Weld was a descendant of Joseph Weld, who came to Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century and was involved in the Pequot War and subsequent negotiations. Named after the prominent local revolutionary sympathizer and historian Reverend Doctor William Gordon, Weld was the fifth son of Colonel Eleazer Weld, one of seven Weld family American Revolutionary War veterans.
Like many family members, William Gordon Weld graduated from Harvard, a university with Weld ties from the 17th to the 21st centuries.
He is notable as an ancestor of several famous Welds. Weld lived his early life in Weld Hall, the family home on Weld Hill in the Forest Hills section of what is now Jamaica Plain. Weld turned his attention away from agriculture and concentrated on maritime shipping.
He created a fleet of "China clippers" and profited from trade between Asia and the New World.
His fortune suffered a notable setback during the War of 1812. A British frigate cruising off Boston Harbor captured one Weld"s ships carrying a valuable cargo of wine and Spanish silver dollars.
Weld himself was captured and may have paid a ransom to be released. (see chart). Among those descended from William Gordon Weld and Hannah Minot are:
Son William Fletcher Weld — shipping, railroad and real estate magnate
Son Stephen Minot Weld — politician, namesake of Weld Hall at Harvard University
Son George Walker Weld — financier of the Weld Boathouse
Grandson Stephen Minot Weld Junior.
— American Civil War general
Great-grandson Philip Saltonstall Weld — World World War II commando, publisher, environmentalist
Great-granddaughter Isabel Weld Perkins — socialite philanthropist
Great-great-great-grandson William Weld — former Governor of Massachusetts.
Weld married Hannah Minot (1780–1860), a member of a Massachusetts family represented by such notables as George Minot and Henry Davis Minot.
