John Wright | |
|---|---|
 John Wright at Tuncurry | |
| Born | 21 May 1835 |
| Died | 28 May 1910 (aged 75) |
| Nationality | Scottish/Australian |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Shipbuider & sawmiller |
| Spouse | Catherine Gill (m. 1864;died 1910) |
| Children | 11 |
John Wright was a 19th-century Australian shipbuilder, sawmiller and businessman. [2]
In 1875, John Wright was the first white settler in Tuncurry, Australia. Born in Scotland, he arrived in Australia on Lord Worsley in May 1860. John Wright and Son Shipyards was a successful business until 1958. [2] [3]
Wright adopted the local Worimi Aboriginal place name "Tuncurry" for the area north of Forster, which is said to mean "plenty fish". [4] The Worimi people called John Wright "big boss" and "first fella". Before settling in Tuncurry, Wright sold his share of a sawmilling and shipwright business with Alexander Croll at Bungwahl on the Myall Lakes.
Wright's son Ernest was the first white child born in Tuncurry. Ernest successfully continued the shipbuilding business after John's death. Another son, Sidney Garden Wright managed a large sawmill known as Avalon Mill near Krambach. Sidney married a granddaughter of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. [5] They had ten children in the Mid North Coast area near Tuncurry. [6]
The water front land where the mill and shipyard stood at Tuncurry was gazetted as an area for public recreation and in 1962 was renamed John Wright Park. [7]
Booti Booti National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 282 kilometres (175 mi), by road, north-north-east of Sydney. The holiday town of Forster-Tuncurry lies immediately to the north.
Myall Lakes National Park is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, 236 kilometres (147 mi) north of Sydney. It encompasses one of the state's largest coastal lake systems Myall Lakes, and includes Broughton Island. The park includes 40 kilometres of beaches and rolling sand dunes. Myall Lakes is also one of the most visited parks in New South Wales.
Port Stephens, an open youthful tide-dominated drowned-valley estuary, is a large natural harbour of approximately 134 square kilometres (52 sq mi) located in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia.
The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far north as Woolgoolga, near Coffs Harbour. The region has many beaches and subtropical national parks and forests as well as rural farmland and logging. Major coastal towns include Coffs Harbour, Forster and Port Macquarie. The Mid North Coast is a popular destination for camping or resorts and surfing, with coastal and hinterland tracks, with the unique heritage-listed mountain village of Bellbrook popular for day trips inland or 4wd campers and keen bass fishers.
Myall Lakes is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It was represented by Stephen Bromhead of The Nationals until his death in 2023.
Forster is a coastal town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Mid-Coast Council LGA, about 308 km north-north-east of Sydney. It is immediately adjacent to its twin, Tuncurry, which is the smaller of the two towns. Forster is known for its stunning waters and Manning Valley beauty.
Great Lakes Council was a local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated adjacent to the shores of Port Stephens, Myall Lakes and Wallis Lake and the Pacific Highway and the Lakes Way. On 12 May 2016 the council was dissolved and the area included in the Mid-Coast Council, along with the City of Greater Taree and Gloucester Shire.
Failford is a locality in the Mid-Coast Council local government area on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Located to the east of the Pacific Highway, Failford is about 17 km (11 mi) northwest of Forster. At the 2011 census it had a population of 495.
The Worimi people are Aboriginal Australians from the eastern Port Stephens and Great Lakes regions of coastal New South Wales, Australia. Before contact with settlers, their people extended from Port Stephens in the south to Forster/Tuncurry in the north and as far west as Gloucester.
Tuncurry is a coastal town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Mid-Coast Council LGA, about 307 km (191 mi) north north east of Sydney. It is immediately adjacent to its twin town of Forster, which is the larger of the two towns.
Great Lakes College is a multi-campus government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in the dual-town of Forster/Tuncurry, in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.
Broughton Island is an island 14 km north-east of Port Stephens on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Myall Lakes National Park.(map)
The Tuncurry was a wooden carvel screw steamer built in 1903 at Cape Hawke in the Australian state of New South Wales, that was wrecked when she sprang a leak whilst carrying explosives, cement, whiskey, jam and other general cargo between Sydney and Brisbane. She was lost off Barrenjoey Head, Broken Bay, New South Wales on 22 October 1916.
Sugarloaf Point Light, also known as Seal Rocks Lighthouse, is an active lighthouse located on Sugarloaf Point, a point about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) southeast of Seal Rocks, Mid-Coast Council, New South Wales, Australia. It guards Seal Rocks, a treacherous rock formation to the south. It is the first lighthouse designed by James Barnet, and built from 1874 to 1875 by John McLeod. It is also one of only two towers in Australia with an external stairway. It is also known as Sugarloaf Point Lightstation Group, Seal Rocks Lightstation Complex and Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse. The property is owned by National Parks and Wildlife Service. It was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004; on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 February 2019; and on the Register of the National Estate on 10 April 1989.
Wallis Lake, an open and trained wave dominated barrier estuary, is located within the Mid-Coast Council local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Wallis Lake is located adjacent to the towns of Forster and Tuncurry, and adjacent to the east coast, about 308 kilometres (191 mi) north of Sydney.
MidCoast Council is a local government area that is located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 through a merger of the Gloucester Shire, Great Lakes and City of Greater Taree Councils.
ForsterAirport is a private Australian airfield located on Wallis Island, in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales. The island, which sits within Wallis Lake is not connected by road to any of the surrounding communities and is only accessible by boat or the airport itself. There are currently no commercial or scheduled flights servicing it. The airport's single runway is 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) long with a mixed grass/gravel surface.
John Wright and Son was a former shipyard located in Tuncurry, Australia between 1875 and 1958.
The Tuncurry II was a wooden carvel screw steamer built in 1909 at Tuncurry, Australia.
US Army WT85 Protrude is a tow/tug boat built in 1943 by John Wright and Son Shipyards, in Tuncurry, Australia. After the entry of the United States in World War 2 in 1941, the United States Army ordered five 45-foot-long wooden tug/tow boats through the Ministry of Munitions. Wooden support craft were preferred over metal-hulled ships for reasons of security against mines.