The origin of the name is unclear, with no definite connection to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.[1]
Leah Hyslop, writing in The Telegraph, observes that by the time Wellington became famous, meat baked in pastry was a well-established part of English cuisine, and that the dish's similarity to the French filet de bœuf en croûte (fillet of beef in pastry) might imply that "Beef Wellington" was a "timely patriotic rebranding of a trendy continental dish".[2] However, she cautions, there are no 19th century recipes for the dish. There is a mention of "fillet of beef, a la Wellington" in The Los Angeles Times of 1903, but the first occurrence of the dish itself is in the Oxford English Dictionary which cites a 1939 New York food guide with "Tenderloin of Beef Wellington" which is cooked, left to cool and rolled in a pie crust.[2]
Clarissa Dickson Wright argues that "This dish has nothing to do with that splendid hero, the Duke of Wellington; it was invented for a civic reception in Wellington, New Zealand, but it is a splendid addition to any party."[3]