Person:John Wright (403)

John Wright was baptised on 23rd September 1798 at Rottingdean in Sussex. He was the son of John Wright, a grocer and coal merchant, and his wife Phoebe.

On 13th January 1820, aged 21, John married Matilda Packham in the nearby town of Brighton. They had a son, Alfred, baptised at Brighton three months later, at which time they were living at Richmond Buildings in Brighton and John was working as a tailor.

Matilda died the following year, when she was only twenty years old. She was buried on 13th November 1821 in her native parish of Cuckfield, about fourteen miles north of Brighton.

By 1841 John had moved about twenty miles west along the coast to Littlehampton. The census that year finds him living at 16 Duke Street there and working as a journeyman tailor. His son Alfred was living back in Rottingdean with John’s sister Miriam.

On 9th August 1846, aged 47, John married Grace Hammond at Littlehampton.

The 1851 census finds John and Grace living in the parish of Lyminster (often spelled Leominster at the time) just north of Littlehampton, with John described as a licensed victualler. They were listed in the census immediately before the household of a station clerk, and later records describe John as being the publican of the Locomotive Inn, which had been built next to the Arundel and Littlehampton railway station which had opened in 1846 on the line from Brighton to Chichester.

Grace died in 1857, aged 61. They had been married for just under eleven years.

The 1861 census finds John living at the Locomotive Inn at Lyminster, along with a housekeeper and an ostler.

The Arundel and Littlehampton railway station was poorly situated, being quite a long walk from both the towns it was meant to serve. Doubtless this meant that many people travelling between those towns and the railway had cause to stop at John’s inn. However, it also meant there was pressure to open better railways to the two towns. In August 1863 two branch lines opened giving each town their own much more conveniently sited station. The old Arundel and Littlehampton station closed shortly afterwards. The economic impact on John’s business must have been dramatic.

In February 1865, John was declared bankrupt. He continued to be the licensee of the Locomotive Inn for another year, but in February 1866 the licensed was transferred from John to someone else. He appears to have moved back into the town of Littlehampton, but he did not live long after leaving the Locomotive, dying just a few weeks later, aged 67. He was buried at Lyminster on 14th April 1866.

1. ↑ Rottingdean, Sussex: Parish Registers (East Sussex Record Office, Lewes).

   Baptisms 1798 / Wright John of John & Phoebe – Sept[embe]r 23

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1093; Book 6; Folio 37; Page 31, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: 16 Duke Street, Littlehampton, Sussex
   George Pannell, male, 70 [1766-71], Lab[ourer], born in county
   Ann Pannell, female, 65 [1771-6], born in county
   Henry Pannell, male, 15 [1821-6], App[rentice], born in county
   William Bull, male, 15 [1821-6], Tailor App[rentice], not born in county
   John Wright, male, 40 [1796-1801], J[ourneyman] Tailor, born in county
   William Payne, male, 15 [1821-6], Tailor, born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1651; Folio 408; Page 18, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Leominster, Sussex
   John Wright, head, married, male, 50 [1800/1], Licensed Victualler, b. Rottingdean, Sussex
   Grace Wright, wife, married, female, 53 [1797/8], b. Southbersted, Sussex
   Henry Hazell, unmarried, male, 40 [1810/11], Pot Boy, b. Ealing, Middlesex

4. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 615; Folio 35; Page 18, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Locomotive Inn, Leominster, Sussex
   John Wright, head, widower, male, 61 [1799/1800], Licensed Victualler, b. Rottingdean, Sussex
   Frances Cheal, housekeeper, unmarried, female, 40 [1810/11], Housekeeper, b. Leominster, Sussex
   David Pocock, ostler, unmarried, male, 42 [1808/9], Ostler, b. Leominster, Sussex

5.   Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. John WRIGHT, June Quarter 1866, Worthing Registration District, Volume 2b, page 201, aged 68 [1797/8]

6. ↑ Burials register, in Lyminster, Sussex: Parish Registers (West Sussex County Council, Chichester).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Lyminster in the County of Sussex in the Year 1866
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   740	John Wright	Littlehampton	April 14th	68 years [1797/8]	Isaac Penruddock, Curate

7.   England. The London gazette. (London, England)
   Page 1369, 3 Mar 1865.

   John Wright of the Locomotive Inn, Leominster, having been judged bankrupt under a Petition for adjudication of Bankruptcy, filed in the County Court of Sussex, holden at Arundel, on the 6th day of February, 1865, a public sitting, for the said bankrupt to pass his Last Examination, and make application for his Discharge, will be held at the said Court, at the Townhall, Arundel, on the 18th day of March instant, at eleven o’clock in the forenoon precisely, the day last aforesaid being the day limited for the said bankrupt to surrender. Mr. Richard Holmes, of Arundel, is the Official Assignee, and Mr. Charles Lamb, of No. 13, Ship-street, Brighton, is the Solicitor acting in the Bankruptcy.

8.   England. The London gazette. (London, England)
   Page 2305, 28 Apr 1865.

   At the County Court of Sussex, holden at Arundel, before Richard Holmes, Esq., the Registrar:
   John Wright, of the Locomotive Inn, Leominster, Sussex, adjudicated bankrupt on the 6th day of February, 1865. A Dividend Meeting will be held on the 13th day of May next, at twelve o’clock at noon precisely.

9.   Chichester Express & West Sussex Journal, in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
   Page 2, 6 Mar 1866.

   COUNTY BENCH OF MAGISTRATES, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27…
   TRANSFERS…
   The Locomotive Inn, Leominster, was transferred from John Wright to CHAS. ELCOMB.