William de Wellesley, who appears to have been son to Walleran, was in 1309 appointed Constable of the Castle of Kildare (_Rot. Pat. Canc. Hib._), which he maintained when besieged by the Bruces in their memorable invasion of Ireland, and their foray over that county. For these and other services to the state he received many lucrative and honourable grants from the crown, and was summoned to parliament in 1339. In 1347 he was slain at the siege of Calais. (_Obits, T.C.D._) Sir John de Wellesly, Knight, son of William, having performed great actions against the O'Tooles and O'Byrnes of Wicklow, had grants of sundry wardships and other rewards from the year 1335. In 1343 he became one of the sureties for the appearance of the suspected Earl of Desmond, on whose flight Sir John's estates were seised to the crown and withheld for some years. (Lynch's _Feud. Dig._) His successor was another John de Wellesley, omitted in the peerage books, but whose existence is shown by _Close Roll 29 & 30 Edw. III., C. H._ He died about the year 1355. William Wellesley, son of John, was summoned to great councils and parliaments of Ireland from 1372; he was also entrusted by the king with various important commissions and custodies of castles, lands, and wards (_Patent Rolls C. H._). In 1386 he was Sheriff of Kildare, and Henry IV. renewed his commission in 1403. Richard, son and heir of William de Wellesley, as proved by _Rot. Pat. 1 Henry IV., Canc. Hib._, married Johanna, daughter and heiress of Sir Nicholas de Castlemartin, by whom the estates of Dangan, Mornington, &c. passed to the Wellesley family; he and his said wife had confirmation of their estates in 1422. (_Rot. Pat. 1 Henry VI., C. H._) He had a previous grant from the treasury by order of the Privy Council, in consideration of his long services as sheriff of the county of Kildare, and yet more actively "in the wars of Munster, Meath, and Leinster, with men and horses, arms and money." (_Rot. Claus. 17 Ric. II., C. H._) In 1431 he was specially commissioned to advise the crown on the state of Ireland, and was subsequently selected to take charge of the Castle of Athy, as "the fittest person to maintain that fortress and key of the country against the malice of the Irish enemy." (_Rot. Pat. et Claus. 9 Henry VI., C. H._) In resisting that "malice" he fell soon after.