The Earl of Cowley | |
|---|---|
 Caricature of Viscount Dangan, published in Vanity Fair, 12 January 1889. | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Henry Arthur Mornington Wellesley 14 January 1866 Wilton Place, London |
| Died | 15 January 1919 (aged 53) Chippenham, Wiltshire |
| Spouse(s) |
Lady Violet Nevill
(m. 1889; div. 1897)Hon. Millicent Wilson
(m. 1905; div. 1913)Clare Stapleton
(m. 1914) |
| Relations | Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley (grandfather) Thomas Peers Williams (grandfather) |
| Parent(s) | William Wellesley, 2nd Earl Cowley Emily Gwendoline Williams |
| Education | Eton College |
Henry Arthur Mornington Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley JP (14 January 1866 – 15 January 1919), styled as Viscount Dangan between 1884 and 1895, was an English aristocrat.
Henry was born at Wilton Place, London on 14 January 1866. He was the eldest son of William Wellesley, 2nd Earl Cowley (1834–1895) and the former Emily Gwendoline Peers-Williams (1839–1932). His only sibling, Lady Eva Wellesley, married, as his second wife, Randolph Wemyss, Laird of Wemyss Castle and Chief of Clan Wemyss.[1]
His mother was the second daughter of Col. Thomas Peers Williams MP for Great Marlow and the former Emily Bacon (a daughter of Anthony Bushby Bacon of Elcott). His paternal grandparents were Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley (the eldest son of Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley and Lady Charlotte Cadogan, the daughter of the 1st Earl Cadogan) and the Hon. Olivia Cecilia FitzGerald (a daughter of the 20th Baroness de Ros and Lord Henry FitzGerald, the fourth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster). His grandfather, the 1st Earl Cowley, was Queen Victoria's Ambassador to France for fifteen years and was a nephew of the 1st Duke of Wellington and the 1st Marquess Wellesley. Lord Cowley's aunt, Lady Feodorowna Wellesley, was married to Francis Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame,[1] who also served as the British Ambassador to France.[2]
He attended Eton College between 1880 and 1881.[3]
He was a Captain in the Wiltshire Regiment and gained the rank of Lieutenant in 1893 in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars. Upon his father's death in 1895, he became the third Earl Cowley. Between 1899 and 1900, Lord Cowley fought in the Boer War with the Imperial Yeomanry.[3]
He held the office of Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire.[3]
In 1888 he was sued for breach of promise by the actress and Gaiety Girl Phyllis Broughton. The case was settled for £2,500. His lawyers emphasised that the ending of the engagement was not related to the actress's character.[4]
On 17 December 1889, he was married to Lady Violet Nevill, at St George's Church in Hanover Square, London. the daughter of William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny and the former Caroline Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone (a daughter of Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 2nd Baronet).[5] Before she divorced him on 2 February 1897 alleging "misconduct", they were the parents of one son:[1][a]
He married, secondly, Hon. Millicent Florence Eleanor (née Wilson) Cradock-Hartopp (1872–1952) on 14 December 1905 at Colombo in Sri Lanka.[9] Millicent, the divorced wife of Sir Charles Cradock-Hartopp, 5th Baronet, was a daughter of Charles Wilson, 1st Baron Nunburnholme and the former Florence Jane Helen Wellesley. In 1912, while still married to his second wife, Lord Cowley was a named as a correspondent in the divorce suite of Geoffrey Charles Buxton against his wife. Before she divorced him in 1913, citing his "desertion and misconduct with Mrs. G.C. Buxton".[10] They were the parents of:
His third, and final, marriage was to Clare Florence Mary (née Stapleton) Buxton on 19 January 1914.[12] Clare, who was by then divorced from her husband Geoffrey Buxton of Dunston Hall, was a daughter of Sir Francis Stapleton, 8th Baronet and Mary Catherine Gladstone. They were the parents of:[1]
Lord Cowley died at Chippenham in Wiltshire on 15 January 1919, at age 53.[3] He was buried at Chippenham.[1] His widow, the Dowager Countess of Cowley, died in a fire on 8 May 1949.[15]