Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1719-1831 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
6 production units.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Wright was born in Norwich circa 1770, son of a clerk. He was apprenticed to his uncle, a silk mercer, but by 1797 he had established his own business as a bookseller and publisher, based at 169 Piccadilly. He published an anti-Whig journal called Anti-Jacobin, or, Weekly Examiner. However, the journal was not a success and Wright went bankrupt in 1802 and was imprisoned. He was released on terms that indebted him to William Cobbett. Cobbett employed him to supervise production of various serial publications including Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, Cobbett's Parliamentary Debates, Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England, and Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials. However, the relationship did not end well, amid allegations of financial mismanagement and negligence ending in arbitration which saw Wright obtain £1000 damages against Cobbett. Thomas Curson Hansard took over publication of the Parliamentary Debates and Wright continued to edit them.
In 1826 Wright began a crusade against the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, which supplied water to the City of Westminster. In March 1827 Wright wrote and published a pamphlet, The Dolphin, or, Grand Junction Nuisance, followed by a monograph in 1828, The Water Question, in which he denounced the quality of the water suppy. The company used water from the Thames, drawn from a suction device (known as a dolphin) situated near the mouth of the Ranelagh common sewer, so that the water was saturated with impurities. The cause was championed in Parliament and supported by doctors and chemists. A royal commission of enquiry followed, and engineer Thomas Telford was appointed to investigate alternative water sources.
In 1830 Wright stopped working for Hansard over problems with the speed at which he worked. He was employed by other publishers to edit works including editions of Byron, Boswell, the speeches of Charles James Fox and the letters of Horace Walpole and William Pitt. Wright died in February 1844.
Source of information: Page Life, 'Wright, John (1770/71-1844)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30038, accessed 17 June 2011].
Repository
Archival history
GB 0074 CLC/520 1719-1831 Collection 6 production units. Wright , John , [1770]-1844 , publisher and editor
John Wright was born in Norwich circa 1770, son of a clerk. He was apprenticed to his uncle, a silk mercer, but by 1797 he had established his own business as a bookseller and publisher, based at 169 Piccadilly. He published an anti-Whig journal called Anti-Jacobin, or, Weekly Examiner. However, the journal was not a success and Wright went bankrupt in 1802 and was imprisoned. He was released on terms that indebted him to William Cobbett. Cobbett employed him to supervise production of various serial publications including Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, Cobbett's Parliamentary Debates, Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England, and Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials. However, the relationship did not end well, amid allegations of financial mismanagement and negligence ending in arbitration which saw Wright obtain £1000 damages against Cobbett. Thomas Curson Hansard took over publication of the Parliamentary Debates and Wright continued to edit them.
In 1826 Wright began a crusade against the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, which supplied water to the City of Westminster. In March 1827 Wright wrote and published a pamphlet, The Dolphin, or, Grand Junction Nuisance, followed by a monograph in 1828, The Water Question, in which he denounced the quality of the water suppy. The company used water from the Thames, drawn from a suction device (known as a dolphin) situated near the mouth of the Ranelagh common sewer, so that the water was saturated with impurities. The cause was championed in Parliament and supported by doctors and chemists. A royal commission of enquiry followed, and engineer Thomas Telford was appointed to investigate alternative water sources.
In 1830 Wright stopped working for Hansard over problems with the speed at which he worked. He was employed by other publishers to edit works including editions of Byron, Boswell, the speeches of Charles James Fox and the letters of Horace Walpole and William Pitt. Wright died in February 1844.
Source of information: Page Life, 'Wright, John (1770/71-1844)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30038, accessed 17 June 2011].
The provenance of Ms 172-3 is unknown. Ms 14872 was purchased by Guildhall Library in 1974 and was catalogued in the same year. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Papers of John Wright relating to his campaign to improve the water supply of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company. The records comprise: papers relating to the water supply in the Metropolis, 1719-1831; and letter of appeal concerning John Wright's efforts to improve the water supply, 1829.
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Available for general access.
Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.
English
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
For records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company see reference ACC/2558/GJ.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Records prepared May to September 2011. Personal papers Water Drinking water Environmental degradation Pollution Water pollution Waste water Archives Personal archives Communication process Publicity Awareness-raising activities Awareness-raising campaigns Information sources Documents Campaign literature Primary documents Water supply Water resources management Advertising Wright , John , 1770?-1844 , publisher and editor Grand Junction Waterworks Company Chelsea London England UK Western Europe Europe Thames, river Kensington and Chelsea
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The provenance of Ms 172-3 is unknown. Ms 14872 was purchased by Guildhall Library in 1974 and was catalogued in the same year. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of John Wright relating to his campaign to improve the water supply of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company. The records comprise: papers relating to the water supply in the Metropolis, 1719-1831; and letter of appeal concerning John Wright's efforts to improve the water supply, 1829.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
For records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company see reference ACC/2558/GJ.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
- Water
- Water » Drinking water
- Environmental degradation
- Environmental degradation » Pollution
- Environmental degradation » Pollution » Water pollution
- Environmental degradation » Pollution » Water pollution » Waste water
- Archives
- Communication process
- Information sources
- Documents
- Documents » Primary documents
- Water resources management » Water supply
- Water resources management
- Communication process » Advertising
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English