 Although it is difficult to prove genealogical relationships that far back, evidence suggests that Sheriff Weld was related to the Welds who eventually came to North America.The Weld family has a presence in Massachusetts dating back to the early 17th century and their relationship to one another is clearly recorded.In the first days of European settlement in the New World, three sons of Edmund Weld (1559–1608) of Sudbury, Suffolk, England arrived in Boston.