Wellington, Somerset 1215 and during the Middle Ages it grew as a centre for trade on the road from Bristol to Exeter. Major rebuilding took place following a fire in the town in 1731, after which it became a centre for cloth-making. Wellington gave its name to the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, who is commemorated by the nearby Wellington Monument. Following his victory at the Battle of Talavera in the Peninsular War, Arthur Wellesley was offered a peerage. The question was what title should he take. His brother, Richard Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, looked around and discovered that a manor
Graham Wellesley, 8th Earl Cowley executive. The following year the company issued what at the time was the largest ever loan by a peer-to-peer lender – a £8.3million bridging loan to a UK urban regeneration scheme. Graham Wellesley is married to Claire (Brighton) Wellesley, with whom he has two sons and a daughter. Graham Wellesley, 8th Earl Cowley Garret Graham Wellesley, 8th Earl of Cowley (born 30 March 1965), styled Viscount Dangan from 1975 to 2016, is a British hereditary peer and businessman. Previously an entrepreneur in derivatives and foreign exchange trading, he is the founder and CEO of UK alternative lender Wellesley & Co.