Background
Wesley was born at the family estate of Dangan, near Summerhill, a village near Trim in County Meath, Ireland, to Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington, and Elizabeth Sale.
Wesley was born at the family estate of Dangan, near Summerhill, a village near Trim in County Meath, Ireland, to Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington, and Elizabeth Sale.
He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and was elected its first Professor of Music in 1764.
From early childhood he showed extraordinary talent on the violin, and soon began composing his own works. As a composer he is remembered chiefly for glees such as "Here in cool grot" (lyrics by William Shenstone) and for a double Anglican chant. Wesley represented Trim in the Irish House of Commons from 1757 until 1758, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Mornington.
He was elected Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1776, a post he held until the following year.
Of these, the first has since become famous as the name of a London Underground station. Wesley married The Honorary
His godmother, the famous diarist Mary Delany, said the marriage was happy, despite his lack of financial sense and her "want of judgment". They had six children:
Richard, Viscount Wellesley (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842).
Later 1st Marquess Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington.
The Honorary William Wellesley (20 May 1763 – 22 February 1845). Later William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, 1st Baron Maryborough.
The Honorary Arthur Wellesley (c 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852).
Later 1st Duke of Wellington. The Revd and Honorary Gerald Valerian Wellesley (7 December 1770 – 24 October 1848), father of George Wellesley. The Honorary Henry Wellesley (20 January 1773 – 27 April 1847).
Later 1st Baron Cowley.
Lady Anne Wellesley (1775 – 16 December 1844), married (1) The Honorary Henry FitzRoy (younger son of Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton), (2) Charles Culling Smith.
Four of Lord Mornington"s five sons were created peers in the Peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. The Barony of Wellesley (held by the Marquess Wellesley) and the Barony of Maryborough are now extinct, whilst the Dukedom of Wellington and Barony of Cowley are extant.
The Earldom of Mornington is held by the Dukes of Wellington, and the Barons Cowley have since been elevated to be Earls Cowley.
Garret Wesley, Lord Mornington, died in 1781.
He was careless with money, and his early death left the family exposed to financial embarrassment, leading ultimately to the decision to sell all their Irish estates.