Education
He graduated from Harvard College in 1722, and in the same year was married to Elizabeth Almy, the daughter of Job Almy and Ann Lawton of Newport.
He graduated from Harvard College in 1722, and in the same year was married to Elizabeth Almy, the daughter of Job Almy and Ann Lawton of Newport.
He was the third of nine children born to the Honorary Benjamin Ellery and Abigail Wilkins of Gloucester and Bristol, Massachusetts, and Newport, Rhode Island. He became a wealthy merchant in Newport, and in time served in a number of civic capacities.
From 1738 to 1740 he served as a Newport Justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace.
He later served as an assistant and Deputy Governor of the colony. William and Elizabeth had six children, four of whom grew to maturity.