Submitted by: Rita Holcomb gone2tx85@yahoo.com
Nathan Wrighte, Esq, son of the Rev Ezekiel Wright (Ezekiel was born at Denington in Suffolk,
1603; elected fellow of Emanuel College, Cambridge, 1625; and rector of Thurcaston in
Leicesiershire; where he died May 23, 1668; and Dorothy his widow died Sep 26, 1691.) rector
of Thurcaston, by Dorothy second daughter of John Onebye, Esq, of Hickley and one of the four
sisters and coheiresses of Sir John Onebye, Knight, was born at Thurcaston, Feb 11, 1653; and
after being initiated in the law under his uncle Thomas Staveley, Esq, was placed in Emanuel
College, Cambridge, in 1668, by the care of his mother, who in that year had been left a widow;
and in due time removed thence to the Inner Temple, where, notwithstanding an estate left him by
his father had been much improved during his minority, he lost no time for more than seven years,
which he entirely spent in the study of the law.
Sir John Onebye, in 1671-2, tells his brother Staveley, "I shall take care to commend That
Wrighte to Sober company and good students, and what else is convenient." Howerver, having a
good fortune with his lady (Elizasbeth, daughter of George Ashby, of Quenby, Esq, whom he
married in 1676), he neglected to practice for some years, till the increase of his family, and the
advice of f riends, who foresaw what a considerable figure he was likely to make in the
profession, prevailed with him to attend the bar, where he approved himself as consummate a
lawyer, and made as ample an accession to his fortune, as any of his contemporaries. He was
elected recorder of Leicesler in 1680, and in 1681 he entered the pedigree of his family, at the
Heraldic Visitation of the country, as a resident at Basrwell. He held the office of recorder till
1685, when Theophilus earl of Huntingdon was chosen under the new charter, and continued
about three years; after which Mr Wrighte was restored, and continued to hold the office till
1696.
He was also in 1688 elected deputy recorder of Nottingham. April 11, 1692, king William and
queen Mary, by their writ, called him to the**are and degree of Serjeant at law; and on the 27th
he appeared at the Chancery-bar; before the lords commissioners of the great seal, with thirteen
other gentlemen; whose appearance being recorded, they took the usual oaths; after which the
lord commissioner Trevor made a speech to them; and the new serjeants delivered to his lordship
two rings, to be presented to their majesties, with their duty and most humble thanks for the great
honour conferred on them.
Mr Wrighte, having been counsel for the king against Sir John Fenwick in the house of peers,
was, before the beginning of Hilary Term 1696, called within the bar, being made king's serjeant,
and knighted Dec 30. He made a speech, March 19, 1699, on behalf of Henry duke of Norfolk, in
a committee of the house of commons, on the second reading of the bill for a divorce between his
grace and the duchess; and opened the indictment, March 28, 1699, on behalf of the king, on the
trial of Edward, earl of Warwick and Holland, for the murder of Richard Coote, Esq; and made a
learned reply to the argument of counsel as to the competency of a witness. [Mr Rayner has a
manuscript, intstuled, "Rules of Practice in the Court of Chancery," with a complete index; and
this memorandum closes it: "N.B. This tract was drawn up for the use of Sir Nathan Wrighte,
when he was made lord keeper".]
He in like manner opened the indictment, Oct 12, 1699, on the trial of Mary Butler, alias
Strickland, at the Old Bailey, for forging a bond of œ40,000, in the name of Robert Clayton; and
in the following year, on the refusal of the lords chief justices Holt and Treby, and Trevor the
attorney-general, to accept the great seal, which was taken from lord Somers, it was delivered by
the king in council to Sir Nathan Wrighte, with the title of lord keeper, May 21, 1700. He would
gladly have been executed accepting that great post for his health's sake, which had been much
impaired that spring by a dangerous fever. Besides, he thought it imprudent to forego the great
profits he might make by his practice yearly, which might have lasted his life, for the precarious
enjoyment of the most profitable place; but his majesty's commands must be obeyed. It was not
decent, nor perhaps safe, to disobey them.
He submitted to his pleasure, without any bargain or the least gratuity whatever. He never asked
for any, even the lest, trifle of honour, and though he had not practised much in the court of
Chancery till three or four years before he was appointed to preside over it, yet it soon appeared
how equal he was to the great office, and he executed it with great integrity and judgement, as the
records of Parliament will testify, which can shew as few reversals of his decrees, as of any of his
predecessors.
On the contrary, one instance at least occurs of his having reversed a decree of his predecessor
lord Sumers. In 1700, on the death of the duke of Gloucester, the following lines were addressed
to him in the condoleances from the University of Oxford.
Sir Nathan was one of the lords justices on the king's going to Holland in 1700, and became also
officially one of the lords commissioners for trade and plantations.
On the day king William died, March 8 1701-2, he delivered the great seal into the hands of queen
Anne, then fitting in council, who instantly returned it.
The Dutchess of of Marlborough, in the "Account of her Conduct," p. 124, says, "As soon as
queen Anne was seated on the throne, the Tories (whom the usually called by the agreeable name
of the Church party) became the distinguished objects of the royal favour. Dr Sharpe, archbishop
of York, was pitched upon by herself to preach her coronation sermon, and to be her chief
counsellor in church-matters; and her privy council was filled with Tories. My lord Znormanby
(soon after duke of Buckingham), the earls of Jersey and Nottingham, Sir Edward Seymour, with
many others of the high-fliers, were brought into place; Sir Nathan Wrighte was continued in
Possession of the great seal of England, and the earl of Rochester in the lieutenaucy of Ireland.
These were men who had all a wonderful zeal for the Church; a sort of public merit that eclipsed
all other in the eyes of the queen."
John Dunton observes, "Sir Nathan Wrighte, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, is
deservedly advanced to the highest pinnacle of State preferments; and his conduct is so wise and
loyal, as convinced the world that it is only religious and real goodness establishes greatness. He
knows and discovers, all the respect due to his high place; but he does not suffer empty titles to
puff him up, or permit inequality of state to work strangeness of countenance. My only brother
(Mr. Luke Dunton) had an honourable post by his recommendation; and he is kind and generous
to all his relations. He was faithful to his great trust when King William reigned, and is now as
loyal to Queen Anne; and should his country call him, would refuse no hazard, think much of no
charge, to preserve it. In a word, he excells in every grace; but his great humility is the most
shining character of all his actions, and his large charity the most useful.
Mackay thus describes him,' "Sir Nathan Wrighte, lord keeper, is son of a clergyman; a good
common lawyer, a slow chancellor, and no civilian. Chance more than choice brought him the
seals: the lords chief justices Holt and Treby refusing to succeed to great a man as the lord
Somers, they fell into the hands of this gentleman; who, being recommended by the opposite
party, proved their faithful tool ever since. He is a plain man, both in person and conversation; of
middle stature, inclining to fat; hath a fat broad face, much marked with the small-pox."
Swift's MS adds, "Very covetous;" and Mr. Grove's copy, "He had done a great deal of good to
his private family, married his son and daughter to very good fortunes. He gave the employment
of the clerk of the crown to his son, and some good livings to a great many of his poor relations in
the country." [See Groves's Life of Cardinal Wolfey, vol IV, p.286].
One of the most remarkable events that happened while he was in office was his sentence for
dissolving The Savoy, Jul 31, 1702; and it may also be mentioned that in the same year, on the
19th of November, he reversed a decree of his great predecessor lord Sumers. Burnet says, that
"many gentlemen of good estates and ancient families were put out of the commission of the
peace by him, for no other visible reason, but because they had gone in heartily to the Revolution,
and had continued zealous for King William; and at the same issue, men of no worth not estate,
and known to be ill-affected to queen Anne's title, and to the Protestant succession, were put in,
to the great encouragement of ill-designing men." He adds, that the lord-keeper was "a zealot to
the party, and was become very exceptionable in all respects: Money, as was said, did every thing
with him; only in his Court, I never heard him charged for any thing but great slowness, by which
the Chancery was become one of the heaviest grievances of the nation. The fame author likewise
says, "the lord keeper was sordidly covetous, and did not at all live suitable to that high post. He
became extreme rich, yet I never heard him charged with bribery in his Court, but there was a foul
rumour with relation to the livings of the Crown that were given by the great seal as if they were
set to sale by the officers under him."
He continued lord keeper till the 6th of October 1705; when his dismissal was contrived by the
Dutchess of Marlborough, who thus insolently avows the transaction; "prevailed with her majesty
to take the great seal from Sir Nathan Wrighte; a man despised by all parties, of no use to the
crown, and whole weak and wretched conduct in the court of Chancery had almost brought his
very office into contempt. His removal, however, was a great loss to the Church, for which he
had ever been a warm stickler."
Near the time of his dismissal he was complimented by "Corona Civica: a Poem, to the right
honourable the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England;" and about the same period appeared
the following satirical squib, under the title of "The Country Parson's honest Advice to theat
judicious Lawyer, and worthy Minister of State, my Lord Keeper Wright:"
The following more appropriate character of him was sent from Sir T. Little to Mr. Samuel
Echard:
"During the whole period in which he held this high employment he was content with the usual
profits of the place, and without any pension after he had lost both that and his business. It is
remarkable that none besides himself was ever advanced to that post without the assistance of
some great friend or party, or having been made attorney-general, or having sat long in parliament
(of which he never was a member); and, whatever was the occasion of his being neglected after he
had left his place, he had shewn an inviolable fidelity to the Crown during the whole course of his
administration; and, upon critical conjunctures, had given wholesome and proper advice; which
others declined doing, either for fear of displeasing, or from some other sinister views. He had an
hearty and steady regard to the constitution in church and state; and as he always acted with
disinterested views, he could never be induced to go into the exorbitant lengths and violence of
parties; and this the king took notice of, and commended him for it; and though upon this account
there were strong endeavours used to get him displaced before the king died, it is well known, the
king's inclination was otherwise, who would often express his satisfaction in his keeper's service,
and his unwillingness to part with him.
Queen Anne had the same value for him that her predecessor had; and when she gave him the
seals, was said to tell him, "he should not have had them if she had known a fitter person in the
kingdom" He had an exact regard to justice, and was very angry if he heard the least surmise of
corruption in any of his domestics. He had a just respect paid to him whilst in a public character,
by all who knew what was most valuable in persons of rank and distinction, and were not
influenced by envy or party passions; and during the time of his recess, was loved and esteemed
for those social virtues which render a man acceptable in a private station. One particular in my
view, when I mentioned his fidelity in counseling the king, was his being earnest with his majesty
not to dissolve that parliament which continued but a very little while, which, to be sure, you have
taken notice of; and, I dare say, find that it was as unacceptable as it was surprizing to the nation;
as I remember it was said the archbishop, and lord Godolphin, and another, whom I cannot
recollect, were said to join with him in that application to the king.
Lady Wright died at Powis-house, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Oct 21, 1705; after which period Sir
Nathan resided chiefly at his beautiful seat at Calderote in Warwickshire; and , dying Aug 4, 1721,
was buried in that church; where, on an elegant tablet of white marble, with his arms finely
blazoned, motto "Unica Virtus Nobilitas" is placed the following inscription:
A portrait of him (here copied n Plate XXXIII) was drawn and engraved from the life by R. White
in 1700; under which is written, "The Right Hon. Sir Nathan Wrighte, Knight, Lord Keeper of the
Great Seal of England, and one of his Majesties most honourable Privy Council, 1700" with the
arms, quarterly, of , 1. And 4. Wrighte; 2 and 3. Onebye.
The Pedigree in p. 220, is continued from one entered by Sir Nathan (then Nathan Wrighte, Esq.
Resident at Barwell) 23 Mar 1681-2.
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