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Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, asked his shoemaker to modify the style of a Hessian boot. However it was not until Charles Goodyear invented vulcanised rubber in 1852 that wellies were actually made from rubber.

And despite being christened "wellingtons" after Wellesley, rubber boots were in use by Amazonian Indians before the Spanish and Portuguese christened South America. They collected the sap of latex producing trees and treated it with smoke to create various rubber items - including boots.