WRIGHT, Christopher
Born 1884; died 21 November 1918; buried 23 November 1918; age 34
Christopher WRIGHT came from Oxfordshire agricultural labouring stock in England. His father Jesse Wright was born in 1844 in Ambrosden, Oxfordshire, marrying Sarah REYNOLDS, (born 1848 in Piddington) on 10 July 1869 in Bicester, Oxfordshire where their first children arrived (i).
The couple migrated to New Zealand among the 418 new settlers aboard the Cartvale, arriving in Wellington on 11 October 1874 with daughters Jane and Elizabeth (5½ and 4) and son Thomas (2) (ii).
On arrival the ship was ‘ordered into quarantine for thorough cleansing and fumigation, there having been a great deal of sickness…chiefly measles, diphtheria, diarrhoea, and scurvy. There were 19 deaths, all children, and 10 births. 61 cases of measles occurred, 13 of whooping cough, and 12 of croup and diphtheria.’ (iii)
The Wrights settled in the Hutt Valley in Cuba Street and finally at Sydney Street, Petone, but at different times they were also in Masterton and Wanganui, according to various children’s school records. Jesse worked at labouring jobs to support his growing family, and also farmed on leased land in Taita where he grew potatoes among other crops (iv).
Between 1875 and 1894 Sarah gave birth to a further 10 children, of whom Christopher was their seventh child and fourth son. He was born on 31 March 1884 in Petone and undertook his schooling in Taita (v).
Christopher married Violet WHITE, a Nelson girl, in 1904 in Wellington (vi). The marriage took place before a registrar. The couple had three children: Victor Joseph in 1904, Gladys Huia in 1905, and Hinemoa Patricia in 1908.
Born 1884; died 21 November 1918; buried 23 November 1918; age 34
Christopher WRIGHT came from Oxfordshire agricultural labouring stock in England. His father Jesse Wright was born in 1844 in Ambrosden, Oxfordshire, marrying Sarah REYNOLDS, (born 1848 in Piddington) on 10 July 1869 in Bicester, Oxfordshire where their first children arrived (i).
The couple migrated to New Zealand among the 418 new settlers aboard the Cartvale, arriving in Wellington on 11 October 1874 with daughters Jane and Elizabeth (5½ and 4) and son Thomas (2) (ii).
On arrival the ship was ‘ordered into quarantine for thorough cleansing and fumigation, there having been a great deal of sickness…chiefly measles, diphtheria, diarrhoea, and scurvy. There were 19 deaths, all children, and 10 births. 61 cases of measles occurred, 13 of whooping cough, and 12 of croup and diphtheria.’ (iii)
The Wrights settled in the Hutt Valley in Cuba Street and finally at Sydney Street, Petone, but at different times they were also in Masterton and Wanganui, according to various children’s school records. Jesse worked at labouring jobs to support his growing family, and also farmed on leased land in Taita where he grew potatoes among other crops (iv).
Between 1875 and 1894 Sarah gave birth to a further 10 children, of whom Christopher was their seventh child and fourth son. He was born on 31 March 1884 in Petone and undertook his schooling in Taita (v).
Christopher married Violet WHITE, a Nelson girl, in 1904 in Wellington (vi). The marriage took place before a registrar. The couple had three children: Victor Joseph in 1904, Gladys Huia in 1905, and Hinemoa Patricia in 1908.
His father Jesse died in 1909. Like his father, Christopher first earned his living at labouring work (vii). He also spent a period bush-felling on the West Coast where he appeared on the 1912 Buller electoral roll with his brother Benjamin, and with Violet while then living at Cape Foulwind. This experience saw him lose his left forefinger in an accident with a circular saw (viii).
Christopher enlisted in Wellington in September 1917 and was posted to D Company, 35th reinforcements. He was subsequently promoted to Lance-Corporal. His file records him being 5’ 10” tall with black hair and brown eyes with a dark complexion but with his birth recorded 1 year earlier than that on his headstone. At the time of his enlistment he worked as a motor (tram) driver for the Wellington City Corporation Tramway while he lived with Violet and the children at 73 Mein Street, Newtown.
Christopher enlisted in Wellington in September 1917 and was posted to D Company, 35th reinforcements. He was subsequently promoted to Lance-Corporal. His file records him being 5’ 10” tall with black hair and brown eyes with a dark complexion but with his birth recorded 1 year earlier than that on his headstone. At the time of his enlistment he worked as a motor (tram) driver for the Wellington City Corporation Tramway while he lived with Violet and the children at 73 Mein Street, Newtown.
After enlistment, Christopher was assigned to the headquarters camp military police at Trentham but was granted leave of absence without pay in lieu of discharge on 15 April 1918. By then it had become clear that he was experiencing several health issues that were not improving. He could not march without special boots as he had bursitis of the right heel and rheumatism in a knee and ankle, and a medical board heard this made it impossible to do police duty. The medical board gave him a C2 classification, meaning he could not serve overseas. Although the grading usually meant reassignment to army duties in New Zealand, Christopher was granted leave.
When Christopher got sick in the influenza outbreak, he was taken to the Sydney Street Temporary Hospital where he died on 21 November. His children then were 14, 13, and 10.
As a tram driver, Christopher would have been in regular contact with the public and therefore vulnerable to airborne infections.
A Public Health grant of £7 contributed towards the cost of his burial, and his brother Frederick of 21 Rintoul Street paid the purchase cost of his cemetery plot (ix). Violet arranged a headstone:
In loving memory of Christopher beloved husband of Violet WRIGHT who died 21 Nov 1918 at 34 years. ‘At rest’
Several memorial notices were inserted by his siblings and own family as the years passed.
By 1919 Violet had taken the children to live with her mother-in-law, Sarah, Jesse’s relict in Masterton. Sarah died in 1920 and was buried in Taita Cemetery.
Violet never remarried and moved to Napier where she died in 1938. She rests there in an unmarked grave in the Park Island Cemetery.
Christopher Wright was buried in Public 2 section of Karori Cemetery, plot 301 I.
Researched by Penny Holden and Jenny Robertson and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: PUBLIC2
Plot: 301 I
Sources:
(i) Going by headstone of Jesse Wright in Taita Cemetery.
(ii) From the Vogel record at Petone Settlers Museum. The passenger lists show the family as assisted migrants costing the government £43/10/- for their passage.
(iii) Evening Post 12 October 1874.
(iv) New Zealand Times 11 June 1902, page 3.
(v) School inspection returns cover the years 1890 to 1895 for Christopher Wright.
(vi) Nelson Evening Mail 24 April 1904, page 1. An online genealogy website https://www.geni.com/people/Violet-Wright/6000000029391115310 gives her birthplace as Invercargill and her parents as Janet GOOD and Samuel White.
(vii) On the 1905/06 electoral roll Christopher gave his occupation as labourer while living in Sydney Street, Petone.
(viii) Christopher’s Army file dated the accident to 5 years prior to his enlistment in 1917.
(ix) Funeral register of E Morris jnr held by Turnbull Library and Wellington City Council burial plot summary.