Gerald Valerian Wellesley Vanity Fair 8 April 1876

Hon. and Very Rev. Gerald Valerian Wellesley (1809 – 17 September 1882) was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

cleric who became the

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canon (priest), canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilat ...

. A nephew of the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

, he was domestic chaplain to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and played a major advisory role regarding the royal family's personal affairs. He was one of the Queen's chief confidants and often served as an intermediary in her problems and conflicts. In Church appointments he was sensitive to the Queen's preferences: he avoided recommending the appointment of either High Churchmen or teetotallers. He tried to identify and place clergymen who were also high status gentlemen in key parish churches. He was politically nonpartisan, but was a friend of

William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

. He played a prominent advisory role in the ministerial crisis of 1880.

Family

Wellesley was born in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

, the third son of

Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley Order of the Bath, GCB (20 January 1773 – 27 April 1847) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish diplomat and politician. He was the younger brother of the soldier and politician Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of ...

(1773–1847), and his first wife, Lady Charlotte Cadogan (1781–1853), daughter of

Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan Charles Sloane Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan (29 September 1728 – 3 April 1807) was a British peer and Whig politician. Early life Cadogan was the only son of Charles Cadogan, 2nd Baron Cadogan and his wife, the former Elizabeth Sloane. His m ...

. His father was the younger brother of the

1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th cent ...

. His parents divorced in 1810 after his mother's affair with

Lord Paget Marquess of Anglesey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, a hero of the Battle of Waterloo, second in command to the Duke of Wellington. The Marquess holds the subsidiary ...

. On 16 September 1856, at St Mary's,

Bryanston Square Bryanston Square is an garden square in Marylebone, London. Terraced buildings surround it — often merged, converted or sub-divided, some of which remain residential. The southern end has the William Pitt Byrne memorial fountain. Next to ...

, London, he married the Hon. Magdalen "Lily" Montagu (1831–1919), daughter of

Henry Montagu, 6th Baron Rokeby General (United Kingdom), General Henry Robinson-Montague, 6th Baron Rokeby (2 February 1798 – 25 May 1883) was a senior British Army officer of the 19th century. Military career Born the son of the Matthew Montagu, 4th Baron Rokeby, 4th Bar ...

, and his wife, Magdalen Huxley. They had one child, who died at aged 17. *Albert Victor Arthur Wellesley (4 July 1865 – 23 April 1883), godson and page of honour to Queen Victoria

Life

Educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

(graduating MA in 1830), he was ordained in 1831. His first living was a family one at

Stratfield Saye Stratfield Saye is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane and the English county of Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of West End Green, Fair Oak Green and Fair Cross. In 2021 the parish had a popula ...

(1836–1854), during which he became

's resident chaplain (in 1849), leading to his appointment as Dean in 1854. He was

Lord High Almoner The Royal Almonry is a small office within the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, headed by the Lord High Almoner, an office dating from 1103. The almoner is responsible for distributing alms to the poor. The Lord High Almoner is usually a ...

from 1870 to 1882. Tactful and gentlemanly in demeanour, religiously analogous to the queen, and a preacher of short sermons, he became "one of Victoria's most valued advisers", doing "everything on all sad and happy occasions to make me comfortable" and acting as an intermediary between her and

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

on both ecclesiastical and secular matters. Her appreciation of him was summed up in what she required in his successor as dean: :a tolerant, liberal minded broad church clergyman who at the same time is pleasant socially and is popular with all Members and classes of her Household,—who understands her feelings not only in ecclesiastical but also in social matters—a good kind man without pride. Gladstone frequently sought his advice on patronage questions, noting in his diary at the time of Wellesley's death: :'I reckoned his life the most valuable in the Church of England'. Wellesley died in Hazelwood, near

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, and was buried in

St George's Chapel St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar (a church und ...

, Windsor; his widow was appointed "Extra

Woman of the Bedchamber In the Royal Household of the United Kingdom the term Woman of the Bedchamber is used to describe a woman (usually a daughter of a peer) attending either a queen regnant or queen consort, in the role of lady-in-waiting. Historically the term 'Gen ...

" in November 1882.

Memorials

His memorial at

was sculpted by

George Gammon Adams George Gammon Adams (21 April 1821 – 14 March 1898; sometimes spelled George Gamon Adams or George Gannon Adams) was an English portrait sculptor and medallist,1809 births 1882 deaths

Gerald Valerian Wellesley Hon. and Very Rev. Gerald Valerian Wellesley (1809 – 17 September 1882) was a Church of England cleric who became the Dean of Windsor. A nephew of the Duke of Wellington, he was domestic chaplain to Queen Victoria and played a major advi ...

Deans of Windsor Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Canons of Westminster Younger sons of barons People from Stratfield Saye People educated at Eton College Burials in Berkshire Date of birth missing