Collection consists of the papers of naval officer William Elliott and his family. They contain two logbooks kept by William Elliott Wright, 1803-1808, 1808-1810. They also include a memoranda written by William Richard Wright, transcript, n.d., 1 page and two books of the Rules and reflection of the Royal Navy Annvitant Society, 1824, 1828, prints. They further contain Wright family photography, a genealogy and details of a marriage settlement trust.
The collection also contains photographs of the Wright family including: Dr. Henry Pulteney Wright and his wife Marion Grahame, and Jean Grahame Wright; Arthur Meredith; Vanda and Charles Lindsay, Ca. 1914; Sir Edmund B. Osler and H.R.H. Duke of Connaught at "Craigleigh" garden party, Toronto, Ont., ca. 1913. These photogrphs are by Pittaway; J. Fraser Bryce; Turner; Notman & Fraser; Press and Commercial Toronto Company; E. Stanton; William James Topley; and E. Dickson Studio. Photographs also depict a log house built in 1833 by W.E. Wright at Corunna, Ont., near St. Clair River; portraits of family members including H.P.G. Wright by Notman & Son; T. H. Wright by Hall & Lowe; P.J. Wright by William Notman; H.P. Wright; W.E. Wright by Poole.
Wright, William Elliott, 1785-1869 (family) : William Elliott Wright was a native of Wilton, near Gravesend, Kent. He entered the Royal Navy, 26 July 1798, as an A.B. on board La Sybille and attained the rating of midshipman, 1 May 1799. He was commissioned as lieutenant, 11 December 1807; commander, 20 August 1817; and captain, 1 April 1856. His active service ended with his command, 1816-1818, of the Griffon sloop at St. Helena, to which Napoleon had recently been exiled after his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. On 20 July 1818, he married Jane Leech (d. 1834), youngest daughter of Richard Leech, Governor of the East India Company's stores at St. Helena. He settled first at Chudleigh, Devonshire.
In 1833, William Elliott Wright emigrated to Upper Canada and settled with his family of seven children at Corunna in Moore Township. His eldest daughter, Catherine Louisa, was the wife of Senator Alexander Vidal (1819-1906), and his grandson, Dr. Henry Pulteney Wright (1851-1898), who was called in consultation to the death bed of Sir John A. Macdonald, founded St. Luke's Hospital, Ottawa.
