Why the reference to the wife of the Iron Duke? Is there any evidence this rose was named in 1909 after her? Very unlikely. The Dicksons — "Rose Growers to H. M. the King" — were strong supporters of the British Empire, to which most of their Ulster roses were exported under Imperial Preference. They named many of them after contemporary members of the gentry and aristocracy. Kathleen Emily Bulkeley Williams (1845–1927) and her husband Arthur Charles Wellesley, fourth Duke of Wellington, lived in relative poverty in one of the best houses in London and were prominent at court and in parliament. Both came from military families.