Richard Wall
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Richard Wall (November 5, 1694 - December 26, 1777, was an Irish military man, diplomat and minister in the Spanish service.
Wall belonged to a family settled in Killmallock, County Limerick. Ricardo Wall and Devreaux "were born at Nantes following his parents to the King of England", in a family of Irish jacobites refugees. He was baptized two days later in the Church of Saint Nicolas, in very bad circumstances. His father, Matías Wall, an old official of the army of James II (Regiment Fitz-James) born in Killmallok Co. Limerick, was absent. They lived then in the "Pit of the well of the silver" under the shelter of some relative, probably Gilbert Wall.
We know nothing about his first years. Around 1710, he was received as a page of the Duchess of Vendôme. Some years later (1716) he left France and entered the Spanish service thanks to a letter of recommendation for the royal minister: cardinal Alberoni. The letter was signed by the Duchess of Vendôme.
He entered the Royal Company of Naval Cadets ("Colegio Real de Guardiamarinas"), founded at Cadiz by José Patiño in 1717, where he graduated in the second promotion. Immediately later, he embarked in the Real San Felipe (74 guns), under the command of Admiral Gaztañeta. In this ship he participated in the campaign of Sicily (1718) until the collapse of the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Cape Passaro. After the disaster, Wall entered the Irish Infantry regiment of Hibernia, under command of the Marquess of Lede. He took then part in the terrestrial campaign of the war, in actions such as Melazzo and Francavilla. In the following campaign - Ceuta (1720-21) -, Wall was aide de camp of the Marquess, and in the end, he was promoted captain of the Regiment of Batavia (of Dragoons).
In 1727, Wall accompanied the Duke of Liria in his embassy to Russia. He was, according to the Duke, "a man in whom put all my confidence, with whom undid my heart in all my misfortunes, that were not few". Liria had also been born in French exile (Saint Germain-en-Laye, 1696) and was son of the Duke of Berwick, descendant therefore of James II of England. The sponsorship of the Duke, based on this solidarity of origin, relaunched the military career of Wall. He was entertained by the king of Prussia: he received the Order of Generosity, and he was proposed as ambassador in Berlin but the project did not prosper. Wall had thus his first contact with the diplomatic world and knew some of the most representative capitals of the continent: Parma, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Saint Petersburg and Moscow.
He returned to Spain in 1729. Between 1732 and 1734, he participated in the expedition to Tuscany that placed Prince Carlos in the throne of Parma. Shortly after, he took part in the War of Naples (1734-35), and in the actions at Capua, Messina and Syracuse. In 1737 entered the Order of Saint James and in 1741, received, in second instance, the "Encomienda" (landlordship) of Peñausende, that included the villages of Peñausende, Peralejos de Abajo, Saucelle, Saldeana and Barrueco Pardo (now in the provinces of Zamora and Salamanca). In 1740 the control of the Regiment of Dragoons of France was granted to him. Finally his colors and the motto of his family, Aut Caesar aut nullus, shone ahead of a regiment.
Field marshal in 1744, he participated in the operations of the campaign of Lombardy (War of the Austrian Succession), being used by infant D. Felipe "in the boldness attacks". Brigadier in 1747, he profited from this campaign to establish a friendship with one of the most important courtier of the moment: the Duke of Huéscar (short afterwards Duke of Alva).
He gave up his military career after being wounded in the action of Plasencia (1746) and entered diplomacy. In May 1747 he was appointed to a temporary mission "restricted only to the matters of the war" in the Republic of Genoa. Some weeks later, the new Spanish State Minister, José de Carvajal, intimate friend of Huescar, posted him to London.
This was a special secret commission in order to negotiate a separate peace with Great Britain. But after his arrival, at the end of September, Wall faced serious difficulties derived from the antipathy of English ministers, because of his Irish and Jacobite roots. In addition he had to suffer the Marquess of Tabuérniga's opposition. Tabuerniga was a Spanish refugee who wished to have the commission Wall was holding. Although the commission failed, Wall remained at London and Tabuerniga was repatriated.
In London he lodged in a mansion on Soho Square, the fashionable part of the city; he enjoyed the intense social life. He was portrayed by Van Loo (picture in the National Gallery, Dublín), he ordered a "Santiago" from Tiépolo for the chapel of his church (in the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest), and sponsored to men like Smollett, whose translation of Don Quixote (1755) is dedicated to Wall.
In 1754 Wall was recalled from London to became Minister of Foreign Affairs, after the death of José de Carvajal. Few months later he had a large share in driving Ensenada from office, helping Huescar and the English ambassador, Benjamin Keene. He retained his position till 1763. Grimaldi was his successor.
The despatches of the English minister, Sir Benjamin Keene, and of his successor, George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, contain many references to Wall. They are creditable to him. Though a constant partisan of peace and good relations with England, Wall was firm in asserting the rights of the government he served. During the early stages of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) he insisted on claiming compensation for the excesses of English privateers in Spanish waters. He frequently complained to the English ministers of the difficulties which the violence of these adventurers put in his way. As a foreigner he was suspected of undue favour to England, and was the object of incessant attacks by the French party.
The new king, Charles III (1759-1788), kept Wall in office. When war was declared by Spain in 1761 the minister carried out the policy of the king, but he confessed to the English ambassador, Lord Bristol, that he saw the failure of his efforts to preserve peace with grief. The close relations of Charles III with the French branch of the House of Bourbon made Wall's position as foreign minister very trying. Yet the king, who detested changing his ministers, refused all his requests to be allowed to retire, till Wall extorted leave in 1763 by elaborately affecting a disease of the eyes which was in fact quite imaginary.
Throughout his ministry he created a network of clients which survived him by several decades and directed Spain during the following reign. Among them: Marquess of Grimaldi, the count of Aranda, the count of Campomanes, Manuel de Roda, the count of Fuentes, or the count of Ricla. Among his committed supporters there were many Irishmen: D. Alejandro O'Reilly, the count of Mahony, the count of Lacy, Diego Purcell, Diego Nangle, Pedro Stuart, Ambrosio O'Higgins, Guillermo Bowles, Bernardine Ward and Carlos McCarthy. Also well-known names as Francisco Perez Bayer, Jose Clavijo y Fajardo, Benito Bails, Celestino Mutis, Jose Agustín del Llano, Bernardo de Iriarte, Bernardino del Campo, Nicolas de Azara, and Juan Chindulza.
The king gave him handsome allowances, and a grant for life of the crown land known as the Soto de Roma, near Granada, which was afterwards conferred on Godoy, and finally given to the duke of Wellington. Wall lived almost wholly at or near Granada, offering hospitality to all visitors, and particularly to English travellers, until his death. He left the reputation of an able minister and a very witty talker.
He died on December 26th, 1777. His testament favored clearly to his confessor, Juan Miguel Kayser, who had practically taken it at the deathbed. The subsequent lawsuit between the natural heirs of the minister, (his cousin Eduardo Wall and his family) and the confessor, clouded his memory for some years. He never married, and did not leave descendants. His closest relative, Eduardo Wall, married the Countess of Armildez de Toledo and his descendants became related to the Count of Fuentes and the Count of Floridablanca.
Some common places and remarks on Wall's life. In spite of Coxe's pages, Wall never was sent on a mission to Spanish America nor did he lay plans for retaking Jamaica from the English. Coxe confuses one John Savy, nicknamed Miguel Wall, with Richard Wall (The National Archives (Kew), State Papers, 94/126). On the other hand Coxe make also some mistakes on Wall's career. The Irishman never was in Holland nor Aquisgran as ambassador.
[edit] Bibliography:
- Coxe's Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon (London, 1815).
- Diario del viaje a Moscovia, 1727-1730, of the duke of Liria (vol. xciii. of the Documentos inéditos para la historia de España), (Madrid, 1842, et seq.).
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “La misión secreta de D. Ricardo Wall en Londres (1747-1748)” in Brocar, 24, 2000, pp. 49-71.
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “Guerra y regalismo a comienzos del reinado de Carlos III. El final del ministerio Wall” in Hispania, 209, 2001, pp. 1051-1090.
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “El caballero D. Ricardo Wall y la conspiración antiensenadista” in DELGADO BARRADO, J. M. y GÓMEZ URDÁÑEZ, J. L. (coords.)
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “L’exil jacobite irlandais et l’Ouest de la France (1691-1716)” in DENÉCHÈRE, Y. y MARAIS, J. L. (dirs.), Les étrangers dans l’Ouest de la France (XVIIIe-XXe siècle). Annales de Bretagne et des Pays de l’Ouest, 109, 2002, pp. 25-40., Córdoba, 2002, pp. 93-138.
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “La supuesta anglofilia de D. Ricardo Wall. Filias y fobias políticas durante el reinado de Fernando VI” in Revista de Historia Moderna. Anales de la Universidad de Alicante, 21, 2003, pp. 501-536.
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “Richard Wall: light and shade of an Irish minister in Spain (1694-1777)” in Irish Studies Review, 11.2, August 2003, pp. 123-136.
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “El grupo irlandés bajo el ministerio Wall (1754-63)” in *VILLAR GARCÍA, M. B. y PEZZI CRISTÓBAL, P. (eds.), Los Extranjeros en la España Moderna Actas del I Coloquio Internacional. Málaga 28-30 de noviembre de 2002, 2 tomos, Málaga, 2003, Tomo II, pp. 737-750.
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “Anson, Wall y el cambio de rol del ‘Lago español’ en el enfrentamiento colonial hispano-británico (1740-1762)”, in Tiempos Modernos, 11, 2004, pp. 1-8.
- TÉLLEZ ALARCIA, D., “El joven Campomanes y el ministro Wall (1754-63)” in MATEOS DORADO, D. (ed.), Campomanes doscientos años después, Oviedo, 2003, pp. 417-431.
