William Henry George Wellesley

William Henry George Wellesley
Born	2 February 1806 Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England
Died	21 December 1875(1875-12-21) (aged 69) Islington, Middlesex, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Naval officer

William Henry George Wellesley (1806-1875) was an officer in the Royal Navy, and a member of the influential Wellesley family.^[1] His uncle Richard inherited the title Earl of Mornington in the Irish House of Lords, and then Richard, his uncles William and Arthur were made members of the UK House of Lords. His father was made Baron Cowley, in 1828. His eldest brother Henry was made an Earl, in 1847.

He was given command of HMS Sapphire from 1830 to 1832, and assumed command of HMS Winchester from 1832 to 1833.^[2] During this time surveys he conducted contributed to the navigation around the South Atlantic coasts of Africa and South America, and the waters around Australia.^[3][4]

His uncle Gerald and younger brother, also named Gerald were senior Anglicans, Chaplain of the Royal Household and Dean of Windsor, respectively. Wellesley however converted, joining the Plymouth Brethren, an evangelical sect, in the 1840s.^[1] The sect were pacifists, and Wellesley resigned his commission and left the Navy, when he converted.

References

1. Peter Brock (March 1984). "The Peace Testimony of the Early Plymouth Brethren". Vol. 53, no. 1. doi:10.2307/3165954. JSTOR 3165954. Retrieved 14 May 2020. Lang, p. 130. Pickering, Henry, Chief Men among the Brethren, 2d ed. (London, 1931), Google Scholar cites a number of examples, including that of Captain the Honorable William Henry George Wellesley, nephew of the Iron Duke, who resigned his commission at the beginning of the 1840s; see pp. 19–21, 40, 41, 55, 56, 74, 198, 199, 208
2. Christine Kelly (July 1976). "The RGS Archives, Part III: America, the Antarctic and the Arctic". The Geographical Journal. Vol. 142, no. 2. p. 289. JSTOR 1796602. Wellesley, Captain the Hon. William. Out-letter book, HMS Sapphire on voyage England-Brazil-Nova Scotia, 1830-32 and HMS Winchester on voyage Nova Scotia-Jamaica-England, 1832-33
3. The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle: A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs. Vol. 4. Simpkin, Marshall, and Company. 1835. pp. 133, 393. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
4. Alexander G. Findlay (1867). A Sailing Directory for the Ethiopic Or South Atlantic Ocean, Including the Coasts of South America and Africa. R.H. Laurie. pp. viii, 11, 85, 287, 307, 308, 358. Retrieved 14 May 2020.