Wellesley, Richard Cowley, Marquis of

statesman and administrator, born in Dublin, eldest son of the Earl of Morning ton, an Irish peer, and eldest brother of the Duke of Wellington, and his senior by nine years; educated at Eton and Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in cla ics; in 1781 succeeded his father in the Irish House of Peers; entered Parliament in 1784; was a supporter of Pitt, and in 1797 appointed Governor-General of India in succe ion to Cornwall is, and raised to the English peerage as Baron Wellesley; in this capacity he proved himself a great administrator, and by clearing out the French and crushing the power of Tippoo Saib, as well as increasing the revenue of the East India Company, laid the foundation of the British power in India, for which he was raised to the marquisate, and voted a pension of £5000; he afterwards became Foreign Secretary of State and Viceroy of Ireland (1760-1842).