I remember learning in school how he beat Napoleon at Waterloo. Somehow I missed that he also served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, twice. Nor had I realized that technically he was Irish.

Of course, back in 1769, when the Duke of Wellington was born, Dublin, and all of Ireland was firmly British, and would remain that way for another 150 years or so. I knew he was a big deal, and was therefore not surprised to come across this memorial when I was wandering through Central London back in the spring. It’s a big one – not just the statue, but also an arch with a small museum inside (which I didn’t go to).

The memorials don’t tell you much. If you are British you probably absorbed the history as a child. I guess in the colonies he wasn’t as important.