Arms, titles, honours and styles of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 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. Since he did not return to England until the Peninsular War was over, he was awarded all his patents of nobility in a single day. The Duke of Wellington stood as godfather to Queen Victoria's seventh child, Prince Arthur, in 1850. Prince Arthur was also born on the first of May; and as a toddler, young Arthur was encouraged to remind people that the Duke of Wellington was his godfather. The
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Mornington. In 1799, he was granted the Irish peerage title of Marquess Wellesley. He first made his name as Governor-General of Bengal between 1798 and 1805, and he later served as Foreign Secretary in the British Cabinet and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was the eldest son of The 1st Earl of Mornington, an Irish