Robert Wright (1560–1643) was an English bishop, first holding the

see of Bristol The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far ...

and then the see of Lichfield and Coventry. He died at an episcopal palace, under siege in the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Ang ...

Life

Wright was born of humble parentage in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, in 1560, and probably attended the refounded free school there (now St Albans School), where preference was given to poor scholars of the borough. He matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in 1574 at the age of 14, was elected to a scholarship in 1575, and graduated as a B.A. in 1580, becoming a fellow the next year. He proceeded to obtain an M.A. in 1584, a B.D. in 1592 and a D.D. in 1597. In 1601, Wright was made Canon Residentiary and Treasurer of Wells, a post he held until 1632. He was appointed chaplain to both Queen Elizabeth I and James I. In 1613 he was appointed the first warden of the newly established Wadham College, resigning three months later as the college required the warden to remain celibate, but Wright had obtained Royal dispensation to marry. A daughter, Hester was born soon after and went on to marry Sir Humphrey Style of Langley (Beckenham) and after his death in 1659 John Scott of Hayes Place (Kent).Abstracts of Prerogative of Canterbury Wills Vol iv 1646 p96 A son, Calvert, was born in 1620 and baptised at Sonning Church in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

where Robert had been vicar since 1604. In 1623, he was appointed as Bishop of Bristol, and was later translated to the See of Lichfield and Coventry in 1632. He died at the seat of the Bishops of Lichfield, Eccleshall Castle in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, in September 1643 but, as the castle was under siege by Parliamentarians at the time, could not be properly buried.

References

External links

Royal Berkshire History: Robert Wright
* D. J. Oldridge, 'Wright, Robert (1560–1643)'
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

1560 births 1643 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Bishops of Bristol Bishops of Lichfield People from St Albans 17th-century Church of England bishops People from Sonning 17th-century English clergy 16th-century English clergy Wardens of Wadham College, Oxford {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub