This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: MichaelWright12 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.wright/6959.2703.2.1.2.2.2.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: SBond007 Funny you should ask....I have put in the last 13 years double-checking all the published claims and doing original research in England on the origins of Deacon Samuel Wright of Springfield and Northampton and of Thomas Wright of Wethersfield, CT. The first thing I want to say in setting the record straight is that there never was a Lord or Sir John Wright of Kelvedon Hall. Just because he was granted a Crest and Arms does not mean he had any rights to a title of nobility or knighthood. He is consistently referred to in the English records as simply a "yeoman" or "gentleman" or just "Mr.". These terms were reserved for men of property and standing in a community who possessed manor estates. Mere possession of such wealth and property did not confer any rights to noble titles. Noble titles could only be bestowed by the King or Queen. Typically an estate was granted status as a Baronetcy by Letters Patent from the King before the owner had any right to use the honorific "Sir". If a man was knighted by the King or Queen then he could also claim the title of "Sir". But only those Knights and Barons called specifically by the King to serve in the upper house of Parliament were allowed the title of "Lord". The only ! other use of the title "Lord" was strictly a local designation that referred in a very limited sense to the lord of the local manor estate. The accepted public title of record for such "Lords of the Manor" was typical just "Mr." or "Gent.". There was never a baronetcy granted to any of the Wright manor estates, hence none of the Kelvedon Hatch Wrights could properly be called Lord Wright. It turns out that the two immigrant fathers I spoke of earlier, Samuel and Thomas, were third cousins and their common ancestor was John Wright of Kelvedon Hall, Kelvedon Hatch, Essex England (ca. 1488 to 2 Oct 1551). Thomas Wright of Wethersfield was descended from John Wright's son, Robert Wright of Brookstreet (Moat House) and Ropers near Brentwood, Co. Essex. Deacon Samuel Wright descended through John Wright's son, Myddle John Wright (1522 - 1558). There were three sons named John in this family: John Wright the Elder inherited his father's estate of Kelvedon Hall. Myddle John Wright inherited his father's estate of Wrightsbridge and Wealdside. John Wright the Younger inherited his father's estate of Bishop Hall and other estates east of Brentwood. The descent of Deacon Samuel Wright from John Wright of Kelvedon Hall is not fully proven by documentation but the descent of Thomas Wright of Wethersfield is. Genetic genealogy has proven to be the key to establishing the relationship of Deacon Samuel Wright to Thomas Wright of Wethersfield, thereby linking Samuel to the Kelvedon Hatch Wright family group. Male descendants of both immigrant fathers have a Y-DNA profile that is nearly identical and quite rare in England as a whole, clearly indicating their descendants are closely related within the last 20 generations. Research of original records in England reveal that the most likely descendancy of Deacon Samuel Wright is as follows: Henry Wright of Upminster, co. Essex (ca. 1424 - aft 1568) Rev. John Wright of Upminster, co. Essex (1450 - 1509) John Wright of Wealdside and Kelvedon Hall (ca 1488 - 1551; probably original recipient of family Crest and Arms) Myddle John Wright of Wrightsbridge (ca. 1522 - 1558) John Wright (1542 - 1624; of Wrightsbridge - Ancestral Crest and Arms variant confirmed by Cook, 20 June 32 Elizabeth I) John Wright, Esq (1569 - 1640; Clerk of the House of Commons 1612 - 1639) Samuel Wright (1606 - 1665; in Springfield, MA 1639; Deacon of Springfield and Northampton Congregational Churches) Dea. Samuel Wright was born in 1606 and was baptized 29 or 30 June 1606 at St. Peter's church, South Weald parish, Co. Essex, England, son of John Wright of the Bridge. He matriculated Emmanuel College, Cambridge University in 1624 after which he disappears from the English records and does not appear again in any records until 1639 in Springfield, MA where hs is among the first settlers of that town. In 1639 we find he is married to Margaret (nee ??) and has five living children. We have never found his marriage record nor any record of the birth of these first five children. We think we know what parish he lived in before he came to New England and we think that parish church register is where the marriage and early children birth records are recorded but has been missing for centuries. We have only recently given up trying to find it after a five year search effort. However, the birth of his sixth child, James Wright, is recorded as 1639 in the Springfield records. Likewise the birth of his seventh child, Judah Wright was recorded in Springfield 10 May 1642. The birth and death of his eighth and last child, Helped, in 1644 is also recorded in Springfield records. In 1654 he joined about 30 other families who left the Springfield church to take up homesteads further up the Connecticut River and found a new town, Northampton. He was sleeping in his chair in his home in Northampton when he died 2 Oct 1665. He left a will which was probated in January 1666. His wife, Margaret died in 1681 and also left a will that was probated. The children of Dea. Samuel and Margaret Wright were: Samuel (16?? - 1675; killed by Indians at the Battle of Bloody Brook near Northfield Hester (16?? - 1664) Margaret (16?? - 1684) Lydia (16?? - 1699) Mary (16?? - 1653) James (1639 - 1723) Judah (1642 - 1725) Helped (1644 - 1644) These are all mentioned in the wills of their parents. Many genealogists believe that Samuel and Margaret also had two older children, Benjamin and Hannah. I personally do not believe those are his children. I do not believe that Benjamin was related in any way and if Hannah was related, she was more likely the daughter of a cousin who did not immigrate himself but put his daughter in the Deacon's care until she married. I base this opinion on the contents of Samuel's and Margaret's wills where neither of them is mentioned nor are their children mentioned. I would not have expected Hannah herself to be mentioned because she died in 1661, years before either Samuel or Margaret made their wills. But I would have expected Hannah's children to have been mentioned if they had actually been grandchildren of Samuel and Margaret. Same argument for Benjamin's children. In any case, we cannot prove or disprove their connection by any known vital records. Someday I want to find a paternal descendant of Benjamin and convince him to participate in our Wright-DNA project so we can get a clue about which Wright family he belongs to or does not belong to. For Hannah, we are probably stuck trying to prove her true relationship to Dea. Samuel Wright. Genetic Genealogy can not help us and in searching English records I never could find a Hannah Wright record that was a likely candidate to be her (which actually argues she may be Samuel's eldest child and her records are lost along with those for all the other early children). Very much an open question still. That is a thumbnail sketch of the ancestry of Samuel Wright of Springfield and Northampton, MA. Best Regards, Mike Wright Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.