Oliver William Wright, 1842-1922

Oliver William Wright was born in Auckland on 17 September 1842, the son of Thomas Westmorland Wright, a contract carpenter, and his wife Harriet. Thomas Wright had arrived in New Zealand from London in 1837 aboard the Orontes, later working on major building projects including St Paul’s Church at Point Britomart before leaving the country for South America. Oliver’s mother died when he was about nine years old, and the household was then run by his elder sister Emma.

Oliver received limited formal schooling in early Auckland before being apprenticed to a sail-making firm run by Captain Le Roy. Apprenticeship conditions were harsh and unpaid, and at the age of twelve Oliver ran away, travelling south with another boy. After severe hardship they were taken in and nursed by local Māori. This experience shaped his life: he became fluent in te reo Māori and maintained strong relationships with Māori communities. During the New Zealand Wars he refused to fight on either side, stating that Māori were his friends, and later declined an offer to act as interpreter for General Cameron, choosing instead to remain with his young family.

Throughout his early adulthood Oliver lived a mobile life. He worked as a foreman at a sawmill in the Mercury Bay area, travelled extensively on foot through the South Island, and spent periods sailing the New Zealand coast. By the late 1860s he had settled as a farmer in the Whanganui district.

In 1870 Oliver married Annabella Wood Lind at Whanganui. Annabella had emigrated from Scotland as a child with her family, who were noted for their self-reliance and practical skills. Oliver and Annabella farmed at a place known as Happy Valley, where several of their children were born. The climate proved difficult for Oliver’s health, and persistent rheumatism led him to sell the farm and seek a more suitable district.

In 1879 the family moved to Tauranga, settling at Gate Pā and Greerton. Oliver purchased two acres and leased a further nine acres near what is now Coopers Road, while also holding rural land at Ōropi and in the Te Puna area. His children were able to attend Greerton School, where Oliver later served on the school committee. Both he and Annabella were remembered as stalwarts of the Greerton community, known for mutual support among local families.

Between 1871 and 1894 Oliver and Annabella had ten children. The family experienced repeated loss: two children died young, and in August 1894 Annabella herself died at Greerton, seven weeks after the birth of their youngest child, Ada. She was only forty-five. The household was then carried forward by the older daughters, Jane and Mary, under Oliver’s firm but steady guidance.

Several of the Wright children went on to play notable roles in the Bay of Plenty. One son served overseas with the Wellington Mounted Rifles during the First World War. Another, Sydney Wright, became a pioneering farmer in the Katikati–Aongatete district, where Wright Road now bears his name.

Oliver William Wright died at Rotorua in August 1922 aged eighty. He was buried in the Anglican section of Tauranga Cemetery. Remembered by his family as principled, widely read, and quietly independent, his life reflects the adaptability, mobility, and moral independence of many early settlers who helped shape the Greerton and Gate Pā districts in the late nineteenth century.