About: Nathaniel Wells

Nathaniel Wells (10 September 1779 – 13 May 1852) was a British land owner and magistrate of Afro-Caribbean descent. Born on a Saint Kitts plantation to a white father and black mother, Wells inherited his father's plantations. He was sent to Britain to complete his education, eventually becoming a magistrate after being called to the bar, and became the second individual of African descent to hold a commission in the British Armed Forces after John Perkins of the Royal Navy. He was also Britain's first black sheriff. Wells died in 1852, remaining wealthy despite his slaves having been emancipated 19 years earlier by law.