James Wright

WRIGHT, James William FWAIA, MWAIE (1854-1917)

James William Wright was born in Chiswick, London on October 9, 1854, the son of builder James William Wright and his wife Elizabeth Jane Wright née Kensett. He studied at Kings College, London, was articled to engineers Barnett and Gale, and then completed his indenture with Francis Croughton Stileman, MICE.

Source: Cyclopedia of Western Australia

In 1876 James Wright travelled to South Australia where he worked as an assistant engineer in the Chief Engineer’s Department for two years. From 1878 he worked as an engineer and contractor in South Australia. He left South Australia to travel to England in 1881, and then returned to Australia, arriving in Fremantle on December 4, 1881 on the “SS Macedon”.

In January 1882, Wright was the successful bidder for a contract to build the extension of the Eastern Railway from Guildford to Chidlow’s Well. The cheapest tender came from the partnership of Connor and McKay, but this venture failed to get security for the job and had to withdraw. Wright subsequently entered into a partnership with Edward Keane, relying on Keane for the day to day management of the project. James Wright’s brother, Arthur Bridge Wright, also worked on the Eastern Railway extension; Arthur was involved with James in many partnerships, some of which resulted in significant financial losses that forced James to sell his Peppermint Grove mansion. Robert Bunning bought the house.

James travelled back to Adelaide for his marriage to Ada Phyllis Louisa Light on May 21, 1884, at St Paul’s Church, before they settled in Perth. The Wrights had a son and two daughters, all born in Perth. Ada Wright was the daughter of prominent South Australian architect George Thomas Light, who moved to Western Australia in late 1884 to work with James Wright.

From 1902 to 1908 James Wright was a member of the WA Legislative Council, having been elected to represent the Metropolitan Province. He was also a foundation Member of the Western Australian Institution of Engineers in 1909, despite his then focus on architecture.

James Wright has a full biography that gives good background on the architectural practice that dominated his later working life. See the link below, in References.

James Wright died on October 3, 1917, survived by his wife, Ada, and three children, Harold, Ida and Lillian. He had made a major contribution to both engineering and architecture in Western Australia. The firm he founded in 1884 is the oldest continually operating architectural practice in WA, now known as Cameron, Chisholm and Nicol.

References:

Inquirer and Commercial News, 19.3.1884, p3
J. S. Battye (ed), Cyclopedia of Western Australia, vol 1 (Adel, 1912)
https://www.taylorarchitects.com.au/Biographies/JW%20Wright%20for%20AIA%20(WA).pdf accessed February 29, 2020