# Why was Arthur Wellesley named Duke of Wellington? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070 "2014-06-18T15:53:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/1 "2014-06-18T15:53:49Z")
> **[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_wellington)** > > Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a Anglo-Irish statesman, soldier, and Tory politician who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He is among the commanders who won and ended the Napoleonic Wars when the Seventh Coalition defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. > Wellesley was born in Dublin into the Protestant Ascendancy... > **[Wellington, Somerset](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington,_Somerset)** > > Wellington is a market town in rural Somerset, a county in the west of England, situated 7 miles (11 km) south west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town. The town has a population of 14,549, which includes the residents of the parish of Wellington Without, and the villages of Tone and Tonedale. > Known as Weolingtun in the Anglo-Saxon period, its name had changed to Walintone by the time o... As opposed to duke of any other British locale, that is. He was born in Dublin to Anglo-Irish parents and had no personal ties to Wellington that I can find. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/2 "2014-06-18T15:57:21Z")
It was IIRC chosen by his brother when he became a Viscount, as there already was a Viscount Wellselley obviously. He was in Spain at the time and had zero interest in the naming, so elder bro chose a town nearby. Source: Richard Holmes biography of him. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/3 "2014-06-18T15:58:07Z")
According to [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms,_titles,_honours_and_styles_of_Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellington#Peerage_of_the_United_Kingdom): [QUOTE=wiki] His brother William selected the name Wellington for its similarity to the family surname of Wellesley, which derives from the village of Wellesley in Somerset, not far from that of Wellington. [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/4 "2014-06-18T16:08:57Z")
Thanks, guys! I’d obviously overlooked that particular Wiki article. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/5 "2014-06-18T16:10:32Z")
From his biography by Dr Marjorie Bloy: [Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington (1769-1852)](http://www.historyhome.co.uk/pms/wellingt.htm) > [@](#): > > The supreme command of the Portuguese army had been given to him on 6 July with the rank of marshal-general, and in August he had been made captain-general in the Spanish army. For the victories of Oporto and Talavera he was raised to the peerage on 4 September as Baron Douro of Wellesley and Viscount Wellington of Talavera. **The title was chosen by his brother William, apparently to minimise the change of name.** He received the thanks of parliament (26 January and 1 February 1810) and an annuity of £2,000. But the vote of thanks was opposed in both houses, and Lord Grey and Lord Lauderdale entered a protest. The common council of London asked for an inquiry into Wellington’s conduct. He was used as a means of attacking the ministry, which was weak and divided. It had been discredited by the Walcheren failure, and had lost Castlereagh and Canning. Perceval, the new head of it, was inclined to withdrawal from the Peninsula, while Lord Wellesley had joined it as foreign secretary in order to counteract such a policy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/6 "2014-06-18T16:27:32Z")
Am I the only one who misread the title as “Arthur _Weasley_”? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/7 "2014-06-18T16:39:19Z")
No. J. K. Rowling made the same mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/8 "2014-06-18T16:50:03Z")
It would certainly’ve made for a different book if the head of the Weasley clan was a dead war hero and prime minister. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/9 "2014-06-18T17:25:38Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > As opposed to duke of any other British locale, that is. I was surprised to learn a few years ago that the territorial designation doesn’t have to be a place in Britain or even the former Empire or current Commonwealth. After the First World War, [Field Marshal French](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_French,_1st_Earl_of_Ypres) was named the First Earl of Ypres. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/10 "2014-06-18T17:34:43Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I was surprised to learn a few years ago that the territorial designation doesn’t have to be a place in Britain or even the former Empire or current Commonwealth. After the First World War, [Field Marshal French](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_French,_1st_Earl_of_Ypres) was named the First Earl of Ypres. And Field Marshal Montgomery was named Viscount Montgomery of Alamein after World War II. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/11 "2014-06-18T17:53:49Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It would certainly’ve made for a different book if the head of the Weasley clan was a dead war hero and prime minister. I’d read that. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/12 "2014-06-18T18:29:14Z")
No Grantor of honours need consider geographical possession: the usurper Napoleon gave titles from places he had crushed thousands of miles apart. Duc’s of Istria, Dalmatia and Moscowa aren’t of French connection, and that bubble empire meant not of any duration beyond the pathetic. The Wellesley name had been Wesley ten or twenty years before: they upgraded the spelling from nouveau-riche anxiety. And yes, they were related to the gospellers. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/13 "2014-06-18T21:15:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And Field Marshal Montgomery was named Viscount Montgomery of Alamein after World War II. But at least Egypt had been a British protectorate for a bit and maintained a convoluted relationship there during WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-arthur-wellesley-named-duke-of-wellington/691070/14 "2014-06-18T23:25:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And Field Marshal Montgomery was named Viscount Montgomery of Alamein after World War II. And of course there was Earl Mountbatten of Burma, unlike most other “created” Earls already quite the blueblood at birth.