Christopher Wright

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This article is about the conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot. For the author, see Christopher Wright (author).
Christopher Wright
Christopher Wright sketch.
Born 1570
Welwick, Yorkshire
Died 8 November 1605
Holbeach House, Staffordshire
Penalty never arrested
Spouse Margaret Ward
Parents Robert and Ursula Wright

Christopher Wright (1570 - 8 November 1605) was one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, an unsuccessful attempt by a group of English Roman Catholics to blow-up Westminster Palace and kill the king, James I (James VI of Scotland), and members of both houses of Parliament, during the opening session on 5 November 1605, while the king addressed a joint assembly of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. He was also charged with Treason but escaped high punishment.

[edit] Biography

Christopher Wright, known as Kit, was born sometime in 1570 in Welwick, Yorkshire. He was the third child of Robert Wright and his second wife, Ursula Rudston. His oldest brother, John, would later be a co-conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot and many of the details of their early lives have been confused. He attended school at the free school of St Peter in York with his brother and Guy Fawkes, as well as Oswald Tesimond and Edward Oldcorne who would later become Jesuits and be implicated in the plot. Wright's family was devoutly Catholic; his parents spent time in prison in York for their beliefs (a total of 14 years between them) and Wright himself was a zealous Catholic. He was known to be taciturn and able to keep a secret.

He was involved with Essex's unsuccessful rebellion against Elizabeth I in 1601, but escaped serious punishment.

Wright may have been sent to Spain after the death of Elizabeth to try to elicit Spanish support for a rebellion against the new king, James I, and it at the trial of the surviving conspirators after the failure of the plot, Edward Coke suggested that it was in Spain that he renewed his friendship with Fawkes, who had been sent on a similar mission.

According to Fawkes' testimony, Wright was the sixth member to join the conspiracy: Robert Catesby, Fawkes, Thomas Percy, Thomas Wintour, and Christopher's brother John had formed the core of group and Robert Keyes joined the group later, but other sources suggest Keyes was the sixth member of the group and Wright, Robert Wintour and John Grant joined sometime between late December 1604 and March 1605. Wright's role in the plot seems to have been minor, he was probably chiefly involved in digging the mine from Percy's rented house next to the House of Lords. The mine was later abandoned when it was discovered that a coal cellar beneath the House of Lords was available for rent, and the barrels of gunpowder could be moved in without arousing suspicion once the lease was secured.

Wright was married to Margaret Ward, the sister of Thomas Ward, the servant of Lord Monteagle who informed the conspirators of the "Monteagle Letter", which betrayed the plot by warning Monteagle to find an excuse not to attend the opening of Parliament. Because of this family connection to the Monteagle household, Wright has been suggested as the writer or instigator of the letter, although authorship is normally ascribed to Francis Tresham.

Wright was apparently the first of the conspirators to discover that Fawkes had been arrested, and suggested to Thomas Wintour that all the plotters should flee independently. Wright was sent to warn Percy to flee London, as he had been named in a proclamation after Fawkes' arrest. He accompanied Percy out of London and they met up first with Catesby and later with John Wright and Ambrose Rokewood. The group went first to Ashby St Ledgers and then to Huddington Court, the Wintours' home. They met with other of the conspirators at Dunchurch, and on 7 November 1605 they arrived at Holbeach House in Staffordshire. Here, on 8 November 1605, they were surrounded by the men of Richard Walsh, the Sheriff of Worcester. In the ensuing battle the conspirators fared badly: a stray spark from the fire ignited some gunpowder and in the resulting explosion some of the plotters were killed and others badly wounded. The Sheriff's men took the opportunity to rush the house and Wright, Percy and Catesby were shot. Some records say Wright's dead body was stripped by the Sheriff's men after they entered the house, but it is possible that although his wounds were mortal he may have survived for a day or two. The fate of his body is not recorded, and if he is buried, the location of the grave is unknown.

[edit] References

  • Jardine, David (1847). Criminal Trials Volume II. London: M. A. Nattali, 409. 
  • Spink, Henry Hawkes [1902] (2005). The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter. Kessinger Publishing, 452. ISBN 1417930837. 
  • Christopher Wright. Gunpowder Plot Society. Retrieved on 25 July 2007.
  • The King's Book. Gunpowder Plot Society. Retrieved on 25 July 2007.