Whence
Wellington boots (wellies)
Fashion

Where does Wellington boots (wellies) come from?

Wellington boots come from London, England. They are named after the 1st Duke of Wellington, whose London bootmaker reworked a military riding boot for him in the early 1800s. The waterproof rubber 'welly' came decades later.

The Duke's new boots

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, asked his bootmaker, Hoby of St James's Street in London, to modify the Hessian boot, an 18th-century military boot with a tassel at the top. The new boot was made of soft calfskin, with the trim removed, a heel of about an inch and a closer fit around the leg, stopping at mid-calf. It was tough enough for riding yet smart enough for evening wear. A pair made by George Hoby survives at Walmer Castle in Kent.

From leather to rubber

After Wellington's victory at Waterloo in 1815, the style became highly fashionable in London society. Patriotic gentlemen copied their war hero, dandies such as Beau Brummell wore them, and they stayed the main fashion for men through the 1840s. Rubber came next. In 1852 Hiram Hutchinson bought the right to make footwear with Charles Goodyear's vulcanised rubber, and in 1853 he opened a factory in France, where farmers used to wooden clogs took to the waterproof boots at once.

Why people say Wellington, New Zealand

New Zealand's capital is named after the same man. Settlers of the New Zealand Company gave Wellington its name in November 1840, honouring the Duke for supporting the company's plans; his own title comes from Wellington, a town in Somerset, England. In New Zealand rubber boots are called gumboots, and the rural town of Taihape calls itself the 'gumboot capital of the world', with a giant corrugated-iron gumboot and a gumboot-throwing contest.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org › Wellington boot ↗ · ageofrevolution.waterlooassociation.org.uk ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Wellington ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Taihape ↗ · teara.govt.nz ↗

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