Lord John Wright

Lord John Wright (1488 – 5 October 1551) was a member of the English aristocracy and worked closely with King Henry VIII during the latter's rule.

Biography

Wright was born in 1488 in Kelvedon, Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, England. He was born to Reverend John Wright (27 October 1450 – 5 May 1509) and wife Agnes (born in Dagenham, Essex). The younger John Wright was christened 12 July 1488, in Dagenham, Essex.

In 1509 Wright married Olive Hubbard (1487 – October 1560).

Wright was a yeoman in England that was "very useful" in King Henry VIII's battle with the Pope to secede from the Roman Catholic Church and form the Church of England. With support from the King, Wright became "quite wealthy" and was granted a baronetcy on 20 June 1509. The baronetcy included a coat of arms for the Wright family along with the inheritable title, a seat on the King's council and an appointment as a member of the King's House of Lords. Wright was styled with both Sir and Lord from that point forward.

In 1538 Wright purchased Kelvedon Hall from Richard Bolles for £493 6s 8d. The estate stayed in the Wright family almost four centuries until 1922 through the descendants of John Wright (born 1510), the eldest of Wright's children. In the 18th century, the manor was rebuilt by the seventh John Wright.

Wright died at age 63 on 5 October 1551 at Dagenham Manor, at Kelvedon Hatch, Essex. He had had a will drawn up on 25 September 1551, and per his request in the will was buried in the chancel of Kellydon Church.

Children

Children of Wright are listed in birth order, including three separate Johns:

• John Wright, b. 1510, Kelvedon, Essex, England, d. 10 October 1563, Kelvedon Hall, Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, England
• Katherine Wright, b. 1512, Kelvedon, Essex, England, d. 1 January 1595, Navistock, Essex, England
• Robert Wright, b. 9 April 1516, Kelvedon, Essex, England, d. 25 January 1587, Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, England
• Alice Wright, b. 10 May 1519, Kelvedon, Essex, England, d., Kelvedon, Essex, England
• John Wright, b. 19 January 1522, d. 1558.
• John Wright, b. 4 May 1524, Wrightsbridge, Essex, England, d. 30 September 1626, Whitesbridge, Essex, England
• Elizabeth Wright, b. 1526, Kelvedon, Essex, England, d. 1536, Essex, England

Posthumous Activity

On 20 April 1978, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints performed a baptism for the dead on Wright. This was 426 years after Wright's death.

This was followed by a posthumous endowment ceremony by the LDS church on 29 June 1980. This was 428 years after Wright's death and two years after the baptism for the dead was performed. Both ceremonies were performed in the Ogden Utah temple.

In Literature

Wright and his family are listed in a number of books, including:

• A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies by John Burke
• A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland by Sir Bernard Burke
• Visitation of England and Wales by Joseph Jackson Howard

See also

• British nobility
• Heraldry
• History of the Church of England