| Authorised form of name | Wren; Matthew (1629 - 1672); politician |
| Dates | 1629 - 1672 |
| Nationality | English |
| Place of birth | Peterhouse, Cambridge, England, Europe |
| Date of birth | 20 August 1629 |
| Place of death | Greenwich, Kent [now London], England, United Kingdom, Europe |
| Date of death | 14 June 1672 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Baptism:
Little St Mary's, Cambridge, England, Europe (30 August 1629)
Burial:
Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe |
| Occupation | Politician; slave trader |
| Activity | Education:
Peterhouse, University of Cambridge (matriculated 1642); University of Oxford, MA (1661)
Career:
Secretary to Edward Hyde FRS (1660-1667) and to the Duke of York (1667-death); MP for Mitchell also called St Michael, Cornwall (1661-1672); served on numerous parliamentary committees and was active in naval affairs; assistant, Royal Fishing Company (1664); assistant, Royal Adventurers into Africa (1664-1671), Deputy-Governor (1668, 1670), Sub-Governor (1669); Shareholder in the Royal African Company (1672); mortally wounded at the Battle of Sole Bay (6 June 1672)
|
| Membership category | Original Fellow |
| Date of election | 22/04/1663 |
| Age at election | 33 |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
Council: 1662, 1666 |
| Relationships | Parents: Matthew Wren and Elizabeth Cutler
Siblings: Thomas Wren (FRS 1663)
Additional relatives: cousin of Sir Christopher Wren (PRS FRS 1660) |
| PublishedWorks | Author of Royalist political tracts: 'Considerations upon Mr. Harrington's Commonwealth of Oceana' (1657) and its sequel, 'The acknowledged Monarchy Asserted: in Vindication of the Consideration upon Mr. Harrington's Oceana' (1659) which he dedicated to John Wilkins FRS |
| OtherInfo | Wren held senior administrative positions and was a shareholder in The Royal Adventurers into Africa, later Royal African Company (RAC). The RAC was a British trading company established by Royal Charter in 1660 which enslaved and sold African people. The company was chartered by Charles II, the founding royal Patron of the Royal Society, which was also chartered in 1660. The RAC was made up of and funded by members of the Stuart royal family and London merchants many of whom were, or went on to become, Fellows of the Royal Society. The Royal Society itself held shares in the company from 1682 until 1699. The RAC held a monopoly on English trade on the west coast of Africa. The principal interest of the company was originally gold and secondarily other natural resources. The Company's second charter in 1663 mentions trade in enslaved people, who were mainly sold into slavery on British owned estates in the West Indies and America. The Jesus College Cambridge Legacy of Slavery Working Party has stated that the RAC was responsible for selling more Africans into slavery in America than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade, and that they ran a brutal regime with the full knowledge of their investors. The company became insolvent in 1708, it survived until 1752 when its assets were transferred to the new African Company of Merchants, which lasted until 1821. |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB (Father's entry); Davies; Henning; Wikipedia
References:
Govier, M. 1999. 'The Royal Society, Slavery and the Island of Jamaica: 1660-1700', in Notes and Records, vol. 53, pp. 203-217
Notes:
The election date is Wren's re-election date into the Society after the grant of the second charter in April 1663. All Fellows admitted in a two-month window after this charter, until 22 June 1663, are considered Original Fellows. He was previously mentioned as a member on 12 December 1660. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/100369167 |
| Code | NA5775 |