This is only one of numerous Coat of Arms that have been assigned to a Wright in early times. It will be interesting to research how and why Coats or Arms are awarded.

The ancestors of the Wright family lived among ancient Scottish people called Boernicians. They were one of the ancient clans of the Scottish-English borderlands. Despite the border that separated the Scottish families of the north from the English families of the south, many of the clans remained united, by territory and interest, across the border. Most felt little allegiance to either Scotland or England. There were about 1000 clans divided across the border.

The history of the Boernician peoples reached a turning point in the 13th century. The dramatic escalation of clan warfare brought chiefs from both the English and the Scottish sides of the border to meet at Carlisle in 1246. At this meeting the chiefs cooperated in drafting a new and unique set of laws for the entire borderland territory. For example, it was a greater offense to refuse to help a neighbor recover property than it was to steal them in the first place. For refusal of assistance, a person could be hanged without trial. These laws were unlike any in existence in Britain, Scotland, Ireland or Europe.

Nevertheless, by 1587, numerous Border Clans had been condemned by an Act of Scottish Parliament for lawlessness. After the unification of the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603, James VI of Scotland attempted to break up the “unruly border clans.” The border clans were banished to England, Scotland, Ireland and the colonies. Our ancestors can be traced back to England.

The name Wright is derived from the Old English “wyrhta” meaning “worker” or, more specifically, “woodworker, carpenter, craftsman,” and was used to refer to a carpenter. In medieval rolls, the name was often Latinized as Faber.