Peerage Record – 10379

     Blanche Dabney married Joseph Edward Johnson.¹

     Philip Louis Johnson was born on 18 October 1985 at Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.^G.¹ He is the son of John Mitchell Johnson and Kira Alexandrine Brigid Cecilie Ingrid Harris.¹

     Hon. Catherine Sarah Dorothea Pakenham was born in 1773.² She was the daughter of Edward Michael Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford and Catherine Rowley.^1,2 She married Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, son of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington and Hon. Anne Hill, on 10 April 1806 at St. George’s Church, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland^G.³ She died on 24 April 1831 at Apsley House, Hyde Park Corner, Mayfair, London, England^G.³ She was also reported to have died on 25 April 1831. She was buried at Stratfield Saye House, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England^G.²
     From 10 April 1806, her married name became Wellesley. On 28 October 1814 Lady Elizabeth Yorke writes of her from Paris ‘her appearance, unfortunately, does not correspond with one’s notion of an ambassadress or the wife of a hero, but she succeeds uncommonly well in her part.³‘
     Miss Edgeworth says ‘charming, amiable Lady Wellington! As she truly said of herself, she is always “Kitty Pakenham to her friends”. After comparison with crowds of other beaux spirits, fine ladies and fashionable scramblers for notoriety, her graceful simplicity rises in our opinion, and we feel it with more conviction of its superiority.³‘ In later years, Catherine and the Duke lived a good deal apart, although they were never formally separated.³ Fortescue states that she ‘was not the right wife for him’. Guedella writes to the same effect at much greater length. Wellington himself complains to Mrs Arbuthnot ‘of the distress it was to him to be united to a person with whom he could not possibly live on any terms of confidential intercourse … he had repeatedly tried to live in a friendly manner with her … but that it was impossible, that she did not understand him … and that he found he might as well as talk to a child … she had so high an opinion of herself and thinks herself so excessively clever that she never tries to accommodate herself to him … her mind was trivial and contracted and, in short, that they never could assimilate in anything.⁴‘

     Edward Michael Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford was born on 1 April 1743.³ He was the son of Thomas Pakenham, 1st Baron Longford and Elizabeth Cuffe, 1st Countess of Longford.^4,5 He married Catherine Rowley, daughter of Rt. Hon. Hercules Langford Rowley and Elizabeth Ormsby Upton, Viscountess Langford of Langford Lodge, on 25 June 1768.³ He died on 3 June 1792 at age 49.³
     He was commissioned in 1761, in the service of the Royal Navy.³ He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for County Longford from 1765 to 1766.³ He retired from the military in 1766, with the rank of Post Captain, late of the Royal Navy.³ He succeeded as the 2nd Baron Longford, co. Longford [I., 1756] on 30 March 1766.¹ He was appointed Privy Counsellor (P.C.) [Ireland] in 1777.³

     Lt.-Gen. Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington was born on 3 February 1807 at Harley Street, Soho, London, England^G.² He was the son of Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and Hon. Catherine Sarah Dorothea Pakenham.¹ He was baptised on 27 June 1808 at St. Patrick’s Church, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland^G.² He married Lady Elizabeth Hay, daughter of Field Marshal George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale and Lady Susan Montagu, on 18 April 1839 at St. George’s Church, St. George Street, Hanover Square, London, England^G.³ He died on 13 August 1884 at age 77 at Brighton Railway Station, Brighton, Sussex, England^G, without issue.³ He was buried on 19 August 1884 at Stratfield Saye House, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England^G.³ His will was proven (by probate) on 18 December 1884, at over £168,000.³
     He was styled as Lord Douro between 1812 and 1814.² He was styled as Marquess of Douro between 1814 and 1852.² He was educated between 1818 and 1824 at Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire, England^G.² He gained the rank of Ensign on 20 March 1823 in the 81st Regiment of Foot.² He was educated in 1824 at Christ Church, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England^G.² He was educated between 1825 and 1830 at Trinity College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England^G.² He gained the rank of Ensign on 26 May 1825 in the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot.² He gained the rank of Cornet on 2 June 1825 in the Royal Horse Guards.² He gained the rank of Lieutenant on 1 July 1827 in the Royal Horse Guards.² He gained the rank of Captain on 8 May 1828 in the Royal Horse Guards.² He gained the rank of Captain on 24 July 1828 in the 60th (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot.² He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) (Tory) for Aldeburgh between 1829 and 1832.² He graduated from Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England^G, on 10 February 1830 with a Master of Arts (M.A.)² He gained the rank of Major on 2 November 1830 in the 60th (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot.² He gained the rank of Major on 2 August 1831 in the Rifle Brigade.² He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 12 August 1834 in the Rifle Brigade.² He graduated from Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England^G, on 6 April 1835 with a honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)² He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) (Tory) for Norwich between 1837 and 1852.² He gained the rank of Brevet Colonel on 9 November 1846 in the Rifle Brigade.² He succeeded as the 2nd Duke of Wellington [U.K., 1814] on 14 September 1852.¹ He succeeded as the 2nd Marquess of Wellington [U.K., 1812] on 14 September 1852.⁴ He succeeded as the 2nd Marquess of Douro [U.K., 1814] on 14 September 1852. He succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Wellington [U.K., 1812] on 14 September 1852.⁴ He succeeded as the 2nd Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington [U.K., 1809] on 14 September 1852.⁴ He succeeded as the 2nd Baron Douro of Wellesley [U.K., 1809] on 14 September 1852.⁴ He held the office of Master of the Horse between 1853 and 1858.² He was appointed Privy Counsellor (P.C.) on 7 February 1853.² He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 4 August 1853 in the Victoria (Middlesex) Rifle Volunteer Corps.² He gained the rank of Major-General on 20 June 1854 in the Victoria (Middlesex) Rifle Volunteer Corps.³ He succeeded as the 7th Baron of Mornington [I., 1746] on 25 July 1863.³ He succeeded as the 6th Earl of Mornington [I., 1760] on 25 July 1863.³ He succeeded as the 6th Viscount Wellesley of Dangan Castle [I., 1760] on 25 July 1863.³ He held the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Middlesex between 1868 and 1884.³
     Lord Borughton states, “he seemed a good-natured, lively, rather rough-mannered man; and his conversation, considering that I never spoke to him but once before, was more free than some would like.”³ “Short in figure and kindly and affable in intercourse, with little of the distinguished personal presence of the Iron Duke, but whose nose proclaims his descent.”³ “Possessing excellent natural abilities, and a large share of acquired information, he never took the place he ought to have taken in public life, but wasted, rather than cultivated, [his] talents.”³ “He took upon himself the herculian taask of arranging and editing his father’s correspondence, which resulted in the publication of twenty-three volumes of the Dispatches … No son ever erected a finer monument.”³

     Major-General Lord Charles Wellesley was born on 16 January 1808.^2,3 He was the son of Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and Hon. Catherine Sarah Dorothea Pakenham.¹ He married Augusta Sophia Anne Pierrepont, daughter of Rt. Hon. Henry Manvers Pierrepont and Lady Sophia Cecil, on 9 July 1844.⁴ He died on 9 October 1858 at age 50.²
     He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for South Hampshire in 1847.³ He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Windsor in 1852.³ He held the office of Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal to HM Queen Victoria.³

     Augusta Sophia Anne Pierrepont was the daughter of Rt. Hon. Henry Manvers Pierrepont and Lady Sophia Cecil.^2,3 She married Major-General Lord Charles Wellesley, son of Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and Hon. Catherine Sarah Dorothea Pakenham, on 9 July 1844.¹ She died on 13 July 1893.⁴
     From 9 July 1844, her married name became Wellesley.

     Rt. Hon. Henry Manvers Pierrepont was born on 18 March 1780.² He was the son of Charles Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers and Anne Orton Mills.^3,2 He married Lady Sophia Cecil, daughter of Henry Cecil, 1st Marquess of Exeter and Sarah Hoggins, in 1818.² He died on 10 November 1851 at age 71.²
     He was Envoy to Denmark.² He lived at Conholt Park, Wiltshire, England^G.⁴

     Major Henry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of Wellington was born on 5 April 1846 at Apsley House, Hyde Park Corner, Mayfair, London, England^G.² He was the son of Major-General Lord Charles Wellesley and Augusta Sophia Anne Pierrepont.¹ He was baptised on 14 May 1846 at St. George’s Church, St. George Street, Hanover Square, London, England^G.² He married Evelyn Katrine Gwenfra Williams, daughter of Lt.-Col. Thomas Peers Williams and Emily Bacon, on 7 March 1882.¹ He died on 8 June 1900 at age 54 at Stratfield Saye House, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England^G, without issue.³ He was buried on 12 June 1900 at Stratfield Saye House, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England^G.³ His will was proven (by probate), at over £104,000 gross, over £93,000 net.³
     He was educated between 1859 and 1863 at Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire, England^G.² He gained the rank of Ensign and Lieutenant on 16 May 1865 in the Grenadier Guards.² He gained the rank of Captain on 1 August 1868 in the Grenadier Guards.² He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) (Conservative) for Andover between 1874 and 1880.² He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 April 1876 in the Grenadier Guards.² He gained the rank of Major on 1 July 1881 in the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards.² He succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Wellington [U.K., 1812] on 13 August 1884.² He succeeded as the 3rd Marquess of Wellington [U.K., 1812] on 13 August 1884.² He succeeded as the 3rd Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington [U.K., 1809] on 13 August 1884.² He succeeded as the 3rd Duke of Wellington [U.K., 1814] on 13 August 1884.¹ He succeeded as the 3rd Baron Douro of Wellesley [U.K., 1809] on 13 August 1884.² He succeeded as the 3rd Marquess of Douro [U.K., 1814] on 13 August 1884.² He succeeded as the 7th Viscount Wellesley of Dangan Castle [I., 1760] on 13 August 1884.² He succeeded as the 8th Baron of Mornington [I., 1746] on 13 August 1884.² He succeeded as the 7th Earl of Mornington [I., 1760] on 13 August 1884.² He held the office of Ambassador Extraordinary to the funeral of Alfonso XII in December 1885.²

     Evelyn Katrine Gwenfra Williams was the daughter of Lt.-Col. Thomas Peers Williams and Emily Bacon.^2,3 She married, firstly, Major Henry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of Wellington, son of Major-General Lord Charles Wellesley and Augusta Sophia Anne Pierrepont, on 7 March 1882.² She married, secondly, Colonel Hon. Frederick Arthur Wellesley, son of Henry Richard Charles Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley and Hon. Olivia Cecilia FitzGerald-de Ros, in 1904.¹ She died on 11 March 1939 at West Green House, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, England^G.³ She was buried on 14 March 1939 at Mattingley, Hampshire, England^G.³
     From 7 March 1882, her married name became Wellesley. After her marriage, Evelyn Katrine Gwenfra Williams was styled as Duchess of Wellington on 13 August 1884.⁴ She wrote the book A catalogue of Apsley House, published 1901.³ In 1910 she translated Billard’s The marriage ventures of Mary Louise.³