Wright, Thomas, 1859-1936

Thomas Wright (1859-1936), biographer of Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778), British preacher and hymn writer.

From the description of Augustus Montague Toplady collection, [ca. 1762-1776]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 173863204

Thomas Wright was born May 16, 1859 in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. He was educated at Buxton College, a boys' school in Buxton, Derbyshire, and married Angelina Edwards on January 1, 1884. He was the principal of Cowper School in Olney, which he founded himself in 1882 at the age of 23.

Having no formal education beyond boarding school, Wright counted his true Alma Mater as the British Museum library, where he spent much of his time studying the works of Emerson, Carlyle, and Washington Irving. Wright authored a number of works throughout his life, including biographies, fiction, and poetry, beginning in 1880 with an article contributed to the Olney Almanac. He was best known for his biographies on well known writers, which include The Life of William Cowper (1892), The Life of Daniel Defoe (1894), The Life of John Payne (1919), and The Life of William Blake (1929).

In addition to founding the Blake Society in 1912, Wright also founded the William Cowper Society in 1899 and the John Payne Society in 1905. He founded the Cowper Museum in Olney in 1900.

Wright spent the majority of his life in Olney. He died in 1936 at the age of 76, mere months after completing his autobiography, Thomas Wright of Olney.

From the guide to the Thomas Wright Scrapbooks on William Blake, 1912-1936, (Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections)