WRIGHT, James (1833-1911) practiced in Montreal after a successful career as a carpenter and builder there. Born in Glasgow, Scotland in January 1833 he was orphaned at the age of eight and apprenticed to the carpenter trade in 1848. He moved to Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1853, then emigrated to Canada in 1855 and settled at Cobourg, Ont. where he advertised himself as an architect and builder (Cobourg Sentinel, 26 July 1862, 3, advert.; Cobourg World, 22 April 1864, 1, advert.). He moved to Montreal in 1865 and became active as a carpenter and builder; by 1875 he owned his own woodworking factory on Craig Street specialising in the fabrication of "....church furniture, bank and office fittings, and wood parquet flooring" (Lovell's Montreal Directory, 1875-76, 4, advert. with illus.). In a rare display of appreciation for this professional contribution as a builder and contractor, his workmen and employees presented him with a wooden case of drawing instruments in early 1874 (Evening Star [Montreal], 2 Jan. 1874, 3), and it can be assumed that he was already designing elements for buildings in the Montreal area by this time.
At the age of fifty he decided to devote himself full time to the architectural profession, practicing at first under his own name from 1884, and then in partnership with Robert Findlay in October 1888, and with his son William S. Wright from 1889 onward. Wright died in Montreal on 27 September 1911 and was buried at Mount Royal Cemetery. His portrait can be found in the Notman Coll., McCord Museum, No. 100306 (obituary in The Gazette [Montreal], 29 Sept. 1911, 5; obituary with port. in the Montreal Star, 28 Sept. 1911, 2; biography and port. in W. Cochrane, The Canadian Album-Men of Canada, ii, 1893, 347)
James WRIGHT
(works in Montreal unless noted)
ROGERS & KING CO., Craig Street near St. George Street, large 4 storey warehouse, 1886 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1887, 2). A photographic plate showing this building, with description of the company, was published in Dominion Illustrated : Special Number Devoted to Montreal, 1891, 34, illus.
COTE ST. ANTOINE ROAD, residence for William Greig, 1886 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1887, 2)
MANSFIELD STREET, two houses for George Rogers, 1886 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1887, 2)
ST. JAMES STREET, rebuilding store for Charles Alexander, 1886 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1887, 2)
R. MITCHELL & CO., Dominion Street at Albert Street, factory, 1886 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1887, 2)
QUIBLIER STREET, row of five houses for an unidentified client, 1887 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1887, 2)
PARTHENAIS STREET, row of seven houses for an unidentified client, 1887 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1887, 2)
BLEURY STREET, two stores and warerooms for Warden King, 1887 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1887, 2)
PARIS STREET, two tenements for the Estate of R. Reynolds, 1887 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1888, 2)
ST. ANTOINE STREET, two houses for William Carson and Henry Stewart, 1887 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1888, 2)
MONTREAL HERALD CO., Beaver Hall Hill, conversion of the old Zion Church into newspaper offices, 1887 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1888, 2)
GUY STREET, factory for Duncan McIntyre and occupied by James Thompson, cabinet manufacturer, 1887 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1888, 2)
MECHANICS INSTUTUTE, St. James Street near St. Peter Street, 1888 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1888, 2, descrip.; C.A.B., i, July 1888, illus. plate)
WRIGHT & FINDLAY (with Robert Findlay)
ICE PALACE, Dominion Square, 1888, a design awarded First Premium in a competition, but later set aside in favour of another scheme by E.C. Hopkins (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Nov. 1888, 5, descrip.)
ST. FAMILLE STREET, residence for Malcolm Johnson, 1888 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1889, 2)
ST. ANDREW'S HOME, Aqueduct Street, major alterations and mansard roof, 1888 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1889, 2)
QUIBLIER STREET, at Sussex Street, houses for P.C. Wand, 1888 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1889, 2)
CHALMER'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, St. Lawrence Street near Bagg Street, school house, janitor's residence, vestry and gallery, 1888 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1889, 2)
ST. LAMBERT, houses for Charles Gowans, Ellengawan Place, 1888 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1889, 2)
JAMES WRIGHT & SON (with William S. Wright)
ST. LAMBERT, QUE., two houses for Mr. Haines, 1890 (Montreal Daily Star, 22 March 1890, 2)
MAYOR STREET, at St. Alexandre Street, four double houses for an unidentified client, 1890 (C.R., i, 13 Sept. 1890, 1, t.c.)
DORCHESTER STREET WEST, at Atwater Avenue, row of four houses for James Shearer, 1891 (C.R., ii, 1 Aug. 1891, 2; C.A.B., v, June 1892, 61, descrip. and plate illus.)
QUIBLIER STREET, residence for P.C. Wand, 1891 (C.R., ii, 19 Sept. 1891, 2)
VERDUN, addition and new cottages for Protestant Hospital for the Insane, 1892 (Montreal Daily Star, 31 Aug. 1892, 2, t.c.; C.R., iii, 3 Sept. 1892, 1, t.c.)
W. & J.S. WYLIE CO., Bleury Street at Berthelot Street, bakery, two stores and dwellings, 1892 (C.R., iii, 15 Oct. 1892, 1, t.c.)
ST. LAMBERT, QUE., St. Cuthbert's Presbyterian Church, Elm Street, near Lorne Square, 1892; demol. c. 1950 (Victoria Park News [St. Lambert], Vol. 1, April 1892, 4, illus.; Montreal Daily Star, 9 July 1892, 6; H. Christie, History of St. Lambert United Church, 1975, 12; inf. Yves Guillet, St. Lambert)
OUTREMONT, residence for Alfred Perry, 1894 (C.R., v, 12 July 1894, 2)
CHAMBLY, QUE., alterations to residence for Romeo H. Stephens, 1894 (C.R., v, 12 July 1894, 2)
JAMES ROBERTSON MFR. CO., Dalhousie Street, warehouse, 1894 (C.R., v, 12 July 1894, 2)
ST. LAMBERT, QUE., store and dwelling for John Duckworth, Victoria Avenue, 1894 (C.R., v, 12 July 1894, 2)
BELMONT STREET, alterations to house for W.A. Stephenson, 1896 (C.R., vii, 29 Oct. 1896, 3)
HOTEL CARLSLAKE, St. James Street, for the Pallascio Estate, 1897 (Gazette [Montreal], 28 Nov. 1896, 3; C.R., vii, 21 Jan. 1897, 2, t.c.; C.A.B., xi, Feb. 1898, 27)
WESTMOUNT, apartment house for James King, Ste. Catherine Street West at Lewis Avenue, 1897 (C.R., viii, 4 Feb. 1897, 2)
WESTMOUNT, apartment house for R. Neville, Clarke Avenue, 1897 (C.R., viii, 4 Feb. 1897, 2)
POINTE ST. CHARLES, residence for J. Glenny, Centre Street, 1897 (C.R., viii, 4 Feb. 1897, 2)
WARDEN KING & SON, Craig Street, warehouse, 1897 (C.R., viii, 12 Aug. 1897, 2, t.c.)
WESTMOUNT, two houses for William McDonald, Roslyn Avenue, 1897 (C.R., viii, 19 Aug. 1897, 2, t.c.)
WAVERLEY STREET 'in the Montreal Annex', seven cottages for R. Neville, 1897 (C.R., viii, 7 Oct. 1897, 3)
LAGAUCHETIERE STREET, houses for William B. Wilkinson, 1897 (C.R., viii, 25 Nov. 1897, 4)
VERDUN, QUE., school for the Protestant School Commissioners, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 9 July 1902, 4, t.c.)
McCORD STREET, near du Seminare Street, two stores and apartments for R.J. O'Connell, 1904 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 38, 1904, 54)
RUSHBROOKE STREET, houses for John Rowland, 1905 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 20, 1905, 61)
DUROCHER STREET, near Pine Avenue, houses for Leslie McEwan, 1905 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 49, 1905, 57)
STE. CATHERINE STREET WEST, at Peel Street, alterations to residence for Hon. George Drummond, 1906 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 16, 1906, 46)
MANSFIELD STREET, houses for B.A. Sugden, 1906 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 41, 1906, 46)
TEMPLE OF SOLOMON JEWISH SYNAGOGUE, Ontario Street near Mance Street, 1907 (Const., i, Nov. 1907, 72; Montreal Daily Star, 9 Nov. 1907, 3, illus. & descrip.)
OUTREMONT, residence for Robert W. Burry, Cote Ste. Catherine Road, 1908 (Outremont b.p. 162, 27 Aug. 1908)
LOCHINVAR APARTMENTS, Crescent Street, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 17 March 1909, 21)
MANCE STREET, '.....in the Montreal Annex', eight flats for W.H. Christian, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 14 April 1909, 20)
OUTREMONT, residence for J.H. Mackay, Rockland Avenue, 1909 (Outremont b.p. 206, 21 April 1909)
DUROCHER AVENUE, duplex for H.R. Pitt, 1909; demol. (Outremont b.p. 241, 31 July 1909)
ALEX BREMNER LTD., St. Ambroise Street, mill building, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 22 Sept. 1909, 22)
GLENCOE AVENUE, four houses for J.H. Hand, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 24 Nov. 1909, 21)
OUTREMONT, residence for J. Ash, McDougall Avenue, 1910 (Outremont b.p. 270, 9 Nov. 1909; C.R., xxiv, 12 Jan. 1910, 25)
STE. CATHERINE STREET WEST, two houses for Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 12 Jan. 1910, 25)
WESTMOUNT, QUE., pair of 2-storey brick houses at 467-469 Strathcona Avenue, north of Sherbrooke Street West, for an unidentified owner, 1910 (City of Westmount Archives, blueprint dated March 1910 signed "Wright & Son, Architects"; inf. Andre Kirchhoff, Montreal)
WALDEMAR APARTMENTS, St. Matthew Street, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 15 June 1910, 28)