His younger siblings included Lady Feodorowna Cecilia (wife of the 1st Viscount Bertie), Lady Sophia Georgiana Robertina (wife of the 5th Earl of Hardwicke), Hon. Cecil Charles Foley (who served in the Royal Navy and died unmarried), and Col. Hon. Frederick Arthur (who married three times, including lastly to Evelyn, Duchess of Wellington, the widow of Henry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of Wellington and sister to William's wife Emily).[3]
Wellesley was educated at Eton before becoming a Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards in 1852.[1] He was made a captain in 1854. He served in the Crimean War in 1855 and the Oudh campaign in India in 1858 for which he was awarded the Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class.[1] From 1860 to 1863, he was Lt.-Col. of the Coldstream Guards.[4]
On 8 August 1863, Wellesley was married to Emily Gwendolen Peers-Williams (1839–1932), second daughter of Col. Thomas Peers Williams MP, of Temple House and the former Emily Bacon (daughter of Anthony Bushby Bacon of Benham Park).[5] Together, they were the parents of:[4]
Lord Cowley died at Draycot House in Wiltshire on 28 February 1895,[7] and was succeeded by his son, Henry.[4] His widow died on 9 November 1932.[3]
References
^ abcG.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 481.