William Weller was christened on 5 November 1727 in Newington, Oxfordshire, England. He was the 8th of 11 children of Thomas Weller and Mary Hornton. His father was recorded as being a thatcher living in the village of Roke , not far from Warborough, Oxford so it seems likely that this is where William and his family grew up. The Weller family had resided in this area from around 1500.
Around 1750, William shifted to High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire , a large town about 20km east of Roke. He is recorded as a witness at his sister Martha's wedding to Nehemiah Wood at High Wycombe in 1755. Three years later, on the 10th July 1758, William married Ann House at High Wycombe. His wife's family, the House family, had settled in High Wycombe in Elizabethan Days but the family name is said to have originated from Huis which is a Dutch name, so the family probably immigrated to England in the 1500's. . Two years later he is recorded as being a malster in the brewing industry.
Over the next 16 years, William and Ann had 10 children, all of which were christened in the All Saints Church in High Wycombe. William is recorded as serving as the Overseer of the Poor for one year in 1764 which is normally regarded as a prelude for higher office. William slowly built his own brewing business in High Wycombe, but as it grew he began to look for bigger premises. When a larger property was located in the neighbouring town of Amersham, William decided to shift his family with the business. This shift happened around 1775.
The new property was located on Church Lane, Amersham and initially it was leased from the Hunt family. (One of William's daughters, Ann, married George Hunt in 1791).William and Ann had three further children in Amersham from 1775 to 1780. Over the next few years, William purchased two pubs in neighbouring towns and this enabled the business to expand much faster. In Jan 1783 he purchased the Griffin Malthouse and in the following year another pub. He added two further tiered inns in 1789 and 1791 but he had no further purchases in his lifetime. The family did well in Amersham. The children grew to maturity and many married and lived in or around the Amersham district for generations to come..
On the 31st of March 1802, while living in Amersham, William died. He was 75 years old. He had become a very wealthy man. In his will he bequeathed the brewery to two of his sons; Thomas and William. The eldest son John was a butcher in Penn and had no interest in brewing. All the children were included in the will and received significant property or money. William's wife, Ann, survived him by 15 years and died in Amersham on 22 April 1817, aged 84 years.
William Weller was reponsible for lifting the Weller family out of relative obscurity in Oxfordshire, to wealth and prominence in the neighbouring shire of Buckingham. In fact the wealth he acquired from his successful brewing business , helped establish the Wellers for generations to come. William and Ann had 13 children of which 9 survived to have families of their own . Their descendants are numerous and are spread throughout the world, with large branches in Australia , New Zealand, USA and Canada in addition to those in the United Kingdom.
By Thomas Brons