Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley
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The Right Honourable The Earl Cowley KG GCB PC |
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| British Ambassador to France | |
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In office 1852–1867 |
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| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Preceded by | The Marquess of Normanby |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Lyons |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 June 1804 Hertford Street, Mayfair, London |
| Died | 15 July 1884 Albemarle Street, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | Olivia Cecilia FitzGerald (d. 1885) |
| Alma mater | Brasenose College, Oxford |
Henry Richard Charles Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley KG GCB PC (17 June 1804 – 15 July 1884), known as The Lord Cowley between 1847 and 1857, was a British diplomat. He served as British Ambassador to France between 1852 and 1867.
Wellesley was born at Hertford Street, Mayfair, London, the eldest son of Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley, and Lady Charlotte, daughter of Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan. He was a nephew of the 1st Duke of Wellington and the 1st Marquess Wellesley. He was educated at Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford.
Wellesley entered the diplomatic service in 1824, receiving his first important appointment in 1848, when he became Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Cantons. In July 1848 he was sent on special mission to the provisional central power of Germany in Frankfurt. This was followed in June 1851 by his appointment as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the reinstated diet of the German Confederation, a position which he only held for a short time, as he was chosen in 1852 to succeed Lord Normanby as the British Ambassador in Paris. Lord Cowley, as Wellesley had become on his father's death in 1847, held this important post for fifteen years, and the story of his diplomatic life in Paris cannot be separated from the general history of England and France. As Minister during the greater part of the reign of Napoleon III, he conducted the delicate negotiations between the two countries during the time of those eastern complications which preceded and followed the Crimean War, and also during the excitement and unrest produced by the attempt made in 1858 by Felice Orsini to assassinate the Emperor of the French; while his diplomatic skill was no less in evidence during the war between France and Austria and the subsequent course of events in Italy.
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