The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-24 00:00:00

DEATH OF THE HON. AND REV

DR. WELLESLEY.

The Hon. and Rev. Gerald Valerian Wellesley,
D.D., died on Saturday morning last, at his house,
in Durham College, which he held in virtue of his
being a prebend of the Cathedral. The deceased divine
was the fifth of seven sons of the first Earl of Mor-
nington. His eldest brother was the celebrated Mar-
quis Wellesley ; the second brother, Arthur Gerald,
died in infancy; the third was the late Earl of Mor-
nington, better known as Lord Maryborough ; the
fourth was the Duke of Wellington ; the sixth, Henry,
afterwards became distinguished as a diplomatist, and
was elevated to the peerage as Baron Cowley ; the
seventh, Francis Seymour, died early. Dr. Welles-
ley's path was chosen for him in a sphere very different
from either the military or the diplomatic profession.
After the usual University course, in which he did not
attain any particular distinction, he took holy orders.
In 1827 he was presented by the Bishop of Durham to
the living of Bishopswearmouth, of the declared
value of 2,8991. per annum, and with a population
of 27,000 ; and ins the same year he. was made a
prebendary of Durham. The declared value of his
prebend is 3911., but of course this gives no evidence
of its real value, especially in so rich a district. Dr.
Wellesley was also a chaplain of the Chapel Royal at
Hampton Court. Thus he came within the ordinary
designation of " pluralist;" but, considering the ex-
traordinary interest possessed by his family, and that
the services rendered by his brothers to the State
would have reconciled the public mind to a little
nepotism in his behalf, it cannot be said that he was
allowed to enjoy the advantages derived from his
birth to an extent calling for any reprehension. As
to the animadversions cast upon the late Dr. Wel-
lesley, in common with the other prebendaries and
clerical authorities of Durham, for having, as is al-
leged, profited by leasing mines under Church lands,
the proceeds of which leases were, it was contended,
Church property, not individual property, that is a ques-
tion of legal right which is still matter of dispute,
and on which the courts of equity and law have
hesitated to pronounce a decision. While Dr.
Wellesley held the position he did he was not called
upon to compromise the rights of his contemporaries
or successors. He was never a man greedy of pre-
ferment, or no one could for a moment doubt that
his family interest might have secured him high pro-
motion in the Church. When the Duke of Wellington
became Prime Minister it was universally supposed
that he would elevate his brother to a bishopric ;
indeed, efforts were made by some parties to induce
him to do so ; but in his own emphatic way he de-
clined, and with him "finality " meant something.
He had his own good reasons of course; and if some
may be of opinion that the habits of the soldier little
qualified the Duke to say who should not, any more
than who should, be a Bishop, he could, at least, take
his stand on a resolute determination not to appear as
one given to nepotism.
Dr. Wellesley was born in 1770. In 1802 he
married Emily, daughter of the first Earl of Ca.
dogan. Her Ladyship died in 1839. Dr. Wellesley
has left several children. His eldest daughter,
Emily, married, in 1836, the Hon. and Rev. Robert
Liddell, son of Lord Ravensworth, and vicar of
Barking, in Essex. Another daughter, Georgiana
Henrietta Louisa, married, in 1827, the Rev. G. D.
St. Quentin. A third daughter, Mary, married her
cousin, Viscount Chelsea; and a fourth daughter
married, in 1842, the Hon. George Augustus Liddell,
brother of the Rev. Mr. Liddell, who had married her
sister. Dr. Wellesley had reached his 78th year.
His decease had been long looked forward too as an
occurrence likely to happen, as he had some time
before shown those symptoms of decline which were
so natural to one of his advanced age. Beyond this
notice of his Church preferments and his family
connexions, we have nothing to record of the deceased,
who did not court publicity at any period of his life,
and for many years had resigned himself to the quiet
and unpretending discharge of the easy duties at-
tached to his prebendal stall. In himself he pre-
presented no points of interest to the public; but his
death so far inspires regret and suggests reflection,
as that he was one of those few remaining links
between the past and present contemporaries of his
illustrious brother.