James Wright (governor)

James Wright (8 May 1716 – 20 November 1785) was an American colonial lawyer and jurist who was the last British Royal Governor of the Province of Georgia. He was the only Royal Governor of the Thirteen Colonies to regain control of his colony during the American Revolutionary War.

James Wright
Portrait by Andrea Soldi
7th Governor of Carolina and Georgia
In office
1760–1776
MonarchGeorge III
Preceded byHenry Ellis
Succeeded byArchibald Campbell
Personal details
Born8 May 1716
London, England
Died20 November 1785 (aged 69)
London
Spouse(s)Sarah Maidman (died 1774)
Children9
ProfessionLawyer, jurist, governor

Biography

James Wright was born in London to Robert Wright junior, son of Sir Robert Wright, Lord Chief Justice of England. His mother is traditionally said to be Isabella Pitts, a widow. According to My Zeal for the Real Happiness of Both Great Britain and the Colonies: The Conflicting Imperial Career of Sir James Wright by Robert G. Brooking this is actually an amalgamation of two different women, Robert Wright's wife Alice Johnson Pitt (d. November 1723), the heiress of John Johnson and widow of Baldwin Pitt, Esquire, and Isabella Bulman (d. 21 November 1752), the mother of his children, whom he married one week after the death of his first wife.[1]

According to the Sedgefield marriage registers a Robert Wright did marry an Alicea Pitt on 7 October 1689.[2]

The websites of the Manor House in Sedgefield likewise identifies this person as the son of Sir Robert Wright, Lord Chief Justice of England and his first wife, and adds the information that the groom was 23 years old at the time and the bride 46, and that Alicea died in 1723 aged 80.[3]

Baldwin Pitt is a historical character.[4] He attended Brasenose College at Oxford, matriculated 19 July 1662, aged 16, and was barrister-at-law, Middle Temple, 1673.[5] He was summoned to Parliament in 1674.[6] He was the son of William Pitt the elder of Hartley Wespall, Hampshire, and had a brother, William Pitt the younger, and a sister, Abigail Pitt, who married Ralph Stawell of Netherham, Somerset.[7] According to Debrett's Peerage, the two indeed did marry, and had two sons, William, 3rd Baronet and Edward, 4th Baronet, and four daughters, Elizabeth, married to William Bromley, Esq., Catharine, married to William Higden, D.D., Lucy, and Diana.[8] On the north wall near the door of St. Mary's church, Hartley Wespall, Hampshire, can be found the memorial of Abigail, Lady Dowager of Ralph Lord Stawell, died 27 September 1692, daughter and heir of William Pitt of Hartley Wespall. Above are the arms of Pitt on a lozenge, while on consoles beneath are the arms of Stawell: Gules a cross lozengy argent, and the same impaling Pitt.[9][10]

According to another old epitaph, Baldwin Pitt died on 10 July 1679, aged 33, and he was indeed married to Alicia, daughter and heiress of John Johnson of Sedgefield.

On a marble in the pavement at the entrance of the quire[11] of the Church of St. Edmund in Sedgefield can be found the following inscription:

Jacerit sub hoc marmore exuviæ Baldwini Pitt de Agro Hamptoniensi Armr. nobilis et antiquæ Familiæ Constans Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ Et Regiæ Majestatis Asserto IIngenium acre Judicium Subactum Memoriam tenacem habuit Christiane ac pie 10mo die julij Anno Salutis 1679 Ætatis 33 tradidit Corpus solo animam cælo Posuit hoc illi conju[n]x tristissima Alicia Filia et hæres Johannis Johnson de Sedgefeild genr. pia Expectatione Æternæ gloriæ

Baldwynus Pitt married Alicia Johnson at Durham on 14 August 1676.[12]

In the Church of St. Edmund in Sedgefield, there can also be found a baptismal font, perhaps not an unusual place for it, but the unusual thing is that it is of two dates, the earlier, or 15th-century portions, consisting of a broad octagonal step, base, and shaft of Frosterley marble, and the later of an elaborate bowl of grey Italian marble dating from the rectorate of the Rev. Theophilus Pickering, D.D. (1705–11). On each of the eight sides is carved a shield of arms, one of which, facing north-west, is the coat of Dr. Pickering, who was probably the donor. The other shields bear the arms of his contemporaries and predecessors, and are as follows: east, Lawson; south-east, Butler of Oldacres; south, Thornton impaling Greystock; south-west, Hoton; west, Elstob; north, Wright impaling Johnson; north-east, Lambton impaling Wright.[13] «The font is a handsome octagonal basin of black marble. Each face bears an armorial shield. 1. Ermine, a lion rampant, Pickering, quartering .... three garlands, .... 2. A fleur de lis, Elstob of Foxton. 3. A chevron inter three trefoils, Hoton of Hardwick. 4. A chevron and chief indented, Thornton; impaling, two bars, over all three chaplets, Greystoke. 5. A chevron inter three covered cups, Butler of Oldacres. 6. A chevron inter three birds? ..... 7. A. fesse inter three lambs passant, Lambton of Hardwick; impaling Wright, as below. 8. A chevron engrailed, inter three fleurs de lis, on a chief three spear heads, Wright of Sedgefield; impaling, a bend charged with three pheons, inter two towers, on a chief a demi-lion rampant, inter two lozenges, Johnson. The preservation of the old coats of Hoton and Thornton (fn. 8), as well as the handsome design of the font, seem to prove that it was copied or restored from some ancient basin of the same form.»[14] «8. The latter coat fixes the date of the old font to the life-time of Roger Thornton, the wealthy merchant of Newcastle, and owner of Bradbury and the Isle, who married a daughter of Lord Greystoke, and died in 1469, leaving an heiress, wife to George Lord Lumley. William Hoton was the contemporary owner of Hardwick. The other six coats fix the restored font to the time of the kindly and munificent rector Pickering, with four of the five principal gentry of the parish, Lambton, Wright, Butler, and Elstob. Conyers of Layton was a Roman Catholic.»[14] Now, Freville Lambton of Hardwick did marry Judge Robert Wright's daughter Anne[15], so that should prove that someone from the same Wright family married someone from the Johnson family. Unfortunately for these purposes, the coat of arms of the Wright family of Kilverstone and the coat of arms of the nearby Wright family of Sands[14][16][17] in Segdefield are virtually identical.[18][19][20] But it does make it extremely likely that the second marriage of Alicia Pitt, daughter of John Johnson of Sedgefield, was to a Robert Wright of either of these two families.

On 27 November 1723 Alicea Wright, of Sedgfield, wife of Robert Wright (armigeri [knight]) was buried at the Church of St. Edmund in Sedgefield.[21]

A further deep dive into Durham records reveal that in Marriage Bonds, Durham Diocese, on 10 August 1676 Baldwin Pitt (esquire, of Middle Temple, [St. Dunston, London]) obtained a licence to marry Alice Johnson (of [Sedgefield]), directed to Durham Cathedral. Surety: William Newhouse, gentleman. [Note: married 14 August at Dutham Cathedral. ], and that at Durham Cathedral (Church of Christ & Blessed Mary the Virgin) 14 August 1676 Baldwynus Pitt (armiger) married Alicia Johnson. And that likewise, in Marriage Bonds, Durham Diocese, on 4 October 1689 Robert Wright (esquire, of Middle Temple, Middlesex) obtained a licence to marry Alice Pitt (widow, of [Sedgefield]), directed to Sedgefield. Surety: William Stagg. [Note: married 7 October at Sedgefield.] At St. Edmund the Bishop in Sedgefield, on 7 October 1689 Robertus Wright (Ar.) married Alicea Pitt (vid [widow]), by licence. [Note: the "Ar." after the groom's name might be for "armiger" - in this period, that is one of the few occupations that are listed in this register.][21]

Armiger or armigieri does not appear to translate to knight, but seems to mean a person entitled to bear a coat of arms. The Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers. Legal training does seem like it would be an advantage to someone who would go on to be a judge, even in the colonies.

Burke describes in 1835 the son of Sir Robert Wright, chief justice of the Court of King's Bench, as «Robert, of Sedgfield, in Durham, who emigrated to South Carolina, and married a widow lady named Pitts.» He adds that the present baronet is descended from this marriage.[22]

At least two records exist of the marriage of Robert Wright, widower, and Isabella Bulman, a spinster from St. Giles in the Fields, a bond from 4 December 1723, and an allegation from 11 December 1723. However, in the allegation, Robert Wright is said to be 40 years old, which means that he would have been born in or about 1683. We know that Robert Wright was older than that, not least because that means that he would have been six years old at his marriage to Alicea in 1689. Isabella Bulman is said to be 26 years old, which means that she would have been born in or about 1697. Isabella Wright had given birth to a child by at least 1703, so that seems unlikely also.

According to the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 63, «Robert, son of Sir Robert Wright [q. v.], lord chief justice of England, married Mrs. Pitts, whose maiden name was Isabella Wright.»[23]

The Magna Charta Sureties also mention the widow Isabella Pitts, confirm the death date of Isabella Wright as 21 November 1752, but adds that she was 77 years old at the time.[24]

It seems that more primary sources are needed.

In 1730 Robert Wright, James Wright's father, accompanied Robert Johnson to the Province of South Carolina and served as its Chief Justice until 1739. James followed soon after and began the practice of law in Charleston. In 1747 James was named colonial attorney-general.[25] He also began amassing plantation lands.

Wright returned to London as an agent for the South Carolina colony in 1757. Then, in May 1760, he was named as Lieutenant Governor to Henry Ellis in Georgia. He returned to America and took up residence in Savannah, Georgia. When Ellis resigned he was appointed Governor in November 1760. He was the third, and arguably most popular, Royal Governor of the colony. He sold many of his holdings in South Carolina, acquired land in Georgia, and moved his financial operations as well. With peace temporarily established with the French and Spanish, he successfully negotiated with the Indians and the Crown to open new lands to development. In his early administration, the new lands and economic improvement fostered the development of the Georgia colony.[26]

His first troubles came with the Stamp Act of 1765. But, in spite of efforts by the Sons of Liberty to block its implementation, Georgia was the only colony to import and actually use the revenue stamps. In 1768, Wright established the 12,000 acre settlement known as Wrightsboro, Georgia. Wrightsboro was set aside for displaced Quakers from North Carolina[27] and became home to William Few when his family fled North Carolina after their farm had been burned and James Few, William's brother, had been hanged without a trial. As the American Revolution gathered momentum, Georgia remained the most loyal colony—due in part to its recent settlement, with many residents having direct ties through kinship in Great Britain, and, in part as well, to Wright's able administration. Georgia did not send delegates to the First Continental Congress in 1774. That same year saw the death of his wife, Sarah.

By 1775, the revolutionary spirit had reached Georgia through the Committees of correspondence and he dismissed the assembly. But a revolutionary congress met that summer in Savannah and elected delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Then, in early 1776, following the arrival of a small British fleet, rebel forces entered his home and briefly took him prisoner. Wright escaped on February 11, 1776, via Bonaventure Plantation and with the assistance of two compatriots, Colonel John Mullryne and Josiah Tattnall[28] (father of future Governor of Georgia, Josiah Tattnall, Jr.), to the safety of HMS Scarborough, and sent a letter to his council. The congress and the council adjourned without answering him.

For a time, Wright continued negotiations. He was even able to trade with the rebels to keep his offshore troops and ships supplied. But the differences continued to escalate. When his attempt to retake Savannah with naval forces failed, he returned to England.

By 1778, Governor Wright convinced the government to lend him enough troops to once again attempt to take Savannah. After some short but sharp fights, he regained control of Savannah on December 29, 1778. While never fully in control of the state, he did restore large areas within Georgia to colonial rule, making this the only colony that was regained by the British once they had been expelled. He led a successful defense against several American and French attempts to capture the city. When the war was lost, he withdrew on July 11, 1782 and retired to England.

Wright's extensive properties were seized by the revolutionary governments in South Carolina and Georgia. He died in London, and is interred at Westminster Abbey.

Wright's offspring

James F. Cook in his book The Governors of Georgia 1754-2004 states that Sir James Wright (1716-1785) and Sarah Maidman (died 1763) had nine children. They were:

  • Sir James Wright (1747–1816), the 2nd Baronet. He married Sarah Williamson Smith,[29] daughter of Captain John Smith and Elizabeth Williamson (other sources such as Burke's Peerage of 1833 incorrectly call her Mary Smith, daughter of John Smith, a former governor of South Carolina) and died without issue.
  • Sarah (born 1744), who went with her father Sir James Wright and her brothers James, Alexander, and Charles to Jamaica with other family members, where they were granted land,[30] and later to England to join her father, where she married William Bartram of Norfolk, a Jacobite.
  • Alexander (born 1751), who was a Loyalist and lost his American estates. He moved to Jamaica and married Elizabeth Izard, daughter of John Izard and niece of Congressman Ralph Izard. He was the father of Sir James Alexander Wright, the 3rd Baronet[31] and of John Izard Wright, the father of Sir John Wright, the 4th Baronet.[32]
  • Charles
  • Ann (born 1749), who married British Admiral James Wallace
  • Elizabeth
  • Charlotte
  • Mary (1742–1763)
  • Isabella, who married General Thomas Barrow in 1757
  • "Answers to queries sent by the Lords of Trade [in] 1761, 1762 / Governor James Wright". Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842. Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 13 February 2018.

References
  1. ""My Zeal for the Real Happiness of Both Great Britain and the Colonies": The Conflicting Imperial Career of Sir James Wright by Robert G. Brooking".
  2. GENUKI. "Genuki: Marriages from the Sedgefield Registers (1581-1729), Durham". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  3. "The History of The Manor House (1707) Sedgefield, County Durham". www.manorhousesedgefield.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  4. admin (14 July 2020). "Robert Osborn Clark, And Dame Elizabeth Brandling His Wife, And William Pitt Esq; Son And Heir, And Executor of William Pitt, And Baldwin Pitt Gent, Plaintiffs; Susannah Brownwell And Others, Defendants: 1674". swarb.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  5. "Phanne-Popejoy | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  6. "Middle Temple records : Hopwood, Charles Henry [ed.] : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming". Internet Archive. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  7. "D-FRY/1297 Title: Wraxall. (1) Ralph Stawell of Netherham, Somerset. (2) Sir John Austen of Hall Place, Kent. Robert Austin and Edward Austin brothers of Sir John, (3) William Pitt the elder of Hertley Wespoald, Hampshire.(4) John Lord Digby. William Pitt the younger and Baldwin Pitt, sons of William the elder. George Ryves of Ranson. Marriage settlement relates to marriage of Ralph Stawell and Abigail Pitt daughter of William Pitt the elder. Date: 29 June 1672". dcc.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  8. The Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland; Or, The Ancient and Present State of the Nobility: The Peerage of England. W. Owen, in Fleet Street; L. Davis, in Holborn; and J. Debrett in Piccadilly. 1790.
  9. "Parishes: Hartley Wespall | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  10. "Description & History of St Mary's Hartley Wespall - St Mary - A Church Near You". www.achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  11. "The history and antiquities of the county palatine of Durham : Hutchinson, William, 1732-1814 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming". Internet Archive. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  12. "Marriage of Badwynus Pitt to Alicia Johnson on 14 August 1676 at Durham". www.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  13. "Parishes: Sedgefield | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  14. "Parish of Sedgefield | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  15. Mackenzie, Eneas; Ross, Marvin (1834). An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham: Comprehending the Various Subjects of Natural, Civil, and Ecclesiastical Geography, Agriculture, Mines, Manufactures, Navigation, Trade, Commerce, Buildings, Antiquities, Curiosities, Public Institutions, Charities, Population, Customs, Biography, Local History, &c. Mackenzie and Dent.
  16. "Family Tree of the Wrights of Sands, Sedgefield – Part 1".
  17. "Family Tree of the Wrights of Sands, Sedgefield – Part 2".
  18. "Wright Family Surname Genealogy". freepages.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  19. Burke, John (1846). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland: M to Z. Henry Colburn. Arms – Sa., a chev., engrailed, arg., between three fleurs-de-lis, or, on a chief, of the third, three spears' heads, az.
  20. "Parish of Sedgefield | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2020. Arms: 1st and 4th, Wright, Sable, a chevron engrailed between three fleurs de lis Argent, on a chief of the second as many spear-heads Gules;
  21. "Durham Records Online: Search Census and Church Records". durhamrecordsonline.com. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  22. Burke, John (1835). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions Or High Official Rank: But Univested with Heritable Honours. H. Colburn.
  23. Carlyle, Edward Irving, "Wright James (1716-1785)", Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 63, retrieved 21 July 2020
  24. Weis, Frederick Lewis; Beall, William Ryland (1999). The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215, and Some of Their Descendants who Settled in America During the Early Colonial Years. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 978-0-8063-1609-3.
  25. Deaton, Stan. "James Wright (1716-1785)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  26. Wright, James. "Answers to queries sent by the Lords of Trade [in] 1761, 1762". Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  27. Historic Wrightsboro Archived 13 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. exploregeorgia.org. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  28. "BONAVENTURE: A HISTORICAL SKETCH" - Telfair Museums, July 27, 2018
  29. Letters of Robert Mackay to His Wife: Written from Ports in America and England 1795-1816, by Walter Charlton Hartridge
  30. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 November 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Volume 2, by John Burke (1833)
  32. Kimber, Edward (1771). The baronetage of England : containing a genealogical and historical account of all the English baronets now existing. London: G. Woodfall. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
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