Marianne Wellesley, Marchioness Wellesley ( Caton, formerly Patterson; 1788 – 17 December 1853)G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume IX, p. 238. was the American second wife of

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of ...

, a brother 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 ...

Early life

She originated from

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, where her father,

Richard Caton Richard Caton (1842, Bradford – 1926), of Liverpool, England, was a British physician, physiologist and Lord Mayor of Liverpool who was crucial in discovering the electrical nature of the brain and laid the groundwork for Hans Berger to disco ...

, was a merchant. The family was Roman Catholic, and Marianne's mother, Mary, was the daughter of

Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic signatory ...

(died 1832), the last surviving signatory of the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

Personal life

Marianne first married

Robert Patterson Robert Patterson (January 12, 1792 – August 7, 1881) was an Irish-born American military officer who served in the United States Army during the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the commander of the Pennsy ...

, whose sister

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

(died 1879) was the first wife of

Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon, Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), Kingdom of Westphalia, King of Westphal ...

, Napoleon's brother. The Pattersons (originally spelled Paterson) were wealthy neighbours of the Catons in Baltimore. The couple came to Europe for the benefit of Marianne's health, bringing with them two of Marianne's sisters. One sister, Louisa, married a baronet, Sir

Felton Hervey-Bathurst Colonel Sir Felton Elwell Hervey-Bathurst, 1st Baronet, (178224 September 1819), was an officer in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Early life Born Felton Elwell Hervey in 1782, he was a son of Lieutenant Felton Lionel Hervey and h ...

, in 1813, and after his death married Francis D'Arcy-Osborne, Marquess of Carmarthen, later 7th

Duke of Leeds Duke of Leeds was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1694 for the prominent statesman Thomas Osborne, 1st Marquess of Carmarthen, who had been one of the Immortal Seven in the Revolution of 1688. He had already succeeded ...

. Another Caton sister, Elizabeth, married

George Stafford-Jerningham, 8th Baron Stafford George William Stafford-Jerningham, 8th Baron Stafford (27 April 1771 – 4 October 1851), known as Sir George William Jerningham, 7th Baronet from 1809 to 1824, was a British peer who, in 1824, successfully obtained a reversal of the attainder ...

, as his second wife.

Second marriage

On 29 October 1825 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, following the death of her husband in 1822, she married

, then the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

(since 1821), whose first wife died in 1816, so she became the

Vicereine A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

until 1828. Prior to their marriage, they may already have been lovers. The marquess was short of money and Marianne's inheritance may have been part of the reason for his proposal. Her family disapproved of the marriage because of Wellesley's reputation and his several children by his first wife,

Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Wellesley, Marchioness Wellesley (née Rolland; 5 November 1816) was a French actress who became the mistress, and later the wife, of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley. As an actress, she was known as Gabrielle Fagan. ...

. The marchioness's portrait was painted by

Christina Robertson Christina Robertson Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (''née'' Saunders; 17 December 1796 – 30 April 1854) was a Culture of Scotland, Scottish painter generally remembered for her portraits of House of Romanov, Russian imperial family, representativ ...

; an engraving by Thomas Anthony Dean is held by the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

. She was also the subject of an unfinished portrait by

Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English people, English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was a ...

. In 1830, the marchioness was appointed a

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. A lady of the bedchamber would gi ...

Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (Adelaide Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline; 13 August 1792 – 2 December 1849) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Hanover from 26 June 1830 to 20 June 1837 as the wife of King ...

, the queen of

William IV of the United Kingdom William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

, and held the position until King William's death in 1837. She died on 17 December 1853, aged 65, at

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

, and was buried at

Costessey Costessey ( ) is a town and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, and is north west of Norwich. The civil parish forms part of the Norwich built-up area, Norwich Urban Area. History Costessey lies in the valleys o ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, home of her sister, Lady Stafford.

References

;Sources ;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wellesley, Marianne, Marchioness 1788 births 1853 deaths Irish marchionesses Carroll family People from Baltimore Patterson family (Maryland) Wives of knights