Guide to the Papers of Ferdinand Henry Wright

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MS 8119

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Collection Summary

Creator
Ferdinand Henry Wright
Title
Papers of Ferdinand Henry Wright
Date Range
1897-1978
Collection Number
MS 8119
Extent
4.4 metres (31 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Repository
National Library of Australia

Introduction

Conditions Governing Access

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1567156).

Conditions Governing Use

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred Citation

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Ferdinand Henry Wright, National Library of Australia, MS 8119, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Provenance

This collection was donated to the National Library in 1982 by Colonel Wright's grandson Michael Wright.

Arrangement

At the time of donation the collection was in great disarray and a preliminary state of decay. With the exception of the bound correspondence the collection was in no discernible order. Consequently the arrangement of the collection is one artificially devised by the staff of the Manuscripts Section.

Biographical Note

Ferdinand Henry Wright was born at South Yarra, Victoria on 29 September 1888, the son of Edmund Wright. In 1904 he commenced working for the Batavia Sea and Fire Insurance Company, a firm with which he was associated for the next sixty years. In 1918 he became Australasian General Manager, a position he held until his retirement in 1953. In 1935 Wright became the Australian manager of the British based firm Royal Exchange Assurance, which by then had become the sole owner of the Batavia Insurance Company. After his retirement Wright became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Australian and Eastern Insurance Company, the name which the Batavia Sea and Fire Insurance Company had adopted after Indonesian independence. At around the same time he also became director of a number of other companies including S.H. Lock and Co., Bradford Cotton Mills Ltd, Felt and Textiles of Australia Ltd and Godfrey Phillips Ltd.

In 1909 Wright enlisted in the Australian Army reserve, joining the 6th Infantry Regiment. A year later he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant. During the First World War he served as a Captain with the 14th Infantry Battalion. After landing on Gallipoli on Anzac Day 1915 he was seriously wounded and invalided home to Australia. Between the Wars he continued his association with the Army, achieving the ranks of Lieutenant-Colonel with the 29th Battalion in 1926, and Colonel in 1943. During the Second World War he served as a Senior Liaison Officer attached to Army Headquarters, and carried out several secret missions to Malaya, New Guinea and the Netherlands Indies.

From 1921 to 1951 Wright was Consul for the Netherlands in Victoria, after which he became Consul-General until 1954. Wright also spent forty years as a member of the Council of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce. He represented Australia at a number of conferences of the International Chamber of Commerce. In 1911 Wright married Rosa Davies. They had five children: Henry, Ferdinand Heathcote, Rosemary, Margaret and Patricia. Heathcote achieved a Master of Business Administration at Harvard, and later became a Manager of H.C. Sleigh and Company. Rosa died in 1961 while Wright died in 1981 at the age of 92.

Item Descriptions

Series 1. Family papers, 1897-1978

This series consists mostly of family correspondence and includes letters between F.H. Wright and his wife Rosa dating back to 1906 and correspondence with their five children Harry, Rosemary, Margaret, Heathcote and Patricia. Included are a large number of letters from his son Heathcote describing in detail his experiences as a student at Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration during the years 1939-40. Also included in this series are Rosa Wright's appointment diaries, 1932-37, and a diary kept by his daughter Rosemary on a visit to Indonesia in 1954. Letters written by F.H. Wright to his wife while he was on active service during the First World War are have been placed in Series 5.

Series 2. Bound correspondence, 1910-1946

The inwards and outwards correspondence is arranged alphabetically within yearly volumes. This large series consists mostly of personal (non-family) correspondence and covers a wide variety of areas of activity including insurance, politics, business and investment, the Army and consular duties. Series 3 also contains further personal letters (unbound).

1910-1917 (File) - Box 4

1918-June 1922 (File) - Box 5

July 1922-1924 (File) - Box 6

1925 (File) - Box 7

1926-March 1927 (File) - Box 8

January-March 1927, 1928 (File) - Box 9

1929 (File) - Box 10

1930-1931 (File) - Box 11

1932-1933 (File) - Box 12

1934-1935 (File) - Box 13

1936-1938 (File) - Box 14

1939-1942 (File) - Box 15

1943-1946 (File) - Box 16

Series 3. Personal papers: Friends and community, 1906-1978

This series includes unbound personal (non-family) letters, greeting cards, invitations, an address book and papers relating to Wright's membership of, and involvement in various clubs and community organisations. Included in this latter material is a file of papers relating to the removal of Reverend James Waterhouse from St John's Church, Toorak in the late 1930s. Wright was a vestryman of St John's for over thirty years. Other clubs and organisations represented include the Melbourne Savage Club, the Freemasons, the Australian Club, the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, the Travel League, the West Brighton Club, the Peninsula Country Golf Club, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, the Naval and Military Club and the K.K. Club. The K.K. ("King of Klubs") Club was formed in 1919 in honour of Sir John Monash. The small group of papers relating to this club includes a long letter from Wright to Sir Charles Lowe (1961) recording his memories of Monash. Sir Robert Menzies was also a long-term member of the K.K. Club.

Series 4. Career in insurance, 1908-1963

This series includes correspondence, financial statements, carbon letter books, coded telegrams, memoranda and other papers relating to Wright's career with the Batavia Sea and Fire Insurance Company and the Royal Exchange Assurance. His position as Australasian Manager for the Batavia Company included responsibility for operations in New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti and Samoa. In this capacity he made a number of visits to these places throughout the 1920s and 1930s. See also Series 2 for bound personal correspondence relating to his career in insurance.

Series 5. Army, 1910-1951

F.H. Wright joined the Citizen's Militia in 1909 and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1910. During the First World War he served as a Captain with the 14th Infantry Regiment and landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 where he was seriously wounded. After several months in hospital at Alexandria he was invalided home. The papers in this series include a large number of detailed letters written by Wright to his wife from training camp at Broadmeadows, on board ship en route to Egypt, from camp in Egypt, from Lemnos prior to the Gallipoli landing, from the hospital ship after being wounded and from Alexandria. Also included with these papers are secret orders issued prior to the Gallipoli landing, letters of condolence on his injury, printed material, postcards from Ceylon and Egypt, news-cuttings and other correspondence. After the War Wright continued his association with the Army, and in the Second World War worked as a Director of the Australian Comforts Fund. As a Senior Liaison Officer attached to Army Headquarters, Colonel Wright carried out several secret missions to Malaya, New Guinea and the Netherlands Indies. Towards the end of the War he was asked to investigate the reestablishment of Dutch civilian administration in West New Guinea. All of these activities are documented in the second half of this series.

Series 6. Political activities, 1922-1978

From the 1920s onwards Wright maintained an active interest in the conservative side of Australian politics. He was a friend and supporter of Robert Menzies. This small series includes correspondence, clippings, leaflets and memoranda relating in particular to the political career of Menzies. Included are some papers relating to the disarray of the conservative parties in the early 1940s and the formation of the Liberal Party. A regular correspondent of Wright's on these matters was Staniforth Ricketson of J.B. Were and Son, who was also a close friend of Menzies.

Series 7. Consular activities, 1922-1978

From 1924 to 1951 Wright was Consul for the Netherlands in Victoria, and from 1951 to 1954 he was Consul-General for the Netherlands. This series includes correspondence, speeches, printed material, reports, news-cuttings, telegrams and invitations relating to his work as Consul. Papers of particular interest in this series include material on the Dutch national airline, forerunner of the present KLM, tendering for the carriage of mail between Europe and Australia. Correspondence on this matter sheds light on the development of commercial aviation in Australia. Another subject touched upon in this series is the Dutch withdrawal from Indonesia in the 1940s.

Series 8. Personal finances and investments, 1905-1978

This series includes receipts, financial statements, prospectuses, mortgages, bank statements, title deeds, correspondence, reports, income tax returns and printed material relating to Wright's personal investments and finances. From his early 20s onwards Wright held extensive share portfolios and engaged in a number of business ventures in Australia, the Netherlands Indies and Fiji. From the 1930s onwards most of Wright's investments were managed by the stockbrokers J.B. Were and Son.

Series 9. Post-retirement business involvements and directorships, 1953-1978

After his retirement as General-Manager of the Australian and Eastern Insurance Company (previously the Batavia Sea and Fire Insurance Company) in 1953, Wright took up directorships with a number of companies. This series includes correspondence, reports, statements and printed material relating to such companies as Godfrey Phillips, Hecla Electrics, Burlington Mills, S.H. Lock and Co., Bradford Cotton Mills, and Felt and Textiles of Australia. Also represented in this series are papers relating to Wright's membership of the Australian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce. For papers relating to overseas meeting of the ICC see Series 10.

Series 10. Overseas trips, 1927-1973

Apart from his regular travels to the South Pacific and the Dutch East Indies, Wright made a number of trips further afield between 1927 and 1973. Papers relating to these trips include correspondence, itineraries, printed ephemera, postcards, memorabilia and letters of introduction. Trips covered include Europe (1927, 1939, 1947, 1957, 1959-60, 1963, 1964 and 1973), New Zealand (1937), Mexico (1963) and Trinidad (1964). Many of these trips incorporated meetings of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Series 11. Photographs, 1890s-1974

Mostly family portraits and snapshots with some negatives.

Series 12. Miscellaneous printed material

Includes unsorted news-cuttings, business cards, printed ephemera, invitations, menus, periodicals and circulars.


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