Reginald Earle Welby, 1st Baron Welby GCB, PC (3 August 1832 – 30 October 1915) was a British peer, former

Permanent Secretary to the Treasury The UK Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is the most senior civil servant at HM Treasury. The post originated as that of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury in 1805; that office was given new duties and renamed in 1867 as a Permanent Secretaryship ...

and former President of the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

Early life and education

Born in his father's rectory at

Harston Harston is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, located around 5 miles (8 km) south of Cambridge. In 2011, it had a population of 1,740. Village Sign The village sign was erected in the Queen's Silver Jubilee yea ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, he was the seventh child of the Reverend John Earle Welby (1786–1867), a younger son of

Sir William Earle Welby, 1st Baronet Sir William Earle Welby, 1st Baronet (c. 1734 – 6 November 1815) was a British land-owner, baronet and Member of Parliament for Grantham from 1802 to 1806. He also served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire from 1796 to 1797. Early life William ...

. His mother was Felicia Elizabetha Hole (1797–1888), the daughter of the Reverend Humphrey Aram Hole (1763–1814) and his wife Sarah Horne (1775–1853), daughter of George Horne,

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in the ...

. His younger sister, Felicia Elizabetha Welby (1835–1927), became the wife of

Montague Bertie, 11th Earl of Lindsey Montague Peregrine Bertie, 11th Earl of Lindsey, DL (26 December 1815 – 27 January 1899), styled The Honourable Montague Bertie until 1877, was an English nobleman, soldier, and landowner, the second son of Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey ...

. Welby was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

where he became known amongst his friends as a "great footballer". He then went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, hoping for a career as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

following graduation, although his hopes never realised themselves. Instead he entered the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

as a clerk in the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

in 1856 having graduated from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1855.

Career

Welby held many posts during his tenure at the Treasury and was appointed Assistant Financial Secretary in 1880. In 1885, he succeeded Lord Lingen as

, holding this office until his retirement in 1894. Following his retirement, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Welby, of Allington in the County of Lincoln, on 16 April 1894, although he did not play a great part in debates in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He was appointed a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1913. Lord Welby also became an alderman of

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

, eventually becoming its Chairman, and served as President of the International Free Trade Congress.

Personal life

Lord Welby was involved in a motorcar accident in December 1914, which he recovered from; however, his subsequent instability caused his death in the autumn of 1915. A bachelor, he left no heir'Welby', ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online ed., Oxford University Press, April 2014 http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U192097 (subscription required) accessed 18 November 2015 and the barony expired on his death.

Titles and honours

* Mr Reginald Welby (1832–1874) * Mr Reginald Welby CB (1874–1882) * Sir Reginald Welby KCB (1882–1892) * Sir Reginald Welby GCB (1892–1894) * The Rt. Hon. The Lord Welby GCB (1894–1913) * The Rt. Hon. The Lord Welby GCB PC (1913–1915)

References

External links

yes {{DEFAULTSORT:Welby 1832 births 1915 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Members of London County Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Progressive Party (London) politicians Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria