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Arthur Wesley or Wellesley was born on 1 May 1769 in Dublin,
a son of the Earl of Mornington, a member of the protestant
Anglo-Irish aristocracy that effectively ruled Ireland.
Wellesley was enrolled at Eton but he left aged 15 having
proved disappointing at his studies. Like many younger
sons of the aristocracy and gentry, he found his vocation
in the Army. Even his family had low expectations for
the young man in his new career, however, particularly
when he was compared with his talented older brother,
Richard. Their opinion perhaps also owed something to
the relative poverty of his family at a time when money
and connections were often necessary to achieve promotion
in the Army, but reflected as well a rather detached
and solitary personality given to practising for long
periods on the violin.
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