced eems is situated in Wemyss on the sea cliffs between the villages of East Wemyss and West Wemyss in Fife, Scotland. Wemyss Castle is considered to be a multi-period building, and today's castle includes many elements ...

and Chief of Clan Wemyss. His mother was the second daughter of Col. Thomas Peers Williams MP for

Great Marlow Great Marlow is a civil parish within Wycombe district in the English county of Buckinghamshire, lying north of the town of Marlow and south of High Wycombe. The parish includes the hamlets of Bovingdon Green, Burroughs Grove, Chisbridge Cro ...

and the former Emily Bacon (a daughter of Anthony Bushby Bacon of Elcott). His paternal grandparents were

Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley Henry Richard Charles Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, (17 June 1804 – 15 July 1884), known as The Lord Cowley between 1847 and 1857, was a British diplomat. He served as British Ambassador to France between 1852 and 1867. Background and educati ...

(the eldest son of

Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley GCB (20 January 1773 – 27 April 1847) was an Anglo-Irish diplomat and politician. He was the younger brother of the soldier and politician the first Duke of Wellington. He is known particularly for his servic ...

and Lady Charlotte Cadogan, the daughter of the 1st Earl Cadogan) and the Hon. Olivia Cecilia FitzGerald (a daughter of the 20th Baroness de Ros and

Lord Henry FitzGerald Lord Henry FitzGerald PC (Ire) (30 July 1761 – 9 July 1829) was the fourth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster (née Lady Emily Lennox). A younger brother was the revolutionary Lord Edward FitzGerald. Life Fitzgerald ...

, the fourth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster). His grandfather, the 1st Earl Cowley, was

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's Ambassador to France for fifteen years and was a nephew of the 1st Duke of Wellington and the 1st Marquess Wellesley. Lord Cowley's aunt, Lady Feodorowna Wellesley, was married to Francis Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, who also served as the British Ambassador to France.

Career

He attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

between 1880 and 1881. He was a Captain in the

Wiltshire Regiment The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. The ...

and gained the rank of Lieutenant in 1893 in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars. Upon his father's death in 1895, he became the third

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 ...

. Between 1899 and 1900, Lord Cowley fought in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

with the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire.

Personal life

On 17 December 1889, he was married to Lady Violet Nevill, at St George's Church in

Hanover Square, London Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover ...

. the daughter of

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 18 ...

). Before she divorced him on 2 February 1897 alleging "misconduct", they were the parents of one son: * Christian Arthur Wellesley, 4th Earl Cowley (1890–1962), an actor and army officer who married actress Mae Pickard in 1914. They divorced in 1933 and he remarried to Mrs Mary Himes (''née'' Mary Elsie May) in 1933. He married, secondly, Hon. Millicent Florence Eleanor ( née Wilson) Cradock-Hartopp (1872–1952) on 14 December 1905 at

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

in Sri Lanka. Millicent, the divorced wife of Sir Charles Cradock-Hartopp, 5th Baronet, was a daughter of

Charles Wilson, 1st Baron Nunburnholme Charles Henry Wilson, 1st Baron Nunburnholme (22 April 1833 – 21 October 1907), was a prominent English shipowner who became head of the Thomas Wilson Sons & Co. shipping business. Together with his brother he expanded the activities of the ...

and the former Florence Jane Helen Wellesley. In 1912, while still married to his second wife, Lord Cowley was a named as a correspondent in the divorce suite of Geoffrey Charles Buxton against his wife. Before she divorced him in 1913, citing his "desertion and misconduct with Mrs. G.C. Buxton", they were the parents of: * Lady Diana Mary Wellesley (d. 1984), who married Col. Daniel Dixon, 2nd Baron Glentoran, son of

Herbert Dixon, 1st Baron Glentoran Herbert Dixon, 1st Baron Glentoran, OBE, PC (NI), DL (23 January 1880 – 20 July 1950) was a Unionist politician from Ireland, present day Northern Ireland. Early life Dixon was born in Belfast, the fourth son of Sir Daniel Dixon, 1st Baro ...

and Hon. Emily Bingham (a daughter of

John Bingham, 5th Baron Clanmorris John George Barry Bingham, 5th Baron Clanmorris DL, JP (27 August 1852 – 4 November 1916), was an Irish peer. Bingham was the son of John Bingham, 4th Baron Clanmorris, by Sarah Selina, daughter of Burton Persse. His mother and grandmother ...

). * Lady Cecilia Katherine Wellesley (d. 1952), who married John Claude Smiley, son of Maj. Sir John Smiley, 2nd Baronet, in 1936. They divorced in 1942 and she married Lt.-Col. Norman David Melville Johnstone, son of Major Charles Melville Johnstone, in 1942. They divorced in 1950 and she married, thirdly, to Norman Hyman Wachman, son of Woolf Wachman, in 1950. His third, and final, marriage was to Clare Florence Mary (née Stapleton) Buxton on 19 January 1914. Clare, who was by then divorced from her husband Geoffrey Buxton of Dunston Hall, was a daughter of Sir Francis Stapleton, 8th Baronet and Mary Catherine Gladstone. They were the parents of: * Hon. Henry Gerald Valerian Francis Wellesley (1907–1981), who married Doris Caroline Sabia Kennedy, daughter of Edward Robert Kennedy, in 1929. They divorced in 1953 and he married Nancy Joan Hilliam, daughter of Bentley Collingwood Hilliam, in 1954. His second marriage was annulled in 1955 and he married Marina Isabel Sherlock Eustace, daughter of Frank Rowland Eustace, in 1957. They divorced in 1969 and he married, fourthly, Valerie Rose Pitman, daughter of Christian Ernest Pitman, in 1969. Lord Cowley died at Chippenham in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

on 15 January 1919, at age 53. He was buried at Chippenham. His widow, the Dowager Countess of Cowley, died in a fire on 8 May 1949.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, Richard Wellesley, 6th Earl 1866 births 1919 deaths People educated at Eton College

Henry Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley Henry Arthur Mornington Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley JP (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 ...

Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom English people of Irish descent