Richard Wesley was born Richard Colley of Castle Carbury, Co. Kildare in 1690. In 1728 Richard inherited the property of his uncle, Garrett Wesley at Dangan, Summerhill and took the surname, Wesley. Richard became M.P. for Trim and served from 1729 until 1746. He set about developing the landscape of Dangan and expended large sums of money on the works. In 1746 he was appointed Baron of Mornington. Mrs. Delany described him as a “good-humoured, agreeable man.” She described the developments at Dangan in 1748 : ‘This place
is really magnificent ; the old house that was burnt down is rebuilding. The gardens and park consist of six hundred Irish acres. There is a gravel walk from the house to the great lake, which contains twenty-six acres, and is of an irregular shape, with islands for wild-fowl. There are several ships, one a complete man-of-war. My godson is governor of the fort and Lord High Admiral; he hoisted all his colours for my reception, and was not a little mortified that I declined the honour of being saluted…” Richard was succeeded by his son, Garrett Wesley, the father of the Duke of Wellington. Richard died at his house on Grafton Street, Dublin in 1758.