Wright was born near Ludlow at Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire[2] descended from a Quaker family formerly living at Bradford.

[2] While at Cambridge he contributed to the Gentleman's Magazine and other periodicals, and in 1835 he came to London to devote himself to a literary career.

[1] His first separate work was Early English Poetry in Black Letter, with Prefaces and Notes (4 vols, 1836), which was followed over the next forty years by an extensive series of publications, many of lasting value.

[1] In 1859, he superintended the excavations of the Roman town of Viroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter), near Shrewsbury, and issued a report.

[1] English priest and historical writer, Thomas Edward Bridgett observed, "It is only when he has to speak of the Catholic Church that he is bitter and unfair.