Wales, William (1734?-1798), astronomer, was born about 1734, and in 1769 was sent by the British government to Hudson bay to observe the transit of Venus in that year. He afterwards accompanied Captain Cook on his second and third voyages; and on his return to England he was appointed mathematical master at Christ's Hospital. He died in London, England, in 1798. Among other works he published General observations made at Hudson's Bay (London, 1772).

Source : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. VI, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 398p., p. 251.