Richard, Marquis Wellesley, older brother of the 1^st Duke of Wellington, was created Knight of the Garter in 1810. The connection between the Duchess of Albany and Richard Wellesley is obscure. Wellesley was a popular figure in Regency England. He was separated from his wife after about 1812, and was known to be a "ladies' man." He was also sympathetic to the Catholics in England and was in favour of Catholic emancipation. That he should have had cordial relations with the duchess of Albany, the daughter of Charles Edward Stewart by his mistress, Miss. Walkenshaw, is perfectly possible.
The written inscription on the box offered here can most likely be taken at face value. The Duchess of Albany had inherited her father's Garter Jewels on his death in 1788. It is known that the Prince Regent sent his agent Sir Ralph Payne to Italy in that year with instructions to purchase if possible the Garter Jewel worn by Charles I on the scaffold. Payne was unsuccessful, and for twenty years the history of the George and other Jewels is unknown. In 1811 however the "Scaffold George" appears in the possession of Richard Wellesley, and was in the hands of the Duke of Wellington in 1843. A written note with this lot states that this Lesser George, together with a "sash" was given to the 8^th Duke of Beaufort by the 2ⁿd Duke of Wellington in 1866. The 8^th Duke was aide-de-camp to the 2ⁿd Duke of Wellington, and named his eldest son Henry Adelbert Wellington Fitzroy. The close family connections which had developed in the previous generation were clearly still strong.