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Dorothy Violet Ashton (21 August 1885 - July 11, 1956) was an English socialite, author, poet and literary editor. She was born at Maidenhead.
She was the daughter of Robert Ashton, and married Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, on April 30, 1914. After her marriage she used the name Dorothy Wellesley when she wrote (correctly Lady Gerald Wellesley, before she became Duchess in 1934; by that stage she had separated from her husband).
She was the author of more than ten books, mostly of poetry, but including also Sir George Goldie, Founder of Nigeria (1934), and Far Have I Travelled (1952). She was editor for Hogarth Press of the Hogarth Living Poets series. She also edited The Annual in 1929.
She was one of the group of women reputed as lesbian lovers of Vita Sackville-West; they travelled together. She was also close to Hilda Matheson (1888-1940), another of Vita's circle, and shared a Sussex cottage with her from 1928. She was introduced to W. B. Yeats in the mid-1930s, and they developed an intense relationship in 1936, editing a book together.
She had two children:
- Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, b. 2nd July 1915
- Lady Elizabeth Wellesley, b. 26th December 1918.
She died at Withyham, Sussex.
Reference
- Letters on Poetry from W. B. Yeats to Dorothy Wellesley (1940, OUP) edited by Kathleen Raine
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