Sir William Welles ( 1409/10-1463 ) was an English-born statesman and judge in fifteenth-century Ireland, who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland: he was the brother of Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles, a prominent supporter of the House of Lancaster, who was killed at the Battle of Towton.[1]
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William was probably born in 1409 or 1410, second son of Eudo de Welles and Maud de Greystoke; his paternal grandfather was John de Welles, 5th Baron Welles. Eudo died before his father and William's brother Lionel succeeded his grandfather in 1421.
Lionel was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland about 1438, and William acted as his brother's deputy; he was appointed deputy Chancellor in 1454 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1461[2]. Unlike his brother he does not seem to have been particularly active on behalf of Henry VI, and despite his brother's death at Towton and the family's strong links to the House of Lancaster was still in office a year after Towton. He died in 1463. His main residence was at Posseckstown, near Enfield, County Meath.
William married Anne Barnewall of Crickstown, County Meath. There are references in different sources to a son and at least two daughters, but the only child whose identity is certain is Elizabeth (died 1506). Elizabeth married fiirstly Christopher Plunket, second Baron Killeen, and secondly James Fleming, 7th Baron Slane She had children by both marriages including Christopher Fleming, 8th Baron Slane[3].