Wellesley Island Wellesley Island Wellesley Island in Jefferson County, New York, United States is partially in the Town of Orleans and partially in the Town of Alexandria. The island was named Wells Island but during his 1815 survey of the US-Canada border renamed by Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen to the current name to honor Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Several prominent points in and around the island were named after the Duke's victorious battles. None of those names stuck. The large bay around which the island folds is called Lake of the Isles, not Lake Waterloo. The island is located in
Arthur Bigsworth Arthur Bigsworth Air Commodore Arthur Wellesley Bigsworth & Bar, AFC (27 March 1885 – 24 February 1961) was a pioneer aviator who had a distinguished military career in the service of the British armed forces. Arthur Wellesley Bigsworth was born on 27 March 1885, the son of Arthur Wellesley Bigsworth Sr and Kate Box. Bigsworth received training as a Mercantile Marine officer, later joining the Royal Naval Reserve as a sub-lieutenant, being promoted to lieutenant on 19 January 1913. He attended the first course at the Central Flying School, gaining his Aviator's Certificate no. 396 on 21 January 1913. He