Low Down Articles
Echoes from the Past
Article 106 of 111
This article first appeared in the "Echoes from the Past" column of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
o o o
Who? What? When? Where? Why?
This is a story about the Wrights you may not know, but which you may find interesting.
The first Wrights we have record of were Thomas and his wife Beatrix Thompson living at CUSWORTH, Yorkshire, England. We have no dates for them. Their oldest son James died in 1561 without issue. James, however, had a younger brother John who carried on the line.
The scene shifts to the county of Kent and we skip three generations to another John, who with his wife Priscilla dared to take shop across the broad Atlantic only ten years after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.
John and Priscilla docked at Salem, Massachusetts. Within a short period the couple moved to Charlestown - named after Charles I of England - also in Mass. Another ten years passed when John took a leading part in establishing a new town out of a portion of Charlestown. He was one of a small party of settlers who signed "Town Orders" which brought into being the future WOBURN, named after Woburn Abbey the seat of the Russell family in England. In fact John Russell was another of those who signed "Town Orders". In time John Wright became a Deacon of his church.
Another hundred and seventy years passes when we meet Philemon Wright whose plans and actions were to have a profound effect on Canada's national area of the future.
The great question is why did Philemon and his family, along with his older brother Thomas' family, plus the families of Samuel Choate and John Allen leave Woburn?
To understand why Philemon cast his eyes towards this country looking for space to settle and start a new community, one must consider those 270 years between Deacon John Wright and Philemon's generation. In the beginning of the development of New England, there was plenty of land for everyone. It was the practice to have large families, and it was also the practice for each male to become heir of his portion of the farm estate. The girls were quickly married off, to become the responsibility of their spouses.
I) James had been granted the Coat of Arms, to which John became heir on the death of his brother. This same Armorial Bearing graced the invitation to the 1995 reunion of a portion of the Wright family.
2) Mrs. Philemon Wright, Mrs. Choate and Mrs. Allen were all Wyman sister - Abigail, Margery and Lavina (?). Two Wyman brothers had signed "Town Orders" also.
THERE'S MORE TO COME