1-153-714 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, British soldier and statesman. Wellesley (1769-1852) commanded the victorious British forces in the Peninsular War, for which he was promoted to Field Marshal and made a duke. In 1815 he inflicted the final defeat on Napoleon at Waterloo. Christened the 'Iron Duke', Wellington served as Prime Minister in 1828-1830, but his intransigent opposition to parliamentary reform led to him being compelled to resign. His death was marked by a grand funeral and the honour of a burial in St Paul's Cathedral alongside the other great British military hero of the Napoeonic Wars, Nelson. Hand-coloured engraving after portrait by Thomas Lawrence.