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At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Thomas Wright

Author: Thomas Wright (1859–1936)

Biography: Thomas Wright was born in 1859 in Olney, Buckinghamshire, the son of W. S. Wright. He worked as a schoolmaster for many years and principal of Cowper School, Olney. Wright turned his extensive reading into numerous biographies—his subjects included Cowper, Defoe, Blake, Pater, Dickens, and many others. In addition, he wrote a popular history of the town of Cowper (1886). Wright wrote three novels, one of which, The Mystery of St. Dunstan's (1892), was a historical novel of the time of Defoe "founded on contemporary documents." In 1884 he married Angelina Edwards. His obituary in 1936 called him an "industrious biography" and stated, "It must by said, however, that his skill and industry in the collection of facts were superior to his literary style, his critical faculty, and his selection and arrangement of his material." His autobiography was published the year of his death.

Author Tags:

References: British Census (1881); Times (6 April 1936); Who's Who (1907)

Fiction Titles:

  1. The Chalice of Carden: A Story of Pertinacity and Perseverance. Temp. 1745.  1 vol.  London: Skeffington, 1889.
  2. The Mystery of St. Dunstan's: A Realistic and Sensational Story of Fleet Street in 1724.  2 vol.  London: Sampson Low, 1892.
  3. The Blue Firedrake: or, The Wonderful and Strange Relation of the Life and Adventures of Nathan Souldrop.  1 vol.  London: Simpkin, 1892.
  4. Ianthe of "The Devil's Jumps": A Story of Hind Head in the Old Smuggling Days.  1 vol.  London: R. E. Taylor and Son, 1900.