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 1778 - 1857 (78 years)
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| Name |
Robert Welbank |
| Prefix |
Captain |
| Birth |
17 Jan 1778 |
St Botolph's, Bishopgate  |
| Christening |
4 Feb 1778 |
St Botolph's, Bishopgate |
- Baptism record:
St Botolph's, Bishopgate. - 4th Feb 1778 - Cert. 180
Robert Welbank, 18 Days Old, son, of William and Jemima
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| Gender |
Male |
| Note |
4 Feb 1778 |
St Botolph's, Bishopgate |
| Robert Welbank, 18 Days Old, son, of William and Jemima |
| Occupation |
1793 |
Robert Welbank was only fifteen when he joined the Company in 1793 as captain's servant and he must have had exceptionally good commercial connections asw he was appointed captain of HEICS Cuffnells in 1806, only thirteen years later.
from: Gifts from the Gardens of China By Jane Kilpatrick
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| Note |
1811 [1] |
Captain Robert Welbank imported varieties of Camellia into England from China as
the Commander of an East India Company ship. The following 'Curtis
Monograph' about the Japanese Rose (or Camellia) contains references to
Captain Welbank and Captain Rawes.
The essential info contained below is that Captain Welbank brought back Camellias from China in 1811 and 1816. The name of the Warren Hastings, East Indiaman is associated with Rawes [Cuffnells with Welbank].~
[The Origin of Plants by Maggie Campbell Culver (2014) says that Captain Welbank had a good reputation for transporting plants, and 90 of 100 plants survived the voyage on the Cuffnells in 1816. A white Camellia was named "Welbankiana" in his honour. He imported the wisteria for his brother-in-law Charles Hampden Turner who was a keen botanist and gardener. Turner was his residuary beneficiary.] |
| Note |
13 Jun 1812 |
Madras, India |
GILBERT LAIRD
Has the pleasure to inform his Friends and the Public, that he has purchased the well-chosen Investment of Captain Welbank, of the Honourable Company's ship Cuffnells, and which will be exposed for sale at his Shop under the Exchange, as soon as loaded.
English claret, from Paxton, Bell and other houses.
Port wine, from Gledstanes and Beachcroft.
Hock and champaign
Bottled ale, porter and cyder.
Ale in butts and hogsheads, from Hedgson.
Hams, pine, berkley, and gloster cheeses.
Europe butter in firkins.
Neats tongues, red herrings, in wickered jars, and salted salmon.
Oilman's stores, a general assortment.
Confectionary, from Hoffman, a general assortment.
Grocery, a general assortment.
Essence of spruce.
Sadlery, from Simpson, a general assortment.
Perfumery, from Smyth and Nephew.
Cloth, of various colours, from Viguere and Randall.
Welsh Flannel
Boots and Shoes, from Laidlow
Straw Bonnets, an elegant assortment
Garden Seeds, from Swinden
Glass-Ware, from Nash.
Hosiery and Cutlery.
Hats and Gloves, from Bicknell
Paints in Kegs, of various colours
Blank Books and Stationary
Best Mogul Cards
Ephemeries, from Heather
Nests of Morocco Trunks
Blankets and Boat Cloaks
Gold and Silver Thread, from Bodley and Etty
Ironmongery, a general assortment
Beer and Wine Corks, and a variety of other articles
Madras, June 13, 1812 |
| Occupation |
1814 |
Book |
248. INSTRUCTION BOOK & CHARTER PARTY FOR EAST INDIAMAN "CUFFNELLS" given to
Capt. Robert Welbank by the ship's owners, on sailing to the East Indies.
16 pg printed booklet of 67 instructions to the captain. Marbled wrappers.
Quarto. London: 1814. Part of paper spine lacking; covers lightly soiled;
vertical fold along center; else, very good condition. Particularly
interesting, as the standard demands are supplemented by several amusing
ms. instructions on the last 2 blank leaves regarding purchase of drugs in
India. Plus 27-pg. Charter Party, folded in half, laid in. $600.00. |
| Occupation |
28 Aug 1814 |
Portsmouth |
East India Company Register
EAST-INDIA SHIPS FOR THE SEASON 1814-15, ABROAD, WITH THEIR MANAGING
OWNERS, COMMANDERS, PRINCIPAL OFFICERS, TIME OF SAILING, &c.;
When and from Whence sailed: Portsmouth, 28th Aug. 1814
Ship: Cuffnells
Voyage: 8
Charter Tonnage: 1200
Managing Owner: Francis P. Martin, Esq.
Commander: Robert Welbank
First Officer: Richard Roger
Second Officer: John Vincent
Third Officer: George Roberts
Fourth Officer: James Drayner
Surgeon: Edmund Paul
Purser: William Kershaw
Consignment: Bengal, Madras & China
[James Drayner is distantly related to Jean Drayner, who married Peter John Welbank. He later became an East India Captain himself, of the Carnatic. He died on a voyage in 1844.] |
| Note |
4 May 1816 |
England |
Captain Robert Welbank brings back the first specimen of Wisteria sinensis to the country, as well as the white camellia japonica later called Welbankia, in a consignment of 100 plants.
Captain Hawes also sailed from China with specimens of these two plants and arrived in England on the 11th May. Captain Robert gave his plants to his brother-in-law Charles Hampden Turner and both bloomed in 1819, his gardener propagated cuttings of the wisteria and two were given to the Royal Horticultural Society and Loddiges Nursery in Hackney. Loddiges seem to have been offering plants for sale in 1823. Turner's wisteria was still growing at his home in 1835.
Kew Gardens believe they have the oldest wisteria plant in the UK, they believe it was planted about 1820 but it is not mentioned in their records.
Fullers Brewery in Chiswick suggest that the wisteria growing on the Griffin Brewery site is the oldest and it comes from a cutting brought back in a separate voyage in 1818. This seems odd, as it would be easier to get a cutting from a plant in England.
The camellia also flowered in 1819 and was appearing in lists of garden plants by 1826.
Chiswick House has two in its greenhouse but they don't appear to be very old. There are some large trees in NZ and Australia.
WISTERIA SINENSIS ON THE SLOW BOAT FROM CHINA: THE JOURNEY OF WISTERIA TO ENGLAND James A. Compton, Curtis Botanical Magazine, 28 October 2015 |
| Residence |
1817 |
Tandridge, Surrey |
| Retired in 1816 and moved to Oxted Priory in Tandridge, which was owned by Charles Hampden Turner. |
| Note |
18 Apr 1831 |
The Globe, London |
Report of an interesting case brought before Capt Welbank and some other local magistrates. A farmer was accused of setting fire to a barn on his farm where Irish labourers were sleeping. It was thought to be the work of an "incendiary" as there had been reports that all farmers employing Irish labourers would have their property burnt down. A reward was offered for evidence, and months later a convicted sheep-stealer said he knew it was done by the farmer, the magistrates said it was their duty to commit him for trial.
Earlier, Evening Mail 22 Oct 1830, a man was arrested and brought before Mr Welbank, following a series of arson attacks on a local farm, who had "receipts .. to set fire to and blow up houses" and "political prophecies of his own invention... that a revolution was at hand in this country" as well as home-made brass weapons he had invented. |
| Occupation |
1836 |
Surrey |
| Listed as JP in Parliamentary Papers - 7 - relating to Courts, Juries, Elections - Session 4 Feb - 20 August 1836 VOL XLII page 71? |
| Residence |
1851 |
The Priory, Tandridge, Surrey |
| sister Harriet Sampson is also living there in 1851. |
| Note |
10 May 1851 |
Wellbank Bay, Nunavut, Canada |
11 Nov 1851 London Evening Standard
Report from Arctic explorer John Rae of an expedition for the Hudson Bay Company (he reports he found no trace of Sir John Franklin's party); on the 10 May he reached a bay which he named after a Director of the Company.
Captain Welbank "one of the most honest and excellent men in existence" was made a Director of the Hudson Bay Company in 1848 (letter from James Edward Fitzgerald to Wm. Gladstone, 27 Nov 1848, British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Jan 1949, p12, Paul Knaplund.)
I haven't verified if the bay is still called after Captain Welbank. |
| Note |
1825-1857 |
| elder brother of Trinity House, corresponded with Michael Faraday about possible uses for his discoveries for lighthouses. Travelled the coast making notes which are held at the National Archives. |
| Death |
1857 |
Aged 79 |
| Note |
10 Jul 1857 |
The Priory, Tandridge, Surrey |
Summary of the Will of Robert Welbank of the Priory, Parish of Tandridge in the County of Surrey.
proved 10th July 1857 Executors: Sarah Welbank (wife), Edward Hawkins the younger and Major Rohde Hawkins, (nephews of wife)
mentions sister Jemima; living at 2 Prospect Row, Ramsgate, Kent; she is left the house;
and nephew George Welbank
owns property in Ravensworth, nr. Richmond, Yorks.
leaves much property and estates, after wife's death, to Charles Hampden Turner of Rook's Nest, Surrey; and to Eliza Turner, daughter of Charles Turner.
Robert's two nephews are Hawkins!
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| Occupation |
Captain of East Indiaman |
| Person ID |
I474 |
Welbank1 |
| Last Modified |
20 Mar 2023 |
| Father |
William Welbank, b. 28 Aug 1741, Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, England d. 24 Oct 1791, [Will] (Age 50 years) |
| Mother |
Jemima Jones, b. Abt 1754, of Stratford le Bow, Middx. d. 17 Aug 1840 , Ramsgate, Kent, England - Age 86 (Age ~ 86 years) |
| Marriage |
20 Apr 1776 |
St. Botolph Without Bishopsgate, London, Middlesex, England |
- parish record book, 1776 no 178
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| Family ID |
F159 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Sources |
- [S5] Samuel Curtis, A monograph of the genus Camellia... the whole from original drawings by Clara Maria Pope. London: J. & A. Arch, 1819.
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