Wells

Perry’s Cottage – Woodbridge

gnarlytree Alexander McKay, Frederick Wells, Perry , , ,
Photo Maree Da Costa
Sometime in the 1870’s Richard Thomas Wells built the family home, now known as Perry’s Cottage in Perry’s Road, Woodridge, on land given to Agnes Wells (nee McKay) by his father-in-law, Alexander McKay.
Richard split all the timber for their home and made all the roof shingles which were later covered with tin. Richard Perry (grandson of Richard Wells) and his wife lived at the cottage all their married life.

Frederick Wells (1811-1876)

gnarlytree Frederick Wells ,
Frederick was born on 15 April 1811 in Shoreditch, London to Richard Wells (1771-1837) and Susannah Austin (1768-1828). He was baptised on 12 May 1816, aged 5 at St Leonard’s in Shoreditch.
The records indicated that Richard Wells was a dyer by trade, living and working in London. Several factors point to Richard being a man of means:
• He was able to educate his children at a time when schooling was not compulsory and expensive. Frederick could read and write very well and anecdotal evidence suggests that he spoke several languages, however this is more likely to be part of the folklore that surrounded Frederick’s life;
• Until Frederick joined the army in 1832, he is purported to have worked at the London Stock Exchange as a clerk. This also indicates a middle-class background; and
• His son Richard Thomas Wells (1841-1923) recollects his father saying that he had kept a pack of hounds in London and that there was money left for the Wells family at the Chancery and that he had seen the book. Unfortunately, no records have been found to support this.