He was the prime mover in an uprising against Edward IV in 1470, although his actions were possibly orchestrated by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick.
[1] He had an only sister, Joan Welles, 9th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, who married Sir Richard Hastings.
[5] By 1470 discontent with Edward IV's rule had already led to open rebellion under Robin of Redesdale, resulting in the deaths of several senior Yorkists.
[6] Sir Robert Welles issued a series of proclamations throughout Lincolnshire, calling on men to resist the King who, he claimed, was coming to punish local people for supporting the earlier rebellion of Robin of Redesdale, in breach of the pardon he had given.
[9] Sir Robert Welles assumed the style 'Captain of the Commons of Lincolnshire', and on 4 March 1470 mustered forces to resist the King.
[7] Welles confessed his treason, naming Warwick and Clarence as the "partners and chief provokers" of the rebellion, and was beheaded on 19 March 1470 at Doncaster.
In compensation, however, it was enacted in the same year that Hastings should be entitled, for life, to all the lands which had belonged to Joan Welles' father.