John Wells (1761 – 22 November 1848) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1820 to 1830. He was born in West Malling, Kent, the second son of William Wells, of

Bickley Bickley is a district and a local government electoral ward in South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 10.4 miles (16.7 km) south east of Charing Cross, bordering Elmstead to the north, Chislehurst to the n ...

Hall,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and Holme Hall, Huntingdonshire, by his wife Elizabeth, sister of

Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet (22 November 1731 – 28 January 1814) was a British merchant and a Governor of the Bank of England. Life Neave was the son of James Neave and Susanna Trueman. He developed considerable interests in the West Indies ...

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...

. In 1796, he married Esther in Rochester; she was the daughter of John Puget, a London banker, by his wife, Esther, daughter of James Dunn, MP for Dublin from 1758 to 1762. Esther's siblings included John David Puget, of Pointer's Grove, near

Totteridge Totteridge is a residential area and former village in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a mixture of suburban development and open land (including some farmland) situated 8 miles (13 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. It ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, Director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

, and Rear-Admiral

Peter Puget Peter Puget (1765 – 31 October 1822) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of Puget Sound, which is named for him. Midshipman Puget Puget's ancestors had fled France for Britain during Louis XIV's persecution of the ...

, CB, who explored with Captain

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

and after whom

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

is named. The family lived at Bickley Hall, built for his uncle John Wells by Robert Mylne in 1780, and extended to a design by

Sir Robert Smirke Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles (such as Gothic and Tudor). As an attached (i.e. official) arch ...

in 1810. He also owned the Malling Heath estate in Kent. He was among the leading shipbuilders on the River Thames, a partner in yards at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

, Rotherhithe and Blackwall. He served as

High Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instru ...

for 1812, and then stood unsuccessfully for parliament at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

1818 Events January–March * January 1 ** Battle of Koregaon: Troops of the British East India Company score a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy, Maratha Empire. ** English author Mary Shelley publishes the novel ''Frankenstein ...

. He was elected as the Tory Member of Parliament (MP) for

at the general election in March 1820, and held the seat until

1830 It is known in European history as a rather tumultuous year with the Revolutions of 1830 in France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Italy. Events January–March * January 11 – LaGrange College (later the University of North Alabama) ...

; he did not stand again for Maidstone. Wells was a strong opponent of the Catholic Emancipation Bill in 1828, declaring that he would fight to defend the Protestant Constitution "until he was up to his knees in blood". He increasingly moved towards the Whigs and was said to be very much his own man. Wells died two weeks after his wife when he was aged 87. They had three sons and five daughters, of whom one son and three daughters predeceased him. His daughter Eleanor married James Browne, MP for Mayo 1818–31, and his daughter Elizabeth married Sir Percyval Hart Dyke, 6th Bt. His great-great-great-nephew, Sir John Wells, was MP for Maidstone 1959–87.Burke's ''Landed Gentry'', 1964.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, John 1761 births 1848 deaths High sheriffs of Kent Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People from Bromley Politicians from Maidstone People from Tonbridge and Malling (district) Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830