- 20260218GHLn-
Richard Wright
Male
about 1598 – after 15 March 1667
• L2YT-9T1
Sources (15)
Collaborate (10)
Memories (26)
Notes
Biographical summary.
Please read Discussion for additional information based on professional research..
SOURCE:NEHGR Vol 99 pp 227-242. of Lynn, Boston, and Braintree, Massachusetts, and of Seekonk, Plymouth Colony, was born in England probably about 1598. He married in England, but the name of his wife is not known. He came to New England in the first fleet with Winthrop in 1630, accompanied by at least three, and perhaps four daughters, and probably Margaret Wright (who may have been his mother). In 1643 he and his three sons-in-law and families all settled in the new plantation at Seekonk (later Rehoboth). He had a 12 acre home lot in the northwest end of the "ring of the town" on the north side of the present Hoyt Ave. near Wannamoiset Golf Clubhouse in the Rumford section of the town of East Providence, R.I. His three sons-in-law each had 8 acre home lots. His lot adjoined Robert Sharpe's on the east; William Sabin's on the west; and James Clark's adjoined William Sabin's.
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Last Changed: December 20, 2025
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Anna Lenz Hetzel
Birth is approximated; unproven christening
That Richard Wright came "from" Stepney is noted on the Winthrop Fleet passenger list. Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. There were several Richard Wrights born in the greater London area in the appropriate time period, so it would be difficult to determine which (if any) were this Richard Wright.
Read Discussion notes and review Memories
The following is a possibility, but because there were so many suburbs of London and many Richard Wrights, this in UNPROVEN to be the same person.
Text 11 Sep 1597 Richard s. of Richard Wright
Book Baptisms (Baptism)
Collection Middlesex: St. Katherine by the Tower - Parish Registers, 1584-1625
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Last Changed: December 20, 2025
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Anna Lenz Hetzel
In-law relationship to William Sabin (per deed)
Deed given by Wm Sabin (Plymouth Colony Deeds vol 3, p. 262 NEH&G 2:38 sold land to Anthony Paine "which I bought with other lands of my father-in-law, Rcd Wright."
Although Sabin referred to his "father-in-law" in a land record, at the time period that term meant "father by law." Therefore it could refer to a step-father or to a wife's father. It is believed by the best professional researchers that Richard's second wife was likely William Sabin's mother.
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Last Changed: December 1, 2025
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Anna Lenz Hetzel
New England Historical and and Genealogical Register
VOL. XCIX JULY 1945 NO. 395 PAGES 227-242.
(May be outdated and difficult to access)
Last Changed: December 1, 2025
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Anna Lenz Hetzel
Potential christenings
That Richard Wright came "from" Stepney is noted on the Winthrop Fleet passenger list. Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. There were several Richard Wrights born in the greater London area in the appropriate time period, so it would be difficult to determine which (if any) were this Richard Wright.
Read Discussion notes and review Memories
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Last Changed: November 12, 2025
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Anna Lenz Hetzel
Richard Wright had no known daughter named Mary
Four eminent genealogists have studied the family of Richard Wright thoroughly and the most authoritative have concluded that he had no known daughter named Mary and that the statement that a daughter married William Sabin is doubtful. Although Sabin referred to his "father-in-law" in a land record, at that time that term often, perhaps almost always, referred to a step-father. Thus the following authors have concluded that Richard Wright's second wife was very likely William Sabin's mother. See Walter Goodwin Davis, THE ANCESTRY OF jOSEPH NEAL (1945), 97-101; Richard LeBaron Bown, "Early Rehoboth Families and Events, Richard Wright," NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER 99 (1945):227-242; Gale Ion Harris, "Captain Richard Wright of Twelve-Mile Island and the Burnhams of Podunk," THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST 67 (1992):32-46, and Robert Charles Anderson, THE GREAT MIGRATION BEGINS, 3 vol. (Boston: NEHGS, 1995), 3:2072-2074, and Anderson, THE WINTHROP FLEET (Boston: NEHGS, 2012):696-698. Both of the latter works say Harris's article should be studied carefully. The list there of Richard Wright's children does not include one who married William Sabin, but suggests it only as a possibility. In any case, Sabin's first wife's given name has not been found on any record.
The work by Morris and Prittie, DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM SABIN (1994), has irresponsibly, without citing any source, claimed that Sabin married Mary Wright.
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Last Changed: December 9, 2018
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Helen Schatvet Ullmann
Discussions
Add Discussion
Whether Margaret was Richard's wife or his mother is unproven.
December 16, 2025
Who was the Margaret Wright listed with Richard Wright and his daughter Ellinor on Winthrop Fleet passenger list in 1630 and admitted to the Boston Church in late 1630-early 1631 as member #99? Professional colonial researchers have no proved conclusion. 1) It could feasibly by Richard Wright's mother who came with him in 1630 and died in Roxbury as Mrs. “Old Mother” Wright on 17 Dec 1678. (Two daughters' later depositions mention that they came with their father and do not mention a mother.) There is no record of her dismissal from the church, as was common when a person moved from the local church. (There is record of Richard Wright's dismissal.) Her recorded death in Roxbury stated that she was "near a hundred years old," an appropriate age to have been Richard's mother. OR 2) The first wife of Richard Wright, with unknown death date between 1623 (birth of daughter Abigail) and before 1643 (estimated birth of daughter from second wife). The space between births of children from Richard's earlier and later marriages suggests that first wife may have died in England. It is also possible that if she was Margaret who came with Richard in 1630, she may have died before Richard's dismissal from the Boston are church. There is no proven christening or marriage record for Richard, nor for his daughters. Professional researchers who have studied Richard’s life in depth have questioned whether Margaret was the name of Richard's mother or of his wife. Anderson's Great Migration (Vol 3 P-W) considered it plausible enough to mention, even though he chooses to leave Margaret as the wife of Richard Wright. Most earlier published histories and Winthrop Fleet passenger lists have made that assumption.
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Anna Lenz Hetzel
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Life Sketch
September 12, 2021
SEE in Memories Section - [3 Pages] Richard Wright The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 pages 2072-2074.
Richard Wright origin is unknown but migrated in 1630 so first wife and children Elinor/Elizabeth, Ann and Abigail born in England
SEE in Memories Section - [3 Pages] Richard Wright The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 pages 2072-2074
ORIGIN: Unknown
MIGRATION: 1630
FIRST RESIDENCE: Lynn
REMOVES: Boston, Braintree 1639, Rehoboth 1643, Boston 1649, Ipswich 1652, Twelve Mile Island 1662, Podunk 1666 RETURN TRIPS: To England about 1646, and return to New England by 1649 [Early Rehoboth 3:122-23, citing Aspinwall 101]
BIRTH: By about 1596 based on estimated date of first marriage.
DEATH: After 15 March 1667/8 [TAG 67:33, citing WMJ 793].
MARRIAGE:
(1) By about 1621 Margaret ___ ; "Margarett Wright"
was admitted to Boston church as member #99, which would be late in 1630 or early in 1631 [BChR 14]; she died after 1623 and before 1643.
(2) By about 1643 ___ ___ , possibly a widow Sabin, mother of William Sabin of Rehoboth [TAG 67:37].
CHILDREN:
With First Wife
i ELINOR/ELIZABETH, b. about 1621 (deposed 29 December
1701 "fourscore years or thereabouts" [Early Rehoboth 3:126-27, citing SJC Case #5400]); m. about 1644 James Clark [TAG 67:38 (and sources cited there)].
ii (probably) ANN, b. about 1622 (aged 45 on 3 June 1667
[WMJ 731]); m. by about 1645 Thomas Burnham [TAG 67:40-46].
iii ABIGAIL, b. about 1623 (deposed 29 December 1701 "about seventy eight years or thereabouts" [Early Rehoboth 3:126-27, citing SJC Case #5400]); m. (1) before 1640 Robert Sharpe; m. (2) about 1657 THOMAS CLAPP; m. (3) about 1696 William Holbrook [TAG 67:38 (and sources cited there) for all three marriages].
With Second Wife
iv SARAH, b. say 1643; m. about 1664 Thomas Harris [TAG
67:39; NGSQ 78:182-203].
v ELIZABETH, b. about 1644; m. 1666 Paddon [TAG
67:40].
vi (probably) ANN, b. say 1645; m. Lynn 7 April 1665 Samuel Gaines, son of Henry Gaines [TAG 67:39].
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K
KatCappGallT
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Attempted merges with Margaret, wife of Richard Wright with the Margeret on Family Search
December 2, 2020
Every time I try to merge the spouse/s f Richard Wright, it shows a merge with Hester Cooke who is the wife of a different Richard Wright. Why this is happening I don't know.
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Janelle Holmes
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Origin and Parentage
February 16, 2016
Parentage is often assigned to this person, but scholarly consensus rejects it as without value. The person's origin is currently unknown, see Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 3 vols. (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1995), 3:2072-2074.
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Nathan W. Murphy
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1598 - 1645 (47 years)
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