Wellesley, Ontario that much of the land had been "Queen's Rush, crown land, where fifty acre lots were given away to actual settlers". The Population of the entire township in 1841, was only 254. The area now the village of Wellesley on the Nith River was first settled in 1847, by John Smith and was originally called "Schmidtsville". The post office opened in 1851 and the village was renamed "Wellesley" after Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, the eldest brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The community quickly grew to be the largest economic centre in rural Waterloo County, with a
Wellesley Hospital Central Hospital. The Wellesley Division of Wellesley Central Hospital was closed by the Ontario government on the recommendation of the Ontario Health Services Restructuring Commission and the bulk of its programs were transferred between 1998 and 2002 to St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. Its Arthritis & Autoimmunity Research Centre was transferred to the University Health Network. After the hospital building was closed, the hospital corporation became the Wellesley Central Health Corporation (later known as the Wellesley Institute), which lists as its objectives "four strategic directions; development of the Wellesley Hospital lands, community based research and grants, capacity building through extensive