Wesley, Richard (Colley) (c.1690–1758), politician and 1st Baron Mornington , was born Richard Colley, near Edenderry, King's Co. (Offaly), sixth and youngest son of Henry Colley, of Castle Carbery, Co. Kildare, politician and landowner, and Mary Colley (née Usher). Educated privately, he entered TCD in 1706, graduating BA (1711) and MA (1714). Through his father's patronage he became second chamberlain of the court of exchequer (1714), and in 1723 inherited the family estates. Appointed auditor and registrar of the Royal Hospital, he published an account of the hospital's workings in 1725. The death of his cousin Garrett Wesley (1728) meant that he also inherited the extensive properties of Dangan and Mornington, Co. Meath, and on 15 November he took the surname of Wesley in lieu of Colley. Entering the house of commons, he was MP for Trim, Co. Meath (1729–46), returned in his cousin's place at the by-election. Between 1731 and 1746 he sat on fifty-two committees and was active in promoting the interests of his constituency. He was also responsible for the building and endowment of a charter working school in Trim. Appointed governor of the Blue-Coat Hospital in 1732 (a position he held till his death), he was also high sheriff of Co. Meath (1734). A keen amateur violinist and successful landscape gardener, he showed great flair in redesigning his estates, prompting favourable comparisons with work on the Continent. In 1731 he invited a young English widow, Mary Pendarves (later Delany (qv)), to stay with his family at Dangan. She grew to idolise her patron and claimed that she ‘never met with so delightful a man as my hero . . . He values his riches only as they are the means of making all about him happy’ (Delany, i, 248). However, relatively little is known about his political career or personal life. On 9 July 1746 he was created Baron Mornington, taking his seat in the house of lords on 6 October 1747. He died 31 January 1758 at his home in Grafton St., Dublin.
He married (23 December 1719) Elizabeth Sale; they had three sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Garrett Wesley (qv), succeeded as 2nd Baron Mornington and was later promoted in the peerage to become 1st earl of Mornington. All three of his sons were members of the Irish house of commons.