Family and Education

b. ?1734, o.s. of William Welby of Denton by Catherine, da. of James Cholmeley of Easton. educ. ?Eton 1753; Clare, Camb. 1753; M. Temple 1756. m. (1) 6 Nov. 1766, Penelope (d. Feb. 1773), da. of Sir John Glynne, 6th Bt.^†, of Hawarden Castle, Flints., 1s. 1da.; (2) Mar. 1773, Elizabeth, da. of Robert Cope of Spondon, Derbys., wid. of Thomas Williamson of Allington Hall, Lincs., 5s. 4da. suc. fa. 1792; cr. Bt. 27 June 1801.

Offices Held

Sheriff, Lincs. 1796-7.

Biography

Welby was lord of the manor of Denton near Grantham and in 1802 offered for the borough, in the abeyance of Lord Brownlow’s interest. He and the Duke of Rutland’s nominee thereby thwarted a bid by Sir William Manners, Bt.* to take over electoral control. According to the squibs, he was ‘unaccustomed to business’ and ‘ruled’ by his second wife, said to be a blacksmith’s daughter. He made little mark in Parliament. No speech is known. He supported Addington and Pitt in turn, though a query appeared against his name in September 1804. His vote against the censure of Melville, 8 Apr. 1805, appears to have resolved the doubt. He declined in 1806 and a year later his son became a Member for Grantham. Welby died 6 Nov. 1815 ‘in his 82nd year’.

Complete Collection of Pprs. (Grantham, 1802), 62, 64; Gent. Mag. (1815), ii. 637.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: M. H. Port

Notes