Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley

Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley GCB (20 January 1773 – 27 April 1847) was a British diplomat and politician.

Wellesley was the fifth and youngest son of Garret Wellesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, by the Honourable Anne Hill-Trevor, eldest daughter of Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon. He was the younger brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley and William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington. He was educated at Eton and at the court of the Duke of Brunswick. He purchased an Ensigncy in the 40th Foot in 1790.

Wellesley's diplomatic career began in 1791 when he was appointed attaché to the British embassy at The Hague. The next year, he became Secretary of Legation in . In 1791 he exchanged into the 1st Foot Guards and in 1793 he purchased a Lieutenantcy. In 1794, while on a trip home from Lisbon with his sister Anne, he was captured by the French, and remained in prison during the height of the terror, escaping only in 1795. In the latter year he sat for Trim in the Irish House of Commons.

At the 1807 general election he was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a Member of Parliament (MP) both for Athlone in Ireland and for Eye in England. He chose to sit for Eye, and held the seat until his resignation in 1809 by taking the Chiltern Hundreds.

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