Major S. W. Welfitt
(1806-1889)
30 May 1861

Volume 3, page 333, sitting number 1861.

Identified only as 'Mr Welfit' in the Silvy daybooks, an inked inscription verso in a fine period hand identifies the sitter 'S. W. Welfitt, Esq.' of 'Langwith Lodge,' which is at Nether Langwith near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. Major Samuel William Welfitt appears there on the 1851 census, together with his wife Letitia Mary Welfitt, his mother-in-law Letitia Hall, and seven servants.

He was born Samuel William Need, son of John Need of Blidworth in Nottinghamshire. He assumed the name Welfitt in 1844 as heir of his maternal grandfather, Reverend William Welfitt. 

As Samuel William Need, he joined the 4th Regiment of Foot as a Cornet (by purchase) on 19 May 1826. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1827 and Captain in 1835. 

On 14 September 1837, at Cuckney in Nottinghamshire, Samuel William Need, 'eldest son of Colonel Need of Mansfield Woodhouse,' married Letitia Mary Hall, 'only daughter of the late Major General Hall of Park Hall, in this county' (Nottingham Journal, 15 September 1837).

Major Samuel William Welfitt, JP and DL, died. aged 82, on 25 April 1889 at Langwith Lodge in Nottinghamshire. He left an estate valued at £95,309.