Wellington Today Wellington Today 2018 en | Page 34

WE ARE WELLINGTON
ABOUT ARTHUR WELLESLEY THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON
ABOUT ARTHUR WELLESLEY
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington was the most celebrated man in Britain, Europe and
around the world during the 19 th century. His influence was enormous. We understand
celebrities, but in our age, they are mostly opportunists and entertainers of one sort or another,
as they flash across our television screens and appear in newspaper. Arthur Wellesley was from
a different mould. His reputation is one that persists unchallenged in today’s unheroic age, in
company with a small number of truly authentic and historically significant British characters.
Arthur Wellesley first came into prominence in 1808, when, first as expeditionary force
commander and later commander-in-chief, he turned around the fortunes of Britain’s
expeditionary force in the Iberian Peninsula, which, in alliance with Portuguese and Spanish
armies, was fighting against the invading French army. In 1815, he commanded the allied army
and defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Wellington’s battle record is exemplary; he ultimately
participated in some 60 battles during the course of his military career.
Among his huge number of honours – holding every rank in the peerage by merit and
appointed field marshal in the armies of eight countries – Wellington held the office of
Warden of the Cinque Ports, the ancient first-line land defenses against European invaders.
It was at Walmer Castle, Kent, his official residence, that the great man died quietly in his
sleep on 14 September 1852. Queen Victoria, then at Balmoral, received the news with
great dismay and genuine grief. ‘For his country’, she wrote in her journal, ‘and for us his loss
is irreparable! He was the GREATEST man this country has ever produced and the most
devoted and loyal subject, and the staunchest supporter the Crown has ever had.’
It is reputed that an immediate discussion about a national memorial for the Duke took place
between Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Edward Geoffrey Stanley, Lord Derby, the prime
minister of the day, who happened to be visiting the castle.
The fervour to set up national and local institution of every kind was among the most
significant features of Victorian Britain. The foundation, therefore, of a college with a name
of the famous Duke of Wellington seemed an intuitive response. Thus, was born the idea of
Wellington College.
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