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Anne Wellesley, Countess of Mornington

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Anne Wellesley
Countess of Mornington
Born23 June 1742
Died10 September 1831 (aged 89)
Noble familyHill-Trevor
Spouse(s)The 1st Earl of Mornington (m.1759 - d. 1781)
IssueThe 1st Marquess Wellesley
Arthur Gerald Wellesley
The 3rd Earl of Mornington
Francis Wellesley
Lady Anne Wellesley
The 1st Duke of Wellington
The Revd and Hon. Gerald Valerian Wellesley
Lady Mary Elizabeth Wellesley
The 1st Baron Cowley
FatherThe 1st Viscount Dungannon
MotherAnne Stafford

Anne Wellesley, Countess of Mornington (née Hill-Trevor; 23 June 1742 – 10 September 1831), was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat. She was the wife of the 1st Earl of Mornington and mother of the victor of the Battle of Waterloo, Field Marshal The 1st Duke of Wellington.

Life

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Anne was born Anne Hill in 1742. She was the eldest daughter of the banker and politician Arthur Hill, MP, who sat in the Irish House of Commons, and his wife, Anne Stafford. Arthur changed his name to Arthur Hill-Trevor in 1759, and he was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as the 1st Viscount Dungannon in February 1766, giving him an hereditary seat in the Irish House of Lords. Thus, Anne was only known as Anne Hill-Trevor for a short while during 1759, just before her marriage. Her mother was notably eccentric, and her financial extravagance was a source of worry to a family already struggling with mounting debts. She was a friend of Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, the famous Ladies of Llangollen.[1]

Family

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Anne married the then 2nd Baron Mornington in 1759. He was created the 1st Earl of Mornington in 1760. The marriage was said to be a happy one. Anne and Lord Mornington had nine children together, and seven of them survived to adulthood:

Lord Mornington died in May 1781, leaving her and their eldest son Richard, who was 21 then, to raise the rest of the family. She disliked Arthur when he was young. She said that he was "food for powder and nothing more" and constantly worried about his future.[2] In 1785, Lady Mornington went to Brussels to live, as a way to economise. She took Arthur with her and sent him to the Royal Academy of Equitation at Angers, in Anjou, after she returned to Britain in 1786. She was granted a pension of £600 in 1813 by Parliament after Arthur's success in the Peninsular War.[3]

Her husband's titles were in the Peerage of Ireland, entitling him to sit in the Irish House of Lords, which was disbanded following the coming into force of the Act of Union with Great Britain in January 1801. Four of her five sons who survived to adulthood earned titles in Peerage of the United Kingdom, entitling them to sit in the United Kingdom House of Lords, while the fifth, Gerald Valerian, became a bishop, giving him precedence comparable to a peer.

References

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  1. ^ Hibbert, C. (1997). Wellington: A Personal History. New York: Harper Collins.
  2. ^ Hibbert, C. (1997). Wellington: A Personal History. New York: Harper Collins.
  3. ^ Muir, R. (2015). Wellington: Waterloo and the fortunes of peace, 1814-1852. New Haven; London: Yale University Press.