His name was Arthur Wellesley, and he was the first Duke of Wellington.
He was an Anglo-Irish soldier-statesman whose career dominated British and also European history in the first half of the 19th century.
Wellington was one of the greatest generals Britain ever had. He drove the French out of Portugal and Spain in the Peninsular War and then he defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.
Wellington went on to become prime minister from 1828 to 1830 but he resisted reform which temporarily clouded his otherwise immense popularity.
In his last years people overlooked this and accorded him the veneration usually given to that only given to kings.