Historian - Genealogist - Author

I was born, and still live in, the seaside town of Whitstable on the north Kent coast, just outside Canterbury. In between much travelling, including three round-the-world trips and visiting over fifty countries, a lifetime’s familiarity with one large and important old English county and its 400 ancient parishes has afforded me deep insights into the reading and interpretation of Kentish and other historical records.

My career has taken me from professional philately to over three decades of genealogical and historical research and writing, by way of the study of the classics and university lecturing, three books on Kentish records, a biography of Bryan Faussett, the Kentish genealogist, antiquary and archaeologist, and my latest book Tracing Your Kent Ancestors, a guide for family and local historians.
I am the current Principal at the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies in Canterbury. The Institute is strongly focussed on education and achievement by examination results, of which there is an impressive run over many years.

I continue to lecture widely on genealogy and allied subjects, and have taught classical and mediaeval Latin and palaeography at the City Literary Institute, and at both University College, London, and the School of History at the University of Kent at Canterbury. I have been a member of the Kent Family History Society almost from its inception in the 1970s. In 2009, after nearly forty years’ membership, I was awarded a prestigious fellowship of the Society of Genealogists, and in November 2017 I was honoured by being invited to sign the Fellows' Register of the Soc​iety of Antiquaries, London.

My ongoing scholarly interests include the Greek and Latin classics; ancient history; the history of art; palaeography and the transmission of ancient texts; early printed books; ecclesiology and ecclesiastical architecture; Anglo-Saxon and mediaeval England; genealogy and heraldry; linguistics and philology. For leisure interests I am keen on bridge and chess, philately, walking and climbing, and travelling in remote places. 

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

This prestigious award has been gained chiefly for my well-received biography of an early F.S.A., the pioneering archaeologist and genealogist Bryan Faussett.​  Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House.
Click an image to view each image >>

Charities

I am currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Society of Genealogists and I also support the committee of Whitstable Music Society and other local groups of interest, as and when I can.

A Lay Preacher

I have also been a Lay Preacher at St Peter’s Church, Whitstable, for many years and usually preach once a month. You can read a short selection of my sermons here, David, a Lay Preacher.  I have also compiled and written a history of our church, a copy of which may be purchased for a small amount - My Publications.

Whitstable

In and around Whitstable and the harbour, pictures taken at different times of the year.

Images of Personal Significance

A selection of images, click thumbnail image to see full size resolution:

About this website

This website presents a brief outline of Dr David Wright's professional services in genealogy and intestacy, historical research and Latin translation.  There is also information about his books and how to order them, and also how to get in touch for talks and lectures.  No data is passed on to a third party and is only used here in context of the work presented within this site.