Samuel (The Younger) Wright

343

Maureen Withey on 1st July 2026

There are 41 prisoners for trial, a number totally unprecedented in the criminal records of this county. It is, however, some consolation to  ... offences do not appear to have been marked by any peculiar acts of atrocity. The following is a list of the prisoners :— ...The following are sentences of the prisoners who have so long infested Soham and neighbouring villages:— ... Samuel Wright, the younger, was indicted for stealing, and Samuel Wright, the elder, for feloniously receiving, a copper, of the value of 40s. the property of John Boggis, a poor labourer at Wicken.— Both guilty. Samuel Wright the younger was indicted for stealing a sheep, the property of Mr. Joseph Truslove, at High Fen Farm, Wicken. It was proved Robert Bailey, an accomplice, that he went with the prisoner steal the sheep ; they flayed at Wright's house, where the skin was left. Two sheep skins were proved to have been found buried, one in the prisoner's ditch and the other in his garden. Not guilty. ... The Grand Jury returned a true bill against... Samuel Wright  the younger, for stealing, and against John Thurston, for feloniously receiving, one coomb of wheat, the property of Mr. Thomas Wilkin ; but these persons having all been previously convicted, were not tried upon upon the indictments. ... the learned Judge, after commenting on the manner in which it appeared the prisoners had for a long period carried on a system of plunder never before heard of this country, ... A few days previous to the assizes, several ponds and ditches near the prisoners' premises were searched, and a great number of working tools and valuable articles  belonging to different persons, were found. Large quantities of corn have also been found secreted in ditches and other places. It is but justice to the farmers in Soham to state, none of the persons convicted were by any means in want of employment, or in distressed circumstances. ... Samuel Wright sen., Samuel Wright jun., ... were all possessed cottages and gardens; ... We are happy to announce to our readers, that the most perfect tranquillity has prevailed at Soham, and throughout the neighbourhood, since the commitment of this desperate gang, whose nocturnal depredations were a constant source of alarm. We have not heard of single instance of robbery since their apprehension, and we trust that the example made of Thurston and Wright sen., convicted of receiving stolen goods, will deter others from similar practices. Cambridge Chronicle, 24 Aug 1821. The following are sentences of the prisoners who have so long infested Soham and neighbouring villages:—William Day, sentence death. Thomas Isaacson, George Isaacson, James Bailey, William West, Edward Isaacson, Henry Attlesey, John Attlesey, William Worlledge, William  Arnold, Samuel Wright the elder, Samuel Wright the younger, and John Thurston, to be transported seven years. .. Cambridge Chronicle, 17 Aug 1821.

338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 5th October 2021

Name; Samuel Wright Age; No Details Class; Convict Ship; Asia - 1822 - 7 years Employment/Remarks; HOSPITAL; Sydney 1827 - 28 Aug. New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books Offence; Threatening his masters Life. Sentence; Iron Gang 2 years - Parramatta Possible Death- 1828. Registration Place: Castlereagh, New South Wales Volume Number: V18281134 12