Arthur Wellesley, 4th Earl Cowley

Lieutenant Christian Arthur Wellesley, 4th Earl Cowley (25 December 1890 – 29 August 1962), known as Viscount Dangan from 1895 to 1919, was an English aristocrat and actor known by the name Arthur Wellesley.

Lieutenant The Right Honourable
The Earl Cowley
Personal details
Born
Christian Arthur Wellesley

(1890-12-25)25 December 1890
Died29 August 1962(1962-08-29) (aged 71)
Spouse(s)
Mae Pickard
​
​
(m. 1914; div. 1933)​

Mary Elsie May
​
​
(after 1933)​
Children6
Parent(s)Henry Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley
Lady Violet Nevill
EducationRoyal Military Academy, Sandhurst
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service5th Lancers
RankLieutenant

Early life

Wellesley was born on 25 December 1890. He was the eldest son of Henry Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley and his first wife, Lady Violet Nevill. His parents divorced in 1897 after which his mother married Col. Robert Edward Myddelton in 1898.[1] From his mother's second marriage, he was the elder half-brother of Idina Joan Myddelton (wife of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe), Ririd Myddelton (who married Lady Mary Petty-Fitzmaurice, sister of the 8th Marquess of Lansdowne), and Thomas Foulk Myddelton.[2] From his father's second marriage to Lady Hartopp (née Hon. Millicent Wilson, the former wife of Sir Charles Hartopp, Bt and daughter of Lord Nunburnholme),[3] he had two more half-siblings:[4] Lady Diana Wellesley (wife of the 2nd Baron Glentoran) and Lady Cecilia Wellesley. From his father's third marriage to Clare (née Stapleton) Buxton (the former wife of Geoffrey Buxton of Dunston Hall, and daughter of Sir Francis Stapleton, Bt),[5] he had a younger half-brother, Hon. Henry Wellesley.[6]

His paternal grandparents were William Wellesley, 2nd Earl Cowley, and the former Emily Gwendoline Peers-Williams (a daughter of Thomas Peers Williams MP for Great Marlow). His maternal grandparents were William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny and the former Caroline Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone (a daughter of Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 2nd Baronet).[7]

Career

He was educated at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the 5th Lancers and was an artillery officer during World War I.[8] When his "father refused to make him any allowance he found himself unable to keep up with the other officers on his army pay and resigned."[9]

Upon his father's death on 15 January 1919, he succeeded as the 5th Baron Cowley of Wellesley, the 4th Viscount Dangan, and the 4th Earl Cowley.[1]

Acting career

Wellesley then spent a few weeks as a cab driver before becoming a "paint room laborer with the Quinlan Opera Company of London. From there he went to the Gaiety Theatre as a chorus man with George Edward's company."[9]

Known on the stage as Arthur Wellesley, he played prominent roles in London in The Hottentot at the Queen's Theatre in London, Betty, and Fallen Angels, and was once leading man with Tallulah Bankhead.[8] He met his first wife while playing in The Girl on the Film.[10]

Personal life

On 24 February 1914, Viscount Dangan married Mae Josephine Callicott, a former New York showgirl who was known as Mae Pickard, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.[9] At the time of his wedding, it was reported that "Lord Dangan was cut adrift by his father some years ago, but is still, or at least was up to the time he married an American show girl, in the good graces of his aunt and uncle, the very wealthy Lord and Lady Hythe. Lady Hythe was the sister of Lord Dangan's mother."[9] Before their divorce in 1933,[lower-alpha 1][12] they were the parents of:[13]

  • Michael Wellesley, Viscount Dagan (1915–1922), who died young.[1]
  • Lady Patricia Mary Anne Wellesley (1918–1944), who served with the Women's Royal Naval Service during the World War II.[14]
  • Denis Arthur Wellesley, 5th Earl Cowley (1921–1968), who married Elizabeth Papillon, daughter of Pelham Papillon, in 1944. They divorced in 1950 and married Annette O'Hara, daughter of Maj. James J. O'Hara, in 1950. After her death, he married Janet Elizabeth Aiyar, daughter of Ramiah Aiyar, in 1961.[15]
  • Lady Colleen Wellesley (1925–2003),[16] who married Dr. Paul Hanlon, a son of Edward F. Hanlon, in 1945.[15]

On 18 June 1933, a day after his divorce from his first wife, he was married to Mary Elsie (née May) Himes by the Rev. Brewster Adams, a Baptist minister, at the home of Harry Atkinson, Lord Cowley's attorney.[17] His new wife, whom he met while "she was working as a hat check girl at a road house near Reno" was divorced from Joseph T. Himes of San Francisco three weeks before their wedding.[17] Together, they were the parents of:

  • Garret Graham Wellesley, 7th Earl Cowley (1934–2016),[18] who married Elizabeth Suzanne Lennon, daughter of Hayes Lennon, in 1960. They divorced in 1966 and he married Isabelle O'Bready in 1968. They divorced in 1981 and he married Paige Deming, daughter of Joseph Grove Deming, in 1981. After her death in 2008, he married Carola Marion Erskine-Hill, daughter of Sir Robert Erskine-Hill, 2nd Baronet, in 2012.
  • Hon. Brian Timothy Wellesley (b. 1938)[15]

In 1935, a forest fire raging over the foothills of the Sierra Nevada threatened Lord Cowley's ranch home, known as Wellesley Ranch, in Lakeview, about five miles north of Carson City, Nevada.[19]

His first wife died in London on 5 June 1946.[20] He died on 29 August 1962. Upon his death, he was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Denis. Upon the 5th Earl's death in 1968, his son Richard succeeded to the earldom. As Richard died without male issue in 1975, the earldom passed to the 4th Earl's second son, Garret, who was succeeded by his son Graham, the 8th, and current, Earl Cowley.[15]

References
Notes
  1. Lord Cowley had sought a divorce from Mae Pickard in London in 1926,[10] but a jury refused it.[11] He had named English actor Humphrey Kent as correspondent.[8]
Sources
  1. 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 III, page 482
  2. A Memoir of Chirk Castle and the Myddelton Family, A.D.1011 to A.D.1859. H. Roberts, printer. 1859. p. 46. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. "SEQUEL TO ENGLISH SCANDAL.; Earl Cowley and Lady Hartopp Are Married in Ceylon". The New York Times. 15 December 1905. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  4. Times, Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To the New York (18 July 1913). "DIVORCES EARL COWLEY.; Countess Once Divorced Herself -- This Is Second Time for Earl". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  5. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (22 January 1914). "Earl Cowley's Third Marriage". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  6. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (9 May 1949). "COUNTESS DIES IN FIRE; Lady Cowley a Victim in England -- 6 Escape Seagry House Blaze". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  7. Walford, Edward (1860). The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Dalcassian Publishing Company. p. 313. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  8. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (28 April 1933). "EARL COWLEY SEEKS A DIVORCE IN RENO; British Peer Accuses Former Actress of Desertion -- London Jury Refused Decree". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  9. "VISCOUNT DANGAN WEDS A SHOW GIRL; Peer Marries Miss Picard, Who Was with Him in the Cast of a Musical Comedy". The New York Times. 26 February 1914. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  10. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (30 May 1926). "LORD COWLEY ASKS DIVORCE; "Actor Earl" Married May Picard, an Actress, Here in 1914". The New York Times. p. 5. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  11. Times, Wireless To the New York (30 October 1926). "EARL COWLEY LOSES HIS DIVORCE SUIT; London Jury Ends Case With Verdict for Wife, Formerly May Picard of New York. COUNTESS IS EXONERATED Ex-Chorus Girl is Cleared of Charge of Misconduct Brought by Actor-Peer Husband". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  12. "LORD COWLEY AT RENO; He Plans to Divorce May Picard, English Actress, Lawyer Says". The New York Times. 15 March 1933. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  13. "DIVORCE TO LORD COWLEY.; Actor to Be Wed Today In Reno to Mrs. Himes of San Francisco". The New York Times. 18 June 1933. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  14. "Wren Lady Patricia Mary Anne Wellesley". www.cwgc.org. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  15. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 937.
  16. "Colleen A. Hanlon". Citizens' Voice. 2 February 2003. p. 33. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  17. "THE EARL COWLEY WEDS; Reno Divorce Followed by His Marriage to Mrs. Mary Himes". The New York Times. 19 June 1933. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  18. "Son to the C. A. Wellesleys". The New York Times. 1 August 1934. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  19. "EARL'S RANCH MENACED.; But Wind Veers Forest Fire From Cowley's Nevada Home". The New York Times. 28 July 1935. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  20. "COUNTESS COWLEY; First Wife of Earl Had Been an Actress Here for Many Years". The New York Times. 6 June 1946. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
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