Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley

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The Most Honourable The Marquess Wellesley KG KP PC PC (Ire)
Portrait of the Marquess Wellesley by Thomas Lawrence, c.1813
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office 8 December 1821 – 27 February 1828
Monarch	George IV
Prime Minister	The Earl of Liverpool George Canning The Viscount Goderich
Preceded by	The Earl Talbot
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Anglesey
In office 12 September 1833 – November 1834
Monarch	William IV
Prime Minister	The Earl Grey
Preceded by	The Marquess of Anglesey
Succeeded by	The Earl of Haddington
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 6 December 1809 – 4 March 1812
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	Spencer Perceval
Preceded by	The Earl Bathurst
Succeeded by	Viscount Castlereagh
Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William
In office 18 May 1798 – 30 July 1805
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	William Pitt the Younger Henry Addington
Preceded by	Sir Alured Clarke (provisional)
Succeeded by	The Marquess Cornwallis
Personal details
Born	(1760-06-20)20 June 1760 Dangan Castle, County Meath
Died	26 September 1842(1842-09-26) (aged 82) Knightsbridge, London
Resting place	Eton College Chapel
Nationality	British
Political party	Tory
Spouses	Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland ​ ​ (m. 1794; died 1816)​ Marianne (Caton) Patterson ​ ​ (m. 1825)​
Parents	Garret Wesley (father) Anne Hill-Trevor (mother)
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Signature

Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley,^[1] KG, KP, PC, PC (Ire) (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 Mornington. In 1799, he was granted the Irish peerage title of Marquess Wellesley of Norragh. He was also Lord Wellesley in the Peerage of Great Britain.

Richard Wellesley first made his name as fifth Governor-General of Bengal between 1798 and 1805. He later served as Foreign Secretary in the British Cabinet and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1799, his forces invaded Mysore and defeated Tipu, the Sultan of Mysore, in a major battle. He also initiated the Second Anglo-Maratha War.

Wellesley was the eldest son of The 1st Earl of Mornington, an Irish peer, and Anne, the eldest daughter of The 1st Viscount Dungannon. His younger brother, Arthur, was Field Marshal The 1st Duke of Wellington.