Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland

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The Right Honourable

The Countess of Mornington
Portraint by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
Portraint by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
Born
Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland

c. 1760
Paris, France
Died5 November 1816(1816-11-05) (aged 55–56)
Teddesley Hall, Staffordshire, U.K.
Resting placeSt. Michael's Church, Penkridge, Staffordshire, U.K.
NationalityFrench
Other namesHyacinthe-Gabrielle Fagan
Spouse(s)
Children

Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Wellesley, Countess of Mornington (née Roland; c. 1760 – 5 November 1816),[1] was a French actress who became the mistress, and later the wife, of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley. As an actress, she was billed as Gabrielle Fagan.

Through her daughter Anne, Wellesley is the great-great-great grandmother to Queen Elizabeth II.

Parentage[]

She was born in Paris between 1760 and 1771 to Pierre Roland and Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Varis. There were rumors Roland's biological father was Christopher Alexander Fagan, and she was later adopted by Pierre Roland.[2][3]

Her birth year is also unproven. The University of Southampton, which houses the Wellesley family papers, estimates her birth year to be 1760.[4] The Complete Peerage and Burke's Peerage estimate her birth year to be between 1766 and 1771 in editions published since her death.[5][6]

Marriage[]

Richard Wellesley, the son of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, met Roland at the Palais Royal where she was an actress. She spoke no English at the time; however they lived together for some years without marrying. In 1781, Richard Wellesley succeeded as 2nd Earl of Mornington. He and Roland married on 29 November 1794 at St George's, Hanover Square, London.[5] Prior to their marriage, they had three sons and two daughters who were then legitimated:

Upon her marriage, Roland became the Countess of Mornington, but remained a social outcast. In 1799, her husband was created the 1st Marquess Wellesley, making Roland a courtesy marchioness. However, this elevation did not change her social standing. Even the famously casual Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne refused to call on Roland, and scolded her daughter-in-law, Lady Caroline Lamb, severely for doing so: "you are the only woman with any pretensions to character who ever courted Lady Wellesley's acquaintance".[9]

Separation and death[]

Memorial at St. Michael's Church, Penkridge.

In the course of their marriage, Wellesley had at least two illegitimate sons by another mistress, Elizabeth Johnston. In 1797, when Wellesley was obliged to travel to India in his capacity as Governor General, Roland did not accompany him, although he tried repeatedly to persuade her.[10] There is some evidence that she was already seeking a legal settlement for divorce prior to Wellesley's departure.[11]

By 1801, Roland's letters detailed accusations of her husband's infidelity with another Frenchwoman, Madame de Cocrement, and of neglect of his family.[12] Upon Wellesley's return to Britain, he purchased Apsley House as a family home, but the they were again estranged. Soon thereafter Wellesley took another mistress. They formally separated in 1810, and Roland left the Apsley House. She lived for a time in Grosvenor Square and then in Great Cumberland Place.[12]

Roland died on 5 November 1816 at Teddesley Hall, Staffordshire, a house belonging Edward Littleton, MP, husband to her daughter Hyacinthe-Marie.[1][13] She was laid to rest at St. Michael's Church in Penkridge.

Ancestry[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Hyacinth Gabrielle Roland Wellesley (1766-1816)". Find a Grave. 2020-12-26. Retrieved 2021-05-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Marshall, P. J. (1975-07-01). "The Eldest Brother: the Marquess Wellesley 1760-1842". The English Historical Review. XC (CCCLVI): 657–657. doi:10.1093/ehr/xc.ccclvi.657. ISSN 0013-8266.
  3. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland. London. 1958. p. 262.
  4. ^ "MS 63 Carver manuscripts | Special Collections | University of Southampton". www.southampton.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  5. ^ a b G.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 IX, page 236.
  6. ^ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. Burke's Irish Family Records. London, U.K.: Burkes Peerage Ltd, 1976. Page 400
  7. ^ Margaret Makepeace. "British Library Untold Lives blog - Gerald Wellesley's secret family". Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  8. ^ Bayly, C. A. "Wellesley [formerly Wesley], Richard". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ^ Lord David Cecil "Lord Melbourne" Pan Books Edition 1965 p.91
  10. ^ Butler, Iris (1973). The Eldest Brother - the Marquess Wellesley 1760-1842. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
  11. ^ Joanne Major, Sarah Murden (30 November 2016). A Right Royal Scandal: Two Marriages That Changed History. ISBN 9781473863422. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  12. ^ a b Joanne Major; Sarah Murden (30 November 2016). A Right Royal Scandal: Two Marriages That Changed History. Pen and Sword. pp. 17–. ISBN 978-1-4738-6342-2.
  13. ^ "WALHOUSE (afterwards LITTLETON), Edward John (1791-1863), of Teddesley Park, Staffs". History of Parliament. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
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