Wellington Boots - Tassel-free Footwear

The weather in Yorkshire is getting colder and wetter. While I dusted off my boots, I recalled the Wellington boot is a Georgian invention, so I thought I’d dig deeper into how that staple of British footwear came into existence.

If you were not aware, they named the Wellington boot after its creator—the famous British army general, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. Well, he didn’t create it; he asked his shoemaker, Mr George Hoby (who had a shop in St James Street, London) to make it for him.

The Duke of Wellington at Waterloo. By James Lonsdale, 1815. Portrayed here wearing tasselled Hessian boots. Public Domain.

Military uniforms influenced domestic fashion and dress uniforms (in Britain it was the smart red coats, gold braiding and fringed epaulettes for the army, and navy-blue coats for the navy) were designed to stand out and impress young men to join up, so they, too, could look dashing in uniform.

From the 1790s, British army officers wore boots called Hessians, which were named after the German mercenaries recruited to fight alongside the British during the American War of Independence (1775-1783).

Hessians were made of calfskin leather, knee high with a pointed toe, and featured a curved top with a V shape cut into the front. The top was trimmed with braid, and a tassel sat at the point of the V. Fashionable gents about town, like Beau Brummell, also adopted these boots.

The Duke of Wellington wanted a more comfortable and utilitarian boot, without the annoying tassels, so he asked Mr Hoby to remove the trim and tassel, cut the boot lower and give it a rounder rather than pointed toe. Sources conflict as to exactly when Wellington started wearing his new boots, but by 1813, Wellington’s fame grew after the Battle of Vittoria and others were keen to follow his lead and wear the new style of boot, which became known as a Wellington boot.

Examples of the Iron Duke’s original boots are displayed in his London home, Apsley House, and his country residence, Walmer Castle, near Dover.

Wellingtons remained fashionable until the 1860s when ankle boots rose in popularity. However, they continued to be worn by senior officers in the British army until the First World War.

Following the invention of vulcanised rubber, in 1852, American industrialist Hiram Hitchinson bought the patent to manufacture rubber footwear. He established his company in France, where ninety-five per cent of the population worked in agriculture and their clogs provided little protection from the weather. His new rubber boots were a practical and affordable solution and became a massive success.

Meanwhile, in Britain, the North British Rubber Company also manufactured rubber or “gum” boots from 1856. Because the Iron Duke continued to hold patriotic sway over consumers, they named them Wellingtons.

The terrible conditions in the trenches during the First World War, led the War Office to commission the North British Rubber Company to manufacture millions of rubber boots, which became standard issue to combat trench foot. Soldiers brought their wellies home when they returned from war, and they were quickly adopted as practical footwear for farmers and gardeners.

The North British Rubber Company later became Hunter Boot Ltd, and continues to supply the British royal family with their wellies.