Catherine Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington

Catherine Sarah Dorothea Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington ( Pakenham; 14 January 1773 – 24 April 1831), known before her marriage as Kitty Pakenham, was the wife of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

Early life Catherine Pakenham was born on 14 January 1773 in Dublin, Ireland. A daughter of Edward Pakenham, and the former Catherine Rowley, she became "The Honourable Catherine Pakenham" when her father succeeded as the 2nd Baron Longford in 1776. Among her siblings were Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford; Gen. Sir Edward Pakenham; and Lt.-Gen. Sir Hercules Robert Pakenham, aide-de-camp to King William IV.

Her paternal grandparents were Thomas Pakenham, 1st Baron Longford, and Elizabeth Cuffe, 1st Countess of Longford. Her maternal grandparents were Elizabeth Rowley, 1st Viscountess Langford, and Hercules Langford Rowley, Member of Parliament for County Meath and County Londonderry.

Personal life Pakenham had met Wellesley in Ireland when they were both young, and Wellesley, after numerous visits to the Longfords' Dublin home, made his feelings towards her clear. At the time, her family disapproved of the match as Wellesley was the third son of a large family and had little in the way of prospects. After the rejection by the Pakenhams, Wellesley became serious about his military career, was posted to the Netherlands and India, enjoyed a spectacular rise, and seemingly forgot about Pakenham. Although she remained hopeful that they would be reunited, she admitted to a friend, Olivia Sparrow, after many years that she thought the "business over". She became engaged to Galbraith Lowry Cole, the second son of the Earl of Enniskillen, but Sparrow, who was in contact with Wellesley, revealed that he still considered himself attached to her. After much soul-searching, Pakenham broke off the engagement to Cole, although she believed the stress of the affair had damaged her health.

Marriage to Arthur Wellesley Pakenham had been a pretty, vivacious girl when Wellesley had met her ten years before, but she had been very ill in 1795–6, during his absence, and was thin, pale and in poor health by the time he informed their mutual friend Olivia Sparrow that he was returning to England and that she should "renew the proposition he had made some years ago" on his behalf. Pakenham feared that Wellesley felt bound by promises he had made ten years earlier and was in two minds as to whether to accept the proposal. Despite his more formal proposal after he had obtained her brother's permission, she insisted that he should see her in person before committing himself. Wellesley travelled to Ireland to meet her, and although he was obviously disappointed in the change in her (he remarked to his brother "She has grown ugly, by Jove!"), went ahead with the marriage. The couple were married on 10 April 1806,