Samuel Wright (bef. 1570 - bef. 1606)

Born before 17 Dec 1570 in Wrightsbridge, Romford, Essex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Rebecca (Rogers) Hastler — married about 1603 (to 10 Jun 1606) in Essex, England

Descendants

Died before 10 Jun 1606 at about age 35 in South Weald, Essex, England

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Biography

Samuel was born to John Wright and his first wife Judith (Lindsell) Wright at Wrightsbridge, as his baptism is recorded at both St. Peter, South Weald and St. Edward the Confessor, Romford, on 17 Dec 1570.^[1]

Samuel Wright was admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, on 22 June 1587, where he earned a B.A. in 1591 and an M.A. in 1594.^[2] He then matriculated at Leiden University in 1594.^[3] He then helped found, and became the founding president of, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.^[4], whose alumni include Oliver Cromwell.

Samuel Wright was a theologian, but he may never have been ordained a priest in the Church of England. He was proposed in 1603 as candidate for the vicarage at Dedham, but was refused by Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury. The usual reason for such a refusal of an obviously qualified candidate in those times was Puritan leanings. He preached nonetheless, and some of his sermons were published, posthumously in 1612, by his father-in-law Rev. Richard Rogers.^[1]

Samuel Wright married Rebecca Rogers, daughter of Rev. Richard Rogers of Wethersfield and his first wife Barbara. Surely by 1603, but when and where they married is uncertain. ^[5]

Samuel Wright died in South Weald, shortly before he was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter there on 10 June 1606.^[1]

Children

Samuel and Rebecca (Rogers) Wright weren't together long, but they had two children, who survived at least into their teens, both mentioned by name in the 1622 will of their stepfather Edward Hastler:^[6]

• Rebecca, born 1604 or perhaps 1606, m. Samuel Stone 5 June 1629 at Cranham All Saints, Essex^[7]
• Martha, bp. 5 May 1605 in South Weald, possibly the Martha Wright who married Mr. Robert Harvey (transcribed by the archivist, working from a deteriorated original, as Havint) in South Weald on 10 March 1633. (A Margaret Wright married a John Harvey there on the same day.)^[8] Further research needed.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Tarbert, Jesse, "The Identity and English Ancestor of Rev. Samuel Stone's First wife: Rebecca Wright, Granddaughter of Rev. Richard Rogers" in the New England Historical Genealogical Register, Vol. 176, Fall 2022, pp. 393, 399, 403-404, citing parish registers of St. Peter, South Weald, and St. Edward the Confessor, Romford, Essex
2. ↑ Venn, John and J.A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses . . . Part I (London, 1924, Cambridge University Press), Vol. 3, p. 478
3. ↑ Gell, Ole Peter, "The Attraction of Leiden University For English Students of Medicine and Theology 1590-1642", in C.C. Barfoot and Richard Todd, The Great Emporium . . ., (Amsterdam, 1992, Rodopi), p. 102, cited by Tarbert
4. ↑ G.M.Edwards, University of Cambridge College Histories: Sidney Sussex College, (London, 1899, F. E. Robinson & Co.), pp. 43-44, cited by Tarbert)
5. ↑ Parish registers of Wethersfield, the most likely location for the marriage of a daughter of the vicar there, have not survived. Another possibility cited by Tarbert is the marriage of Samuel Write and Rebecca Rogers, recorded in Depden, Suffolk on 15 September 1603. But Depden is 23 miles northeast of Wethersfield, which is another 30 miles northeast of South Weald. Those were long distances for wooing in the early 17th century. The distances, and the presence of a different Wright family near Depden as noted by Tarbert, make this possibility less likely.
6. ↑ Edward Hastler's Will dated 11 June 1622 and proved 4 Oct 1622, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, PROP 11//140/281, cited by Tarbert
7. ↑ Essex Archives, viewed on ancestry.com
8. ↑ Essex Archives, viewed on ancestry.com

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