Anne (Wellesley) Smith (1768 - 1844)

Born 13 Mar 1768 in England

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Fitzroy — married 7 Jan 1790 in England

Wife of Charles Culling Smith — married 2 Aug 1799 in England

Descendants

Died 16 Dec 1844 at age 76 in Hampton Court Palace, London, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Anne Wellesley was the daughter of Garret Wellesley and Anne Hill-Trevor. She was born on 13 Mar 1768. ^[1]

She married Henry FitzRoy on 4 Jan 1790.^[1]

Their daughter Georgiana was born in 1792.

Henry died in Portugal in about late 1793 or early 1794, of consumption.^[1] After his death, Anne's brother Henry obtained leave from the army in February 1794 and went to Lisbon to bring his sister home; returning on an English packet, after a 3-week voyage they were within 12 hours' sail of the English coast when they were chased by a French frigate and then captured by a second French frigate they unfortunately ran into. ^[2]

Anne was detained as a prisoner at Quimper after a packet she was returning from Lisbon on was captured by the French. Although she was given separate and better conditions than the male prisoners of war, she was aware of the terrible conditions they suffered, and worked hard on their behalf, buying food and medicines herself for them, petitioning the French authorities, and writing letters about the situation to England. One of the prisoners who survived later credited her with saving over three thousand lives. ^{[3] [4]} James Scallon escaped from Quimper in July 1794, and reported her being a prisoner there. ^[5]

Anne's brother Henry was also kept prisoner in a different house in Quimper - probably because of his social class he wasn't kept with the "common" prisoners, though he was threatened to be thrown in with them, and even required to choose which roomful he wanted to join, during a fever epidemic in the prison. After about nine months, the Convention passed a decree freeing female prisoners. Anne was released; her brother, on giving his word to return, was allowed to accompany her to an American ship she could sail home on. He intended to keep his promise by returning to Quimper and then escape afterwards, along with an acquaintance named Mr Delaunay who was in a similar position. He escaped successfully by bribing the person assigned to monitor him, but had great difficulty after arriving at Lavran where he expected to rendezvous with the American boat and his sister. ^[2]

The boat wasn't there when he and Mr Delaunay arrived, and they waited at an inn and had to dine with French officers there. After two or three days on the American boat waiting for the embargo to be lifted so they could sail out - which the captain had expected to happen soon - they grew anxious, and the captain pointed out that if the French found them on the boat, the women could be detained again for collusion with their escape. He suggested Henry buy a small open-topped sailing boat and recruit other escapers and anyone else available to man it. This was done; fourteen men embarked on the night of 11 Jan 1795, after Henry persuaded Anne it was competely safe. In fact, four of them died on the crossing, one of drowning and three of exposure. ^[2]

Anne's endeavours at Quimper inspired a sonnet by Thomas Sanderson, and some stanzas by William Swords of the Theatres Royal

Anne married Charles Culling Smith on 2 Aug 1799. Their daughter Emily Frances was born in 1799.

Anne died on 16 Dec 1844 at Hampton Court Palace, aged 75. ^[6] She was interred at Egham Church. ^{[7] [8]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Muir, Rory. Wellington: The Path to Victory 1769-1814, p 6
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Wellesley, F.A., Diary And Correspondence Of Henry Wellesley First Lord Cowley, pp 21-28
3. ↑ https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/the-real-history-behind-poldark-series-three-episode-five/ citing Poldark’s Cornwall by Winston Graham
4. ↑ Marshall, John. Royal naval biography, p 420.
5. ↑ Williams, Gomer. History of the Liverpool privateers and letters of marque with an account of the Liverpool slave trade, pp 328-9
6. ↑ The Examiner, 21 December 1844, p 12
7. ↑ Caledonian Mercury, 26 December 1844, p 2
8. ↑ Death registration: Anne Culling Smith, last quarter 1844, Kingston district, age 75. Accessed on GRO website - death registration search (free registration required)

See also:

• Wikipedia: Henry FitzRoy (cricketer)

• New Court Gazette, 28 December 1844, p 14 - Funeral Notice

• [https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfHamptonCourtPalaceInTudorTimesV.3/page/n515/mode/2up?q=%22anne+wellesley%22 Law, Ernest Philip Alphonse. The history of Hampton Court Palace in Tudor times; v.3, p 47

• Tench, Watkin. Letters written in France, to a friend in London, between the month of November 1794, and the month of May 1795 - describes the conditions of Anne's imprisonment, her assistance of the "common" prisoners, and the conditions they were kept in as reported by Henry

• O'Neill, Thomas. An address to the people of the united kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland; containing an account of the sufferings of Thomas O'Neill, a British officer, while confined in the prison of the Conciergerie, at Paris, for two years and ten months; and of his escape from thence, during his second imprisonment as a prisoner at war

• The New Annual Register 1795, p 46

Acknowledgements

• Entered by John Atkinson, Saturday, March 29, 2014.