Ruggles Wright (1793 – August 18, 1863) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

merchant, the second youngest son of Philemon Wright. He was born in

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' mayor-council form of government, in which an elected mayor is ...

but moved to Canada with his parents while still young. He later joined the family business in the

timber trade There are multiple market layers for wood products. Each country has its own domestic market that may be connected to a regional or global market. Timber supply to domestic markets in many tropical forest countries is largely provided by informal lo ...

. Wright also served as justice of the peace and postmaster during the 1820s. In 1829, he built the first

timber slide A timber slide is a device for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls. Their use in Canada was widespread in the 18th and 19th century timber trade. At this time, cut timber would be floated down rivers in large timber rafts from logging c ...

on the Ottawa River to transport logs past the

Chaudière Falls , image = Ottawa Chaudiere Falls.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Chaudière Falls in June 2006, at summer water levels , map_image = , map_size = , coordinates = , coords_ref = , location ...

, creating Philemon Island. However, by 1840, a competing slide built on the opposite (

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

) side of the river had won over most of the business. He also took on management of the family

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

manufactory and greatly expanded it during the construction of the Rideau Canal. Wright was married twice: first to Hannah Chamberlain and later to Rosina McDowell. His daughter Hannah, married Joseph Merrill Currier, a lumber baron, in 1868. His son William McKay Wright served in the Canadian House of Commons. In partnership with John Egan, he operated steamships transporting goods on the Ottawa River.

External links

the Wright Family

References

;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Ruggles 1793 births 1863 deaths Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople Settlers of the National Capital Region (Canada) American emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec People from Woburn, Massachusetts Canadian people of English descent Immigrants to Lower Canada Canadian justices of the peace