Ocean Pines resident floored when unknown sister materializes

Not until he was 70 did Ocean Pines resident Barry Wright learn that his family was larger than he realized. That was this summer, when he was contacted by a previously unknown sibling.

Born in Bolton, England, Wright was brought to the U.S. as an infant in 1947 by his maternal grandmother, Ethel Wright, after her youngest child, Joan, bore him out of wedlock.

“I was brought over here by my grandmother, who gave me to her oldest son and his wife, who was the oldest brother of my mother,” he said. “I was over here two years, got citizenship papers, and was adopted.”

In 1955, Barry Wright visited England with his adoptive parents, Edwin and Mary Wright. At that point the family opted to keep the identity of his mother a secret.

“While we were over there, I met Joan and I was told she was my aunt,” he said

He recalls being confused when his adoptive father and maternal grandmother argued about meeting “aunt” Joan, causing his grandmother to walk out of his life for good.

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