Family and Education
The younger son of Henry and Margaret Wright, Edward Wright was born in the village of Garveston in Norfolk, East Anglia, and was baptised there on 8 October 1561. It is possible that he followed in the footsteps of his elder brother Thomas (died 1579) and went to school in Hardingham. The family was of modest means, and he matriculated at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, on 8 December 1576 as a sizar. Sizars were students of limited means who were charged lower fees and obtained free food and/or lodging and other assistance during their period of study, often in exchange for performing work at their colleges.
Wright was conferred a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in 1580–1581. He remained a scholar at Caius, receiving his Master of Arts (M.A.) there in 1584, and holding a fellowship between 1587 and 1596. At Cambridge, he was a close friend of Robert Devereux, later the Second Earl of Essex, and met him to discuss his studies even in the weeks before Devereux's rebellion against Elizabeth I in 1600–1601. In addition, he came to know the mathematician Henry Briggs; and the soldier and astrologer Christopher Heydon, who was also Devereux's friend. Heydon later made astronomical observations with instruments Wright made for him.
Read more about this topic: Edward Wright (mathematician)
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