GeorgeWright

George Wright

Courtesy: Public Archives of Nova Scotia / Alan Hustak, Canada

By GarlandBrooks?

Born in Dartmouth in 1859, as a young man, George Wright embarked on a world cruise, and while in Philadelphia in 1876, conceived the idea of publishing an international trade directory. Wright's travels in Asia, Europe, the Pacific and the USA provided much material for this endeavor. By the end of the 1890s, Wright had become a wealthy and prominent member of Halifax society, and it was suspected that he was gay1.

The Marble Building and Wright Avenue are properties directly associated with Mr. Wright. The Marble Building, built in 1896, is a registered municipal heritage building, and his home on Young Ave has three levels of heritage designation.

In 1896, Wright commissioned architect James Dumaresq to design the Wright building on Barrington Street, near Saint Paul's Church. A year later, Wright engaged the same architects to design and build an even larger office building within the same block. Also in 1896, Dumaresq designed a series of six large houses in the south end of Halifax for Wright, which were then built as an investment. Wright's patronage continued in 1902, when Dumaresq's firm designed his own residence, this property, on Young Avenue, built by James Dumaresq in 1902-1903 at a cost in excess of $5,000. 2

Throughout his life, Wright maintained well defined views on immorality and intemperance, and often lectured on such topics while traveling. In 1912, Wright traveled to England, and booked return passage on the Titanic, drowning when the luxury liner went down on April 15, 1912. While in England, Wright had revised his will, leaving $226,000 to worthy causes and the two-and-a-half storey, Queen Anne Revival style house on Young Avenue to the Council of Women.

Home : Young Ave and Inglis Women's Council House postcard A few other facts:

• Behind the row of big houses he built on South Park, he built Wright Court, 'comfortable housing' for the servants of the rich folks in the South Park houses. The street is now called Wright Avenue, off Morris St,
• The Royal NS Yacht Squadron, where he was a member for many years, established the Wright Trophy in his memory, and it's still awarded yearly.
• In 1951, the city finally decided how to spend the $20,000 he left for a building "... to check the lure and bad influence of the streets". It had grown to over $80,000 by then, and a court ruling awarded it to the YMCA for the new building on South Park St. There is a plaque in there.

See entries about him and his housing development entry in the Encyclopedia Titanica here and here.

August 3, 2008: Wright's home is mentioned in The Novascotian magazine, in an article entitled Petticoat government on women voting.

This page is part of the HistoryProject.