Capt. Richard Wright

See Miles Files for Richard Wright as Gateway Ancestor for Descendants of Charlemagne (741-813, King of the Franks & Holy Roman Emperor of the West) and Ancestors of Robert Wright (Hack lines to English Royalty)

https://espl-genealogy.org/MilesFiles/site/p249.htm#i24857

Capt. Richard Wright, son of Francis Wright & Anne Meriton, was born about 1633 in Bolton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, England - died 1 Dec 1663 in Northumberland County, VA.

You can find an excellent account written about Capt. Richard Wright in "The Washington Ancestry: and Records of the McClain, Johnson, and Forty Other Colonial American Families," Chapter: The Wrights of London, Virginia, and North Carolina. I will quote just a few portions of it:

“Mr. RICHARD WRIGHT was born, according to his deposition made on August 20, 1655, in England in the year 1633. He died in Virginia at the age of thirty. Of his eight or nine years of independence, nearly all were passed in Virginia. Such American records of him as remain convey the impression of his having been a typical Londoner of his time - eager for adventure, self-reliant, and imbued with the amazing self-confidence characteristic of young Englishmen. Executive ability is t5he trait chiefly suggested by these Virginia records. As he designated himself "of London," it is an unavoidable inference that the "Pool of London" with its fleet of ships bound to Virginia was a sight common to his eyes. He was not lacking in commercial training, and he certainly became proficient in navigation.

Tobacco was the magnet that drew him overseas. He exemplified the fact that "of all the European people in those times, the English possessed in the most marked degree the bold and intrepid spirit which would move them to leave their native soil behind, and cross many thousand miles of sea, and also the patient and calculating spirit which would enable them, when once fixed in their settlement, to make the most of the advantages."

The first American record now extant of Richard Wright indicates that he was an attractive and pleasing young gentleman - an arrival from London whose personality cause a feminine flutter. This fact is clearly reflected in the record of the case of Alice Atkinson of Northumberland, who had conceived a great fancy for him, and had pursued her quest so much to his displeasure as to cause him to take peremptory action. She, jealous of a rival, made the mistake of misrepresenting him, doubtless in the hope of affecting the attachment which Mistress Anne Mottrom was forming for the favored newcomer. While there is no record known, naming the ship in which he came to Virginia, or giving the date of arrival, it is evident that he arrived in the spring of 1655, not very many weeks before the death of colonel Mottrom; and it is easy to believe that he arrived in the ship William, in which he later appears of record as having some interest. His arrival in Virginia was opportune for the Mottrom family. The mantle of the father, Colonel John Mottrom, upon his death, immediately fell upon the shoulders of Richard Wright. He doubtless became the guide, counselor, and friend" of the children. He made the Mottrom house his domicile soon after his arrival in America; and his attachment to the Mottrom's led to his marriage to one of the daughters within a year, if indeed he was not betrothed to her before her father's demise. The marriages made by all of the Mottrom children attest the high social position of this family in Virginia. In almost nothing, were the gentle families of England more exacting that in the fitness of the marriages of their children.”

Richard died at the age of 30. Very sad, that he died so young, and to think of what he might have accomplished had he lived longer.

Richard Wright married Anne Mottrom, daughter of Col. John Mottrom. Anne was born about 1639 in England, died 1707 in Westmoreland County, VA. Anne would marry twice more after Richard’s death. Anne Mottrom Wright (dau of Col. John Mottrom) married 2nd) David Fox. Two children were named in David Fox’s will: William and Elizabeth Fox. Anne married 3rd) St. Leger Codd. 2 children: James & Berkeley Codd. James Codd inherited lands in England; and Berkeley was of Sussex County, Delaware.

Richard Wright & Anne Mottrom’s children:

1) Major FRANCIS Wright

2) Mottrom Wright

3) Anne Wright

Capt Richard Wright died young and named his children's maternal uncle, Col. Nicholas Spencer to see to the education of his children.

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There is an excellent account written about Capt. Richard Wright in, "The Washington Ancestry: and Records of the McClain, Johnson, and Forty Other Colonial American Families," Chapter: The Wrights of London, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Here are a few selections: “

"Mr. RICHARD WRIGHT was born, according to his deposition made on August 20, 1655, in England in the year 1633. He died in Virginia at the age of thirty. Of his eight or nine years of independence, nearly all were passed in Virginia. Such American records of him as remain convey the impression of his having been a typical Londoner of his time - eager for adventure, self-reliant, and imbued with the amazing self-confidence characteristic of young Englishmen. Executive ability is the trait chiefly suggested by these Virginia records. As he designated himself 'of London,' it is an unavoidable inference that the 'Pool of London' with its fleet of ships bound to Virginia was a sight common to his eyes. He was not lacking in commercial training, and he certainly became proficient in navigation. — Tobacco was the magnet that drew him overseas." He exemplified the fact that,

"of all the European people in those times, the English possessed in the most marked degree the bold and intrepid spirit which would move them to leave their native soil behind, and cross many thousand miles of sea, and also the patient and calculating spirit which would enable them, when once fixed in their settlement, to make the most of the advantages." The first American record now extant of Richard Wright indicates that he was an attractive and pleasing young gentleman - an arrival from London whose personality caused a feminine flutter. This fact is clearly reflected in the record of the case of Alice Atkinson of Northumberland, who had conceived a great fancy for him, and had pursued her quest so much to his displeasure as to cause him to take peremptory action. She, jealous of a rival, made the mistake of misrepresenting him, doubtless in the hope of affecting the attachment which Mistress Anne Mottrom was forming for the favored newcomer. While there is no record known, naming the ship in which he came to Virginia, or giving the date of arrival, it is evident that he arrived in the spring of 1655, not very many weeks before the death of Colonel Mottrom; and it is easy to believe he arrived in the ship William, in which he later appears of record as having some interest.

His arrival in Virginia was opportune for the Mottrom family. The mantle of the father, Colonel John Mottrom, upon his death, immediately fell upon the shoulders of Richard Wright. He doubtless became the guide, counselor, and friend" of the children. He made the Mottrom house his domicile soon after his arrival in America; and his attachment to the Mottrom's led to his marriage to one of the daughters within a year, if indeed he was not betrothed to her before her father's demise.

The marriages made by all of the Mottrom children attest the high social position of this family in Virginia. In almost nothing, were the gentle families of England more exacting that in the fitness of the marriages of their children.” — Richard died at the age of 30. Very sad, that he died so young, and to think of what he might have accomplished had he lived longer.

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GEDCOM Note

<p>[g675.ftw]</p><p><p></p></p><p>Arrived VA 1655 & returned to England almost two years later, describing himself in a agreement with Mr. Hugh Lee of Virginia as "Richard Wright of London, Merchant, being homeward bound (that is to England) Northumberland County Record Book, 1652-1658 pg. 145; Tyler's Quarterly I, pb. 127." He returned to Virginia, and in 1657, became administrator of Col. John Mottrom's estate. The numerous references to Richard Wright, Gent; in the Northumberland and Westmoreland Records, indicate that he was a man of much influence and character. In 1661 with his brother-in-law , Col. Nicholas Spencer, he obtained a patent to 1100 acres of land at Piscattaway, on the Potomac, a part of which later was acquired by the Washington's, embracing the site of the present famous Mt. Vernon. In 1658 he secured a patent to 2200 acres upon the Potomac, between Lower Machodoc River and Nomini Bay, upon which his son, Francis Wright, settled. Richard Wright died in Chicacoan (called ÒCOANÓ for short) between Aug. 16 and Dec. 16, 1663, being the dates of the making and proof of his will. His will thus dated and proved appears in a much mutilated form in a Record Book in Northumberland County; WILL OF RICHARD WRIGHT (Abstract). He gives to his wife Anne one half of his land at Machodoc and Potomac Rivers---"that is the half that joins my brother Spencer (Nicholas Spencer, Esq., who married Frances Mottrom), with reversions at her death to his son Francis Wright; to wife two negroes named. All of the English servants, negroes not otherwise bequeathed and rest of personal estate in Virginia and Maryland to be divided into three equal parts, of which wife is to have one part and his three children the other two parts. To his son Mottrom Wright all his land on Elk Run, Md. To my

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land lying

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Francis

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for discharging education all my money in England. To daughter

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land in the

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of the Potomac. To my brother

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land at

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To my brother Nicholas Spencer, and my sister Mrs. Frances Spencer and Brother John Mottrom, each a rug. Brothers Spencer and Mottrom overseers. Cousin Matthew Merriton of London (merchant?) Overseer in England. The inventory of the personal estate of Mr. Richard Wright recorded March 10, 1663-43 was appraised at 23,334 lbs. tobacco. The widow of Richard Wright, Anne Mottrom Wright, married 2dly, David Fox, father of Hannah Fox, who married Anne's brother John Mottrom, Jr. After Fox's death in 1669 Anne married 3rdly, Col. St. Leger Codd, who died in Cecil County, Maryland, leaving according to his will, proved in Lancaster County, Virginia, April 8, 1708 sons James, Berkeley, St. Legar, and daughter Beatrice and Mary Paddison , (William and Mary Quarterly XVII, pg. 55). Issue of Richard Wright and Anne Mottrom, his wife, named in the will above, Mottrom, Francis, who married Anne Washington, Anne who married George Nicholas Hacke.

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Not a known parent of Elizabeth Johnson

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