AustLit

Wells was convicted at the London Gaol Delivery in 1816 and sentenced to transportation for fourteen years. He lived in and around Hobart for many years working as a clerk before receiving a conditional pardon and then taking up land and breeding merinos.

In the early 1820s Wells speculated unsuccessfully on the wool market and was declared bankrupt in 1824. While incarcerated in the debtors' prison, he established himself as an accountant and was able to pay off most of his debts by the time of his release. Wells subsequently worked in banking in Launceston.

Wells was the author of the first literary pamphlet published in Tasmania.