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Sir Victor Wellesley
Personal details
Born
Victor Alexander Augustus Henry Wellesley

(1876-03-01) 1 March 1876 (age 148)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died20 February 1954(1954-02-20) (aged 77)
Westminster, London, England
NationalityBritish
RelationsKate Vaughan (stepmother)
Evelyn Wellesley, Dowager Duchess of Wellington (stepmother)
RelativesDuke of Wellington (great-great-uncle)
1st Earl Cowley (grandfather)
Lord Augustus Loftus (grandfather)
1st Viscount Bertie of Thame (uncle)
5th Earl of Hardwicke (uncle)
2nd Earl Cowley (uncle)
OccupationDiplomat, official
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

Sir Victor Alexander Augustus Henry Wellesley KCMG CB (1 March 1876 – 20 February 1954) was a British diplomatist, Foreign Office official, and author from the aristocratic Wellesley family.[1] During the interwar period, he attempted to reform the Foreign Office to include an economic department in order to better factor in economic conditions and trade in foreign policy, but his suggestions went unheeded. In 1944, he wrote the book Diplomacy in Fetters about the constraints of diplomacy of his era.

Early life and family

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Victor spent his early years living with his mother and paternal grandfather Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, after his father's affair.

Wellesley was born in Saint Petersburg into a diplomatic family, the only son of Col. Hon. Frederick Arthur Wellesley (1844–1931) and his first wife, Emma Anne Caroline Bloomfield Loftus. At the time of his birth, his maternal grandfather, Lord Augustus Loftus (son of the 2nd Marquess of Ely), was Ambassador to the Russian Empire in Saint Petersburg, where his father was serving as military attaché. Lord Augustus was also British Ambassador at both Berlin and Vienna and Governor of New South Wales. His paternal grandfather, Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, nephew to the Duke of Wellington, was British Ambassador to France.[1][2]

His uncles were Francis Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, Charles Yorke, 5th Earl of Hardwicke, and William Wellesley, 2nd Earl Cowley.[2]

Wellesley returned to England as a baby and was baptisted in July 1876 at Draycot Cerne, Wiltshire. He named after his godparents: Queen Victoria and his two grandfathers, Henry, Earl Cowley; and Lord Augustus Loftus.[3] He and his mother resided at Lord Cowley's house during Russo-Turkish War, while his father returned to the continent for the war.[4]

His parents' marriage ended with his father's affair with American burlesque dancer and actress Kate Vaughan

Afterwards, his father was appointed secretary to the British Embassy at Vienna, but he had begun an affair with the American burlesque dancer Kate Vaughan, star of the Gaiety Theatre, London, and was living openly with her in Vienna and London. Attempts were made by the Wellesley family to reconcile the couple, but his father refused to return to his wife. His mother divorced his father in 1882 on grounds of adultery and desertion, and his mother was given custody of him.[4] 1

His father married Vaughan in 1884, but the American left him in 1892 after he experienced financial difficulties. She traveled frequently with her own troop and refused to return to live with him. He divorced her in 1897 on grounds of her adultery with another actor.[5] Vaughan died in 1903. In 1904, his father remarried a third time to Evelyn Wellesley, Dowager Duchess of Wellington, widow of the 3rd Duke of Wellington and daughter of Lt.-Col. Thomas Peers Williams.[6]

Victor was educated privately. He was Page of Honour to his godmother Queen Victoria from 1887–92.[1][7][8]

Career

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Im 1899, Wellesley began his career at the Foreign Office as a clerk. Six years later, King Edward VII appointed him Acting Second Secretary in the Diplomatic Service, and in 1905-06 he was attached to the Embassy in Rome.

14 March 1905 The London Gazette, Issue 27774, Page 2014 …ly pleased to has Foreign Office, February 14, 1905. The KING has been graciously pleased to appoint Victor Alexander Augustus Henry Wellesley, Esq., to be an Acting Second Secretary in His Majesty's Diplomatic Service.

24 January 1908 The London Gazette, Issue 28102, Page 565 Foreign Office, January \, 1908, The KING has been graciously pleased to appoint? Victor Alexander Augustus Henry Wellesley, Esq., to be Commercial Attach^ to His Majesty's Embassy at Madrid and His Majesty's Legation at Lisbon. 

After serving as secretary to the British deletates to the Berne Labour Confer- ence of 1906 he was appointed Commercial Attachd to the Embassy at Madrid and the Legation at Lisbon, and from 1913 to 1916 he held the post of Superintendent of the Foreign Offlce Treaty Department. In 1916 he was appointed Controller of Commercial and Consular Affairs, a post which he held until 1924 with the honorary rank of Assistant Under-Secretary of State. He visited the con- sulates in South and Central America in 1919- 20, and in 1925 he was appointed Deputy Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office, a position which he held until his retirement in 1936.

Following his death, Foreign Office official Frank Ashton-Gwatkin recalled Sir Victor's efforts at reform:


Honours

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Wellesley was appointed a Companion of the Bath (CB) in the 1919 New Year Honours.[10] He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1926 Birthday Honours.[11]

Personal life

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Sir Victor married in 1909 Alice Muriel Stephen, daughter of Oscar Leslie Stephen and Alice Gertrude Greville. His wife was the niece of diplomats George Greville and of Sir Alexander Condie Stephen, and the great-granddaughter of Fulke Greville.[12] They had one daughter died in infancy:

They had a daughter, Anne Muriel Wellesley (22 May 1913 – 20 February 1919), who died in childhood.[2]

She died in 1949. He died in Westminster in 1954.[1]

Art and bequests

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John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, wearing the star of the Order of the Garter owned by Sir Victor Wellesley, who bequeathed it to Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Victor was an amateur artist who exhibited his work at the Royal Academy and in several other exhibitions.[1]

He also had a large collection of art and historic memorabilia. In his will, he bequeathed to Sir Winston Churchill the star of the Order of the Garter that had belonged to his ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.[13]

He left to his cousin Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, all correspondence, official and private, of the Duke of Wellington to his younger brother, Sir Henry Wellesley (Sir Victor's great-grandfather) during the Peninsular War (totaling nine volumes of manuscripts).[13]

He left pottery, of Incan, Egyptian, Phoenician, Persian, Greek, and Chinese origin and other effects, to the Victoria and Albert Museum. He bequeathed oil paintings and watercolours to the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Leighton House Museum, and the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum.[13]

Bibliography

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  • Wellesley, Sir Victor (1944). Diplomacy in Fetters. London: Hutchinson & Co. OCLC 754157241.
  • ——; Sencourt, Robert (1934). Conversations with Napoleon III. London: Ernest Benn. OCLC 458932499.
  • Wellesley, Hon. Frederick Arthur (1947). Wellesley, Victor (ed.). Recollections of a Soldier-Diplomat. London: Hutchinson & Co. OCLC 1308604892.
  • —— (1947). "Foreign Affairs and the Public". Journal of International Affairs. 23 (1). Oxford University Press (OUP): 73–73. doi:10.2307/3017742. ISSN 1468-2346.

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Obituary: Sir V. Wellesley – Foreign Office between the Wars". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 22 February 1954. p. 8.
  2. ^ a b c Burke, Sir Bernard; Burke, Ashworth P., eds. (1934). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage, and Companionage. Vol. I. London: Burke's Peerage. p. 645. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  3. ^ Wiltshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1922
  4. ^ a b "Colonel Wellesley and Miss Vaughan". Liverpool Weekly Courier. 11 November 1882. p. 5. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Miss Kate Vaughan Divorced". Daily News (London). 9 April 1897. p. 3. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference burkes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "No. 25731". The London Gazette. 19 August 1887. p. 4521.
  8. ^ "No. 26322". The London Gazette. 2 September 1892. p. 5013.
  9. ^ Ashton-Gwatkin, F. (26 February 1954). "Letter to the Editor: Sir Victor Wellesley". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. p. 10.
  10. ^ "No. 31099". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 108.
  11. ^ "No. 33179". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 July 1926. p. 4405.
  12. ^ Burke, Sir Bernard; Burke, Ashworth P., eds. (1934). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage, and Companionage. Vol. II. London: Burke's Peerage. p. 2430. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "Wills and Bequests – Sir Victor Alexander Augustus Henry Wellesley". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 15 July 1954. p. 10.
Court offices
Preceded by Page of Honour
1882–1887 		Succeeded by


Category:1876 births Category:1954 deaths Category:Pages of Honour Category:20th-century British diplomats Category:20th-century British writers Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:English people of Irish descent Victor Category:People from Saint Petersburg

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