Claud William Wright

Claud William Wright (9 January 1917, Ellenborough, Yorkshire, England – 15 February 2010, Burford, Oxfordshire, England), aka Willy Wright, was a senior British civil servant who was also a notable expert in the disciplines of geology, palaeontology, and archaeology.

Life

He was educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford. At Oxford, he was influenced by the geologist W. J. Arkell, an interest that became a serious hobby.^[1] His professional career was in the War Office/Ministry of Defence, where he reached the rank of Deputy Secretary.

In 1971, he transferred to the Ministry of Education and there was involved with the establishment of the first Ministry of Arts. In these posts, he worked directly with Margaret Thatcher and Lord Eccles.

But it was his hobbies where he made the greatest mark. Whilst working as a civil servant he was between 1956–58 President of the Geologists' Association but after he "retired" in 1976 he could devote his time to his interests. From 1977 to 1983, he was a Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford.^[1]

He was married to Alison Readman with four daughters and a son.

Honours

For his work with the Civil Service work he was awarded the CB (1969) and for his "hobby" work he won many prizes, medals and Fellowships (most notably an Hon. Associate of the British Museum).

Publications

He has many articles on such diverse topics as ammonites, starfish, invertebrates, Cretaceous crabs and perhaps most notably on the Bridlington Giant Flying Lizard.^[2]

His collection

His collection was split between the Natural History Museum (25,500 pieces in all) and the Wright Library in the Oxford University Museum.

Ferriby boats

His most notable find was made with his brother while walking beside the River Humber on holiday. He had found three Bronze Age boats one of which is now in the National Maritime Museum.

References

1. Jim Kennedy, "Obituaries: Willy Wright (1917–2010)". Wolfson College Record, 2010, pages 34–36.
2. 'Giant flying lizard that once stalked Bridlington'. Press cutting from the Leeds Mercury, 16 January 1937.

Sources

• Kennedy, W.J. (2006). C. W. Wright: a most professional amateur, Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Volume 117, Issue 1, pages 9–40.
• Shovelton, Patrick (2010). Senior civil servant who was also a leading expert in geology, palaeontology and archaeology — Obituary, The Independent, Monday, 8 March 2010.
• "WRIGHT, Claud William", Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2010; online edition, March 2010. Accessed 1 September 2010.
• Works by or about Claud William Wright in libraries (WorldCat catalog)