William Ellery Sr. (31 October 1701 – 15 March 1764) was a merchant and politician in the
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until ...
during the mid-18th century.
Biography
He was the third of nine children born to the Hon. Benjamin Ellery and Abigail Wilkins of
Gloucester and
Bristol, Massachusetts, and
Newport, Rhode Island. He graduated from
Harvard College in 1722, and in the same year was married to Elizabeth Almy, the daughter of Job Almy and Ann Lawton of Newport. He became a wealthy merchant in Newport, and in time served in a number of civic capacities. From 1738 to 1740 he served as a Newport Justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace. He later served as an assistant and Deputy Governor of the colony.
William and Elizabeth had six children, four of whom grew to maturity. His second son,
William Ellery, became a prominent Newport lawyer, was a member of the
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
, and one of Rhode Island's two signers of the
United States Declaration of Independence.
See also
*
List of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island
*
List of colonial governors of Rhode Island
References
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
State list of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellery, William Sr.
1701 births
1764 deaths
Harvard College alumni
Politicians from Newport, Rhode Island
People of colonial Rhode Island
People from Bristol, Rhode Island
American merchants
Businesspeople from Rhode Island