John
Wright, the son of Robert Wright, was born in Welbeck, Yorkshire,
on 13th January, 1568. Winter's parents were staunch Roman
Catholics and
spent 14 years in Hull Prison for religious offences. As
a child he attended St. Peters School in York
with his brother Christopher
Wright and
Guy
Fawkes.
In
1596 Elizabeth
I became ill. As a precautionary measure, a
group of leading Roman
Catholics, including John
Wright, Robert
Catesby, Christopher
Wright and Francis Tresham, was
arrested and sent
to the Tower of London.
In
1601
John Wright was involved with Robert Devereux,
Earl of Essex, in the failed attempt to remove Elizabeth
I
from
power. Due to the minor role he played in the rebellion he was not
executed and instead spent time in prison.
In
1605 Robert Catesby devised the Gunpowder
Plot,
a scheme to kill James
and
as many Members of Parliament as possible. Catesby planned to make
the king's young daughter, Elizabeth, queen. In time, Catesby hoped
to arrange Elizabeth's marriage to a Catholic nobleman. Over the next
few months Catesby recruited John and his brother Robert
Christopher
Wright,
to
join the conspiracy.
Catesby's
plan involved blowing up the Houses of Parliament on 5 November. This
date was chosen because the king was due to open Parliament on that
day. At first the group tried to tunnel under Parliament. This plan
changed when a member of the group was able to hire a cellar under
the House of Lords. The plotters then filled
the cellar with barrels of gunpowder. Guy
Fawkes was
given the task of creating the explosion.
One of the people involved
in the plot was Francis
Tresham. He
was worried that the explosion would kill his friend and brother-in-law,
Lord Monteagle. Tresham therefore sent
Lord Monteagle a letter warning him not to attend Parliament on 5
November.
Lord Monteagle became
suspicious and passed the letter to Robert
Cecil, the king's chief minister. Cecil quickly organised a thorough
search of the Houses of Parliament. While searching
the cellars below the House of Lords they found the gunpowder and
Guy Fawkes. He was tortured and he eventually
gave the names of his fellow conspirators.
The conspirators left London
and agreed to meet at Holbeche House in Staffordshire. News of their
hiding place reached the Sheriff of Worcester and on 8th November
the house was surrounded by troops. The men refused to surrender and
gunfire broke out. Over the next few minutes John Wright, Thomas
Percy, Christopher
Wright
and Robert
Catesby were killed.
Crispen van de Passe, The
Gunpowder Plot Conspirators (c.1606)
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
