| The Earl of Mornington GCH, PC, PC (Ire) |
|
|---|---|
| Chief Secretary for Ireland | |
| In office 1809–1812 |
|
| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister | Hon. Spencer Perceval |
| Preceded by | Hon. Robert Dundas |
| Succeeded by | Robert Peel |
| Postmaster General | |
| In office 1834–1835 |
|
| Monarch | William IV |
| Prime Minister | Sir Robert Peel, Bt |
| Preceded by | The Marquess Conyngham |
| Succeeded by | The Marquess Conyngham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 May 1763 Dangan Castle, County Meath |
| Died | 22 February 1845 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Tory |
| Spouse(s) | Katherine Forbes |
| Alma mater | None |
William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington GCH, PC, PC (Ire) (20 May 1763 – 22 February 1845), known as The Lord Maryborough between 1821 and 1842, was a British politician and an elder brother of the Duke of Wellington.
Contents |
Born William Wesley, at Dangan Castle, Mornington was the second son of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington and Hon. Annie Hill, daughter of Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon. He was the brother of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley. Due to the debts of his father the family was forced into financial stringency which was partially alleviated when his godfather and distant cousin, William Pole, left Wesley his estates in 1781; in recognition of which he changed his name to Wesley-Pole. In 1789 his name was Anglicised to Wellesley-Pole. He was educated at Eton (1774–1776) before entering the Royal Navy, where he served between 1777 and 1783; most notably aboard HMS Lion (launched 1777) at the Battle of Grenada (1779)[1]
A Tory, Mornington was a Member of the Irish Parliament for Trim from 1783 to 1790 and of the British House of Commons for East Looe from 1790 to 1795 and Queen's County from 1801 to 1821. He served as Secretary of the Admiralty under the Duke of Portland between 1807 and 1809 and as Chief Secretary for Ireland under Spencer Perceval between 1809 and 1812 and was also a Lord of the Irish Treasury between 1809 and 1811 and Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer between 1811 and 1812. Mornington was sworn of both the British Privy Council and the Irish Privy Council in 1809. He served in Lord Liverpool's government from 1814 to 1823 as Master of the Mint. In 1821 he was elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Maryborough, of Maryborough in the Queen's County (now Portlaoise, Co. Laois). From 1823 to 1830 he was Master of the Buckhounds and from 1834 to 1835 Postmaster-General. On the death of his elder brother, the Marquess Wellesley, in 1842 he succeeded to the earldom of Mornington.
Lord Mornington married Katherine Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of Admiral John Forbes and granddaughter of the 3rd Earl of Granard and the 3rd Earl of Essex in 1784. They had three daughters and one son, the last of whom inherited his titles on his death in 1845. His daughter Emily Harriet married FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan in 1814.
Another daughter, Mary Charlotte Anne Wellesley married Right Hon. Sir Charles Bagot, Bart., G.C.B., on 22 July 1806. The couple had three sons and five daughters. The family accompanied their parents to Canada on the appointment of Sir Charles Bagot as Governor-General of British North America, on 12 January 1842. As the wife of a Governor-General in Canada, Lady Bagot assumed the title of `Her Excellency`, in Montreal in August, 1842. After her husband's death at Kingston, Ontario on 18 May 1843, she accompanied the remains to England. She died in London on 2 February 1845. [2]
|
|||||||||||||