Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington after "half a lifetime together, they had come to understand each other at the end". He had found consolation for his unhappy marriage in his warm friendship with the diarist Harriet Arbuthnot, wife of his colleague Charles Arbuthnot. Harriet's death in the cholera epidemic of 1834 was almost as great a blow to Wellington as it was to her husband. The two widowers spent their last years together at Apsley House. Wellington died at Walmer Castle in Deal on 14 September 1852. This was his residence as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Walmer Castle was said to have been
Cinque Ports 'limbs'. The five ports are supported by the two so-called Ancient Towns of Rye and Winchelsea, whose councils traditionally maintained defence contingents for the realm of England. Apart from the five ports and the two Ancient Towns, there are seven other members of the Confederation, which are considered to be Limbs of the other towns. These are: There are in addition some 23 towns, villages and offices which have varying degrees of connection to the ancient "Liberties of the Cinque Ports", which are expressly mentioned in the Magna Carta of 1297 (clause 9). The coastal confederation during its mediaeval period