George Wellesley had been under his command at the time, ran aground at Pearl Rock off Gibraltar in July 1871. He was appointed First Naval Lord in November 1877 and in that capacity he secured a considerable increase in naval construction, for example on the Colossus class battleships, although some of these ships were of doubtful quality. Born the son of Gerald Valerian Wellesley (brother of the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington) and Lady Emily Mary (daughter of Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan), Wellesley joined the Royal Navy in 1828. After initial training at the Royal Navy College at Portsmouth and
Richard Wellesley, 6th Earl Cowley Lord Cowley married Maria, daughter of Enrique Buenaño, in 1971. They had two daughters. He died in December 1975, aged only 29. As he had no sons he was succeeded in the earldom by his uncle Garret Wellesley. Richard Wellesley, 6th Earl Cowley Richard Francis Wellesley, 6th Earl Cowley (12 June 1946–13 December 1975), known as Viscount Dangan from 1962 to 1968, was a British Conservative politician. Cowley was the only son of Denis Arthur Wellesley, 5th Earl Cowley, and his first wife Elizabeth Anne (née Papillon), and was educated at Eton. He succeeded in the earldom on his father's