 Francis Wright 1774 - 1834 By: Judith Giffin JHGiffin@aol.com My Francis Wright is a conundrum, providing very little prospective of ever
getting to the bottom of his ancestry. The only known substantive facts about him are
from the Army Lists and his emigration to Upper Canada. Wright in an 1833 Upper Canada
land petition requested a grant, with an accompanying letter dated Horse Guards
12 April 1833 from Fitz Roy Somerset annexing a summary of Wright's army service, as
follows: Services of Captain Wright: Quarter Master, 3rd Dragoon Guards; Lieutenant R.
Waggon Train, 16 Aug. 1799; Captain, 3 Sept. 1803; and half pay, 25 March 1810.
His romantically-inclined grandson, Wilfred Campbell, has written of Francis Wright
that, the sponsors for his commission were a mysterious personage who signed himself
MOTZ and whose name stands first and two distinguished soldiers Gen. Sir [blank] Payne,
Bart and Major Hamilton of the Aberdeen family. The authorities at the War Office
say - "the papers relating to him were for some reason destroyed".
Just to give you an example of the correspondence in our family regarding Capt. Francis
Wright, the following is an excerpt In a letter dated 22 October 1899 to William Wilfred
Campbell from his mother, Frances Matilda (Wright) Campbell, where she writes:
The reference to the grandfather is to the father of Francis Wright. The story is
that young Francis ran away from home to join the Army, and that his father wrote to
the Duke of York about smoothing his way, a commission, perhaps; hence his posting
appointment as a quarter master in the 3rd Dragoon Guards? Apparently, the subsequent
creation of the Royal Waggon Train was the work of the Duke of York, and my family -
the romantic side - have always considered that there was a tie-in with the Duke.
We known that Francis Wright was married twice. First, Pallot’s Marriage Index for
England: 1780-1837 has Francis Wright marrying Rebecca Wright (we believe the daughter
of William and Elizabeth Wright of Dover, Kent) in 1800 in the Parish of St. Giles in
Fields. Secondly, Pallot’s Marriage Index for England: 1780-1837 has Francis Wright
marrying Faith Berridge in 1825 in Parish of St. Georges in the Borough [London]. The
same source has the couple married in 1820 which, for the sake of respectability, fits
better with the birth of their eldest son Frederick in 1821.
The Registry of Baptisms, St. Mary's Newington Church, London, Eng., has the
following entries concerning the children of Francis Wright, Esq. gentleman, Penton
Place Walworth - Surrey and his wife Faith Berridge: Frederick, 1821; Emma Faith, 1822;
Arthur, 1823; Alfred Francis, 1827; Mary Elizabeth, 1829; and Matilda Frances, 1832.
The family gravestone is a ten or so foot tall pink granite plinth in Toronto, with
absolute no inscriptions on it, apparently the result of a belief among some of his
children that the name of Wright was that of an adopting father and that his was a
royal birth. These stories seem to vary over the decades from the late 19th century
family letters written by my great grandmother Frances Matilda (Wright) Campbell who
was merely an infant when her father died.
His grandson William Wilfred Campbell said that his mother (Frances Matilda Wright)
was told by his uncle Frederick that as a boy he had visited Kelvedon with his father.
Campbell also said that at the same time she understood that her supposed grandfather
was a noted surgeon in the north of England. The general story was that he had a place
in Lincolnshire. That he was John Wright of --- Grange. Wright of Kelvedon was John.
They were - - --- Roman Catholic family in Essex. [these are the reminiscences]
Wilfred Campbell also described Wright's sterling as bearing the same crest, a dragon's
head on a ducal coronet, used by the Wrights of Kelvedon. However, the crested ladling
spoon in my possession, manufactured in 1830-1 by the London firm of T. Cox Savory,
appears to me to have a wolf’s head and not that of a dragon.
So, you can see how frustrating it is to deal with his ancestry - with his children
not even having any certain information of the names of their own grandparents. I
think my best bet is to seek the assistance of the College of Arms which might be
able to tell me who Wright thought were his ancestors on the basis of the crest on
his silver. My thanks for even reading to the bottom of this e-mail. I think I’m
really venting my frustrations. Perhaps, when I have more solid information I can
contact you again for more of your expertise on the Wrights. Judith
Judith Giffin Footprints Questions and notes:" 1. The list of marriages "Pallot's Marriage Index for England. Is it possible that the two listings are for different Francis Wrights. Is there a date for the first marriage. 2. Stories handed down are important and should be noted, but also should be taken with a grain of salt. You will find that they will vary depending on the source. Some possibly being true and others a bit of dreaming. You would be surprised at the number of stories that I had heard on my own family, but thank goodness my father kept me on the straight an narrow. 3. The Wrights of Kelvedon Hatch spread out across the country. There were many John Wrights in the family. In fact it was the most used name. We have on record, only one noted surgeon in the family, but that does not mean there are not others. See Laurence Wright. His son Laurence was also a M.D. 4. As for the crest, that too is a misconception. The crest was authorized for a particular individual and would be the only official crest. Many times a son would use that crest and add to it his own designs. These would not be official crests as far as I know. Please correct me if I am wrong.
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