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Why did Arthur Wellesley change the spelling of his family name from Wesley to Wellesley?
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Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington, oil on canvas by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Arthur Wellesley did not personally initiate the change of his family name from Wesley to Wellesley; rather, the change was adopted by his older brother, Richard Colley Wellesley, in 1789. Arthur subsequently adopted the spelling Wellesley in 1798.12