Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington
Duke of Wellington (1807-1884)
Lieutenant-General Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, (3 February 1807 – 13 August 1884), styled Lord Douro between 1812 and 1814 and Marquess of Douro between 1814 and 1852, was a British soldier and politician. The eldest son of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, victor of Waterloo and Prime Minister, he succeeded his father in the dukedom in 1852 and held minor political office as Master of the Horse from 1853 to 1858. In 1858, he was made a Knight of the Garter.
Background and education
Wellesley was born at Harley Street, Marylebone, London, the eldest son of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and the Honourable Catherine Sarah Dorothea "Kitty" Pakenham, daughter of Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford. Lord Charles Wellesley was his younger brother and Lord Wellesley, Lord Mornington and Lord Cowley his uncles. He was educated at Temple Grove School, Eton College, Christ Church, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He became known by the courtesy title Lord Douro when his father was created Earl of Wellington in 1812 and as Marquess of Douro in 1814 after his father was elevated to a dukedom.
Military career
Lord Douro became an ensign in the 81st Regiment of Foot in 1823 and in the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot in 1825, a cornet in the Royal Horse Guards in 1825, a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards in 1827, a captain in the Royal Horse Guards in 1828 and in the King's Royal Rifle Corps the same year, a major in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1830 and in the Rifle Brigade in 1831, a lieutenant-colonel on the unattached list in 1834, a brevet colonel in 1846, a lieutenant-colonel in the Victoria (Middlesex) Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1853 and a major-general in 1854.
Wellesley was known as one of the foremost advocates of the Volunteer movement, and served as lieutenant-colonel of one of the earliest of the volunteer rifle corps, the Victoria Rifles (Middlesex).
Political career
Lord Douro was elected to Parliament for the rotten borough of Aldeburgh in 1829, a seat he held until its abolition by the Reform Act 1832.
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