Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death. Wellesley was born into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family in Ireland as The Hon. Arthur Wesley, the third of five surviving sons (fourth otherwise) of Anne and Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington. His mother was the eldest daughter of The 1st Viscount Dungannon. As such, he belonged to the Protestant Ascendancy. His biographers mostly follow the same contemporary newspaper evidence in saying that he was born on 1 May 1769, the day before he was baptised. His birthplace is uncertain. He was most likely born at his parents' townhouse, 24 Upper Merrion
Lord George Wellesley Military Cross in 1916. Lord Arthur Wellesley married Louise Nesta Pamela FitzGerald, daughter of Sir Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Baronet, and Amelia Catherine Bischoffsheim, on 12 March 1917 at Saint Thomas Church in Manhattan, New York City. She was the widow of his elder brother Richard. Lord Arthur Wellesley was appointed a wing commander in the RFC, with the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel, on 1 October 1917. He gained the rank of squadron leader in 1939 in the service of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR). He fought in the Second World War between 1939 and 1945. He was