Henry Wyatt, 1794-1840

Arthur Wellesley was born in Dublin in 1769 son of the 1st Earl of Mornington and Anne, eldest daughter of Viscount Dungannon.  He attended Eton before receiving a commission in the 73rd Infantry.  He gained valuable experience in India from 1797 and returned to England in 1805, the year of the Battle of Trafalgar.  He was elected to house of commons as M.P. for Rye in Sussex but remained in the army. 

He assumed overall command of the British army in 1809 during the Peninsula campaign having assisted the Portuguese to victory over the French at Vimeiro the previous year.  In 1812 the French retreated from Spain where they suffered a further defeat at Toulouse.  Wellesley was appointed Duke of Wellington in 1814 which was followed by his greatest Victory at Waterloo in June 1815.

Wellington returned to politics 1818 and was elected Prime Minister ten years later.  He was a far more gifted General than he was politician and lost a crucial vote on 15th November 1830.  Two days later King William IV invited Earl Grey, leader of the Whig opposition to form a government.

Wellington retired from public life in 1846 and died 1852.  Like his Naval counterpart, Lord Nelson,  he is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

Henry Wyatt was a pupil of Sir Thomas Lawrence, and the present composition derives from Lawrence's portrait of Wellington which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1822 (no.134).