The Wright Family

Rosemary Louise Fitzherbert Wright (1905-1975)

Rosemary Louise Fitzherbert Wright was my grandmother. I’ve only skimmed the surface of my Wright family ancestors. They can be traced back at least to John Wright alias Camplyon of Stowmarket who made his will in 1557, although according to the Wikipedia entry for Fergie’s mum wills and deeds show the family holding land in Suffolk and Norfolk at least a century earlier. His son, John Wright, a captain in Colonel Whalley’s Regiment of Horse, was imprisoned in Newark Castle for his attachment to the Parliamentary cause, but later acquired estates in Nottinghamshire and Suffolk. Captain Wright’s grandson, Ichabod, was a banker who owned estates in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, and established Wright’s Bank with two of his sons. His great-grandson, Samuel Wright of Gunthorpe, married a daughter of Lord Coventry. Samuel’s brother John of Langar and Lenton Hall was a banker and principal proprietor of the Butterley Company. His granddaughter became the wife of the Earl of Buckinghamshire. John Wright’s son, Francis, married Selina, daughter of Sir Henry FitzHerbert, 3rd Baronet (1783-1858) of Tissington Hall, Derbyshire and was a noted philanthropist; he was my great great great grandfather.

I’d like to plan a fantasy weekend break to the midlands some time. The Galton Papers are in The National Archives in Birmingham and contain a draft account of the life of  Archibald Douglas, the privateer and possible pirate (see more here). He is the ancestor of Rosemary’s mother Lucy Adeline Fox who is the common ancestor of my Squarey cousins who have been in touch recently. I’ve only a found a few Wright and Fitzherbert homes to visit so far, including Yeldesley Hall where Rosemary and her sister Veronica lived, and were possibly born (see here).

Yeldersley Hall

There might have been Staunton Grange where Rosemary’s parent were living at the turn of the last century, but having looked on Google Maps it seems like it’s been turned into a factory. I found a great photograph on Geograph of the gates though:

Staunton Hall Gate

Sadly Ostmaston Manor that my great great great grandfather Francis Wright built was demolished in 1964. The Wikipedia has this photograph below of the Winter Garden just before demolition:

Winter Garden at Osmaston just before demolition

The grounds of Osmaston Manor are now a 3,000 acre private park. I think there are brass statues of Francis Wright and Selina Fitzherbert’s children in the grounds that would include my great great grandfather FitzHerbert Wright if they still exist. It would be great to visit these if I could get permission. I’ve dropped them a line, so fingers crossed.

There’s also Tissington Hall that was the home Selina Fitzherbert’s family. I found the photograph below in the scrapbook of my great great aunt Agnes Selina Fox:

Tissington Hall

Apparently, they do tea at Tissington Hall and the village of Tissington looks picturesque, so I could imagine a weekend trip to this part of the world.

There’s also Lenton Hall. It was home of John Wright, and then Francis Wright before he built Osmaton Manor. However, it’s now a halls of residence at Nottingham University, so it’s not top of my list:

Lenton Hall, home of John Wright and his son Francis

I haven’t done a very good job of discovering the local industrial heritage of the wright family, but I do I might include some of these locations on my trip. More soon…

UPDATE

I’ve just found the Middleton Top Winding Engine, it’s he last survivor of nine such engines built by the Butterly Company for the Cromford and High Peak Railway company in 1829. The trackbed of the Cromford and High Peak Railway now forms a hiking and cycling trail known as The High Peak Trail, so maybe we could take the bikes.

Middleton Top Winding Station