Person:John Wright (122)

At the time of his death, Rev. Sir John Wright possessed the manor of White Notley, Essex (which he had bought) and the advowson (right of presentation of a candidate to a church post) of Upminster Church, also in Essex.^[2]

It is possible that this person lived considerably later and the 1509 death date was manufactured to make him fit as the father of John Wright of Kelvedon Hall. The 1915 source book is known to be of questionable reliability, and the 1929 book may have used it as a source.

His parents are often given as Henry Wright and Anna Whitebread, but if this is correct, then he certainly lived much later (estimated birth year of their son John is 1600).

1. ↑ Wright, Curtis. Genealogical and Biographical Notices of Descendants of Sir John Wright of Kelvedon Hall, Essex England, in America, Thomas Wright of Wethersfield, Conn., Samuel Wright, of Northampton, Mass., 1610-1670, 1614-1665. (Carthage, Mo.: The Author, 1915)
   page 37.

   'Tradition, in which is, it is said, always the seed of truth, tells us that Sir John Wright of Kelvedon Hall was the son of an eminent divine of Daganhams, Essex. ...
   "Before Lord William Vaux died he sold the manor of White Notley to John Wright of Kelvedon Hatch. John Wright, whose wife was Agnes, died May 9, 1509, possessed of White Notley and the advowson of Upminster Church, holden of the manor of Hoohall in Co. Suffolk. His son John, was of full age." (Morant's Esx., p. 121.)
   This "son of full age," whose father was Rev. John Wright of Upminster Church, appears to be the Sir John to whom arms were granted June 20, 1509--but little more than a month after his father's death, who inherited his estate and later purchased Kelvedon manor.'

   This information should be treated with some suspicion, as it is based on Morant's The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex, written in the 18th century, which presumably would have been known to the authors of History of the Wright Family, who are descendants of Samuel Wright (1722-1789) of Lenox, Mass. with lineage back to Thomas Wright (1610-1670) of Wethersfield, Conn. and showing a direct line to John Wright, Lord of Kelvedon Hall, Essex, England, published in 1913. The latter book says that the John Wright who died in 1551 was "the earliest known progenitor of the family", indicating that the authors likely discounted the tale of the Rev Sir John Wright (-1509), his wife Agnes and his father Sir Henry. It is possible that these people lived, but at a later time, as another History of Essex (possibly relying in part on Morant) clearly confuses later generations of Wrights with earlier ones.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Wright, George William (comp). The Wright family: descendants of the Wryta family of Bayeau, Normandy, to England in 1066, with some of the descendants in American of the Kelvedon line of Sir John Wright of Kelvedon Hall, County Essex, England, and of the Kilve- stone line of Sir Thomas Wright of Kilvestone Hall, County Norfolk, England : with additional genealogies of the Turner, Belsher, Riley, Lingo and Blakely families. (Albany, Oregon, 1929)
   page 12.

   'The old English Records state that Sir John Wright [1488-1551] was the son of a noted Divine--Rev. Sir John Wright and wife Agnes. Rev. Sir John Wright was possessed of the manor of White Notley, and the advowson of Upminster Church holden of the manor of Hoohall, in County Suffolk, and when he died May 9, 1509, he left a large portion of his estates and title to his son John, who probably inherited also from his grandfather, Sir Henry Wright. (See Morant's History of Essex, England, p. 121.)'

3. ↑ Birth year estimated based on estimated birth year of his son. The Ancestral File gives a christening date of 27 Oct 1450 in Dagenham, Essex, England, but this is most likely a fabrication, as are the christening dates of his son (most likely) and most certainly of his grandchildren.