James Wright FRSE FGS (1878–1957) was a Scottish merchant remembered primarily as a palaeontologist, geologist and fossil collector. He was an expert on the

Lower Carboniferous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

crinoid Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are ...

s of Scotland.

Life

He was born in Kirkcaldy in Fife on 8 July 1878, the son of a relatively affluent furniture dealer in the town. He was educated locally at Kirkcaldy Burgh School and joined his father's firm aged around 14 or 15. It was later renamed Wright & Son. On his father's death in 1917 he took over the company as Director. He retired in 1930 and in 1934 moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. In 1933 he had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh due to his scientific contributions to the field of palaeontology. His proposers were Sir

Edward Battersby Bailey Sir Edward Battersby Bailey FRS FRSE MC CB LLD (1 July 1881 – 19 March 1965) was an English geologist. Life Bailey was born in Marden, Kent, the son of Dr James Battersby Bailey and Louise Florence Carr. He was educated at Kendal grammar ...

, Murray Macgregor,

John Pringle John Pringle may refer to: *John Pringle, Lord Haining (c. 1674–1754), Scottish landowner, judge and politician, shire commissioner for Selkirk 1702–07, MP for Selkirkshire 1708–29, Lord of Session *Sir John Pringle, 1st Baronet (1707–1782) ...

and George Walter Tyrrell. He won the Society's Neill Prize for the period 1937-39. He died on 28 January 1957. He was unmarried and had no children. Much of his fossil collection is now in the

Hunterian Museum The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Publications

*''Scottish Carboniferous Crinoidea'' *''British Carboniferous Crinoidea''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, James 1878 births 1957 deaths People from Kirkcaldy Scottish geologists Scottish palaeontologists