The History of the Wright Families in Southern Africa

The history of the Wright families in southern Africa COMPILED BY JACK WRIGHT: BRATISLAVA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC Volume 1, Issue 1 May 2006 The ancient history of the Wright families Ancient History to the Middle Ages There is no record as to the ancient history of the Wright family name. Before the Special points of inter- development of last names, est: or surnames, one personal name was generally suffi- cient as an identifier. Dupli- • THE WRIGHTS AND THE cations, however, began to MCINTYRE CLAN occur so often that additional • OUR TARTAN differentiations became a necessity. Thus, in England, • COAT OF ARMS for example, a person living • FINDING THE RIGHT near or at a place where WRIGHT apple trees grew might be called John where-the- apples-grow, hence, John Appleby. Regional or habi- Anglo Saxon (clear) and Celtic (shaded) Kingdoms of the tation names, such as Wood 7th Century or Woods, Moore, Church, or frequently spelt as le the Scottish lowlands. It was Hill, constitute a large major- Wrighte, Right, Write, founded by King Ida, who ity of English surnames. Sur- Wrighte, Alwright, Allwright reigned around the middle names reflecting medieval and Oldwright in many such of the 6th century AD. life and occupations also records. These spelling Around the beginning of the form an enormous group, Inside this issue: variances occurred fre- 7th century, King Ethelfrith Smith being the foremost quently within the family united Bernicia and the along with its equivalents in name, often due to scribes neighbouring kingdom of THE MCINTYRE CLAN 2 Spanish (Ferrer), German and church officials spelling Deira to the south to form THE MCINTRYE TARTAN 4 (Schmidt), or Hungarian the name in the manner in the powerful state of North- (Kovacs). Among other Eng- WHERE THE RESEARCH 5 which they “sounded” it. It umbria. The Boernician lish last names denoting an STARTED was not uncommon to have race of the north was a occupation are Chapman THE WRIGHT COAT OF 6 the spelling changed - even mixture of Scottish Picts and (merchant or trader), Miller, ARMS during the person's own Angles, dating from about Baker and Wright – being a EARLY CONDITIONS AT 8 lifetime. the year 400 A.D. By 1000 wheelwright, shipwright or THE CAPE A.D. this race had formed other form of artisan. The Origin of the surname into discernible Clans and FINDING THE RIGHT 9 word “wright” originates WRIGHT The family name WRIGHT is families, perhaps some of from the old English word believed to have originally the first evidence of the 72ND HIGHLANDERS 12 “wyrtha” denoting “one who descended from use by the family structure in Britain. JAMES NEHEMIA 14 worked in wood, a carpenter Boernicians – originating WRIGHT—AN HISTRO- or joiner” from Bernicia, an Anglo- From these fighting clans of CAL OVERVIEW the border in the Berwick- The name “Wright” further Saxon kingdom which occu- PLANNED FOR ISSUE 2 21 shire region – there are appeared in a number of pied the territory between records of Wright’s who other references – but was the Tyne and the Forth riv- ers in northern England and were first settled in Plow- The history of the Wright families in southern Africa land in Holderness, dating numerous knighthoods. Nota- baptismal and parish re- back to very early times ble amongst the family cords, tax records and car- and there are records of name during the early his- tularies), and have indicated them later moving north into tory was Earl of Elgin and that the first written record Durham, where they were Kincardine. The Clans or of the surname “Wright” seated at Bradbury and families to the north of the was found in Berwickshire, Sedgefield, Northumberland border became Scottish af- where those “wrights” had and Berwick. Their estates ter about the year 1000 been seated from ancient in Yorkshire were at Bolton- A.D., and to the south they times. upon-Swale, Botton Hall, became English. Neverthe- Thus, both the English and and Sigglesthorn Hall. Some less, despite the border, Scottish Wrights have the later branches of the family many would still be united same common ancestor(s) - moved south, acquired es- clans but yet loyal to the with each line going it’s own tates in Brattleby in Lincoln, defence of their respective Glenoe village way as from the 1st Cen- Mottram as well as Bickley countries. taury in Cheshire. The first use of the surname, WHEN THE QUEEN Meanwhile in the north, Tho- or name differentiator COMMISSIONED THE LONDON mas Wright of Alnwick “Wright” appear in a num- HIGHLAND SOCIETY TO SEARCH OUT THE "TARTANS OF documented and recorded ber of ancient European SCOTLAND" AND REPORT BACK his clan of Wrights in 1342 manuscripts - (including the TO HER IN THE YEAR 1745. THE – being knights of Aberdeen Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, OLDEST EXAMPLE OF TARTAN and Berwick. The Wright the Inquisitio, the Ragman THEY RETURNED WITH WAS THE MACINTYRE & GLENORCHY, name has been honoured by Rolls, the Domesday Book, SAID BY THEM IN THEIR OFFICIAL REPORT TO BE THE OLDEST SAMPLE EXTENT IN THE HIGHLANDS. IN FACT IT WAS The Macintyre Clan SAID TO BE SO OLD THAT NO ONE REMEMBERED WHETHER IT meant shipwright. Although, STARTED AS A DISTRICT TARTAN The Clan Origin of the Clan Name OR AS A MACINTYRE TARTAN! A “Clan” is a traditional saoir also means carpenter. At the beginning of the 2nd HENCE ITS OFFICIAL social unit in the Scottish When there is no written century, Conn of the Hundred DESIGNATION AS MACINTYRE & Highlands, consisting of a Battles was the High King of GLENORCHY! history, weight must be given number of families claiming to the stories passed down Scotia. Cabris Riada, a a common ancestor and through the ages by clan grandson or nephew of following the same bards and seanachies be- Conn, established a colony in hereditary chieftain. A clan cause these individuals were Argyll and the western is- is distinguished from a held in high esteem and lands. One of Cabris’s sons, lineage in that a clan were trusted with the solemn merely claims common duty of preserving the his- ancestry; a lineage can be tory of their chiefs. Although traced to a common many of these tales sound progenitor. A clan may far fetched, we know that have several lineages. new clans and surnames Many families, called were often established after “Septs” normally comprise a a heroic act or acquisition of clan - and the Macintyre new territory through inheri- clan contains families such tance or warfare. These sto- as Tyre, MacTear, Wright ries had common threads and McEntire. and were important enough Meaning of the name Macin- to be told and retold. As- suming the legends are tyre based on facts, or are alle- Macintyre in Gaelic is Mac- gories representing real The Macintyre crest, described in an-t-Saoir and means Chil- heraldic terms as “a dexter hand events, the following sum- holding a dagger in pale Proper” dren of The Wright. In an- mary seems reasonable. with the motto of “Per Ardua” cient Scotland, “wright” meaning—”Through difficulties” Page 2 Volume 1, Issue 1 The Macintyre Clan cont. Colla Uais maintained and enlarged this colony, called Dalriada. From 800A.D. to1100 A.D., the ancestors of those who would eventually be called Macintyre, Mac- Donald, MacDougall, and MacNeil, lived on the islands west of Scotland. It was from these early times, before written history, that the first Macintyre legends origi- nated. The Thumb Carpenter The original story favoured by Duncan Ban Macintyre, the Gaelic poet, concerns these earliest ancestors. As the story goes, an ancestor of a MacDonald living in Sleat, finding his boat about to sink from a leak, stuck his thumb in the hole, chopped it off and hammered it firm, so saving the boat and crew. For this heroic act, he was called the thumb carpenter or Saor-na- h-ordaig and, according to custom, his son was the first to be called Mac-an-t-Saoir, son of the carpenter and his de- scendants were called Sons of the Wright. Geographic Origin The weight of available legends suggest that the ancestors of the Macintyre's came from the islands off the western shore of Scotland and eventually to Glenoe on the mainland. Combining the legends with known historical facts, gives credence to the The historical location of the Macintyre clan idea that by around 1150 Clan Macintyre was formed battle for King Robert the Bruce Today’s Wrights of Scottish origin by Maurice MacNeil, The at Bannockburn. Supplying he- can thus rightfully claim to be Wright. We can also be reditary pipers to another clan members of the McIntyre clan and fairly sure that by 1314 suggests that the Macintyre's the Wright Sept—even till today! there was a recognized Clan were a well-established clan Macintyre, because pipers that existed for many genera- identified by the Menzies as tions before 1314. Macintyre's led them into Page 3 The history of the Wright families in southern Africa The Macintyre Tartan Some writers give the origin of the term 'tartan' as the French tiretane, although this may simply refer to a type of material of French origin, rather than any pattern on the cloth. In earliest times, Highlanders were known to wear clothes dyed with local The Macintyre red modern plants, mosses and berries dress tartan and woven into distinctive striped or checked patterns. However, the weave of the cloth, and the way it was worn, tended to be dictated by the custom in a particular Scottish Tartans World Register: Buchan area, rather than a family Buchan Cumming MacIntyre District Tartan WR1991 or clan.

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