F10195_0014

3.

Boyhood & early life.

A short account of his early life may not be
amiss. After some primary Education at
Trim, the chief town of Co: Meath, he was
sent to Harrow. But he remained there only
a few months, being one of those boys to be
expelled for rebelling against the appointment
of a new headmaster, in favour of
another candidate. In 1771, therefore, he was
sent to Eton, where perhaps were sown in
him & his brother Arthur the seeds of their
greatness. He remained there for seven years,
during which time he secured for himself
the reputation of a good scholar, & gained

*
Note to page 2
Hutton in his "Marquess Wellesley K.G" writes
of Wellesley's family: - "An ancient family
of Irish gentlemen giving birth in one of its
branches to the great religious leader of the
Eighteenth century, the house of Wesley. He has,
however, confused the family of the four brothers -
that of Colley or Wesley with the totally
different house of Westley, a Devonshire family
from which the great John Wesley sprang. Indeed,
the noble name of Wellesley was only
adopted by the grandfather of the brothers on
his succeeding to property, & the family is in
reality that of Colley. Curiously enough, however,
both families had ancestresses of the
Wellesley family. Hence Hutton's mistake.