Anne Margaret Chaloner Wright (20 July 1924 – April 1981) was a Scottish lecturer in

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

and

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. Wright was the only female lecturer in the department of Modern History at that time:

Doris Ketelbey Caroline Doris Ketelbey FRHistS (1896–1990) was a historian and lecturer at the University of St Andrews. She was the first woman historian to hold a long-term position at the university. Early life and childhood Doris Ketelbey was the younges ...

had retired in 1958, and Margaret Lambert had left in 1960.

Early life

Anne Margaret Chaloner Wright was born on 20 July 1924 in

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, where she was also educated. Her father was John N. Wright, a University of St Andrews staff member. Wright graduated in 1946 from the University of St Andrews with an MA Honours in History. Four years after her graduation, she worked with a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

organisation that had provided 'Huts and Canteens’' during the war; she ran a hostel in post-war

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

for members of the forces and their wives. After returning from Berlin, Wright spent almost twenty years as a secondary school teacher. She trained in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and taught around

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1950, before returning to St Andrews in 1961, likely due to her mother’s poor health. Wright taught around

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Tayside Tayside () was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 16 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named after the River Tay. History Tayside region was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act ...

, and in St Andrews at St Leonard’s School and at

Grove Academy Grove Academy is an 11–18 mixed secondary school in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland. There are four associated feeder Primary schools linked to Grove, which are Barnhill, Craigiebarns, Eastern and Forthill. History Grove Academy was est ...

until in 1966, when she became warden of Hamilton Hall in St Andrews.

Career

The role of warden combined administrative duties with teaching roles. Wright was appointed as a lecturer in the department of Modern History due to her degree and teaching experience in History. Wright was warden of Hamilton Hall and taught in the department of Modern History until her death in 1981.

Death and legacy

Wright died of cancer in April 1981, at the age of 56. Wright’s colleagues and former students set up the Anne Wright scholarship for

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

research in Arts, and an Anne Wright Memorial Fund for the students of the University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Anne 1926 births 1981 deaths Academics of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of St Andrews