Arthur Robert Donald Wright OBE (20 June 1923 – 10 July 2012) was an English

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

who taught at several schools, including

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

, where he was head master. In 1971 he was Chairman of the

Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools an ...

. After retiring from teaching, he worked at

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...

for the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. As a young man he saw active service with the British Army during the closing stages of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, Wright was the youngest son of the marriage of Charles North Wright and Beatrice May Walker. His family was "Church of England, but still touched by a Methodist past". He was educated at The Downs and Leighton Park, both Quaker schools. His teachers included

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

. Roger Sainsbury
Obituary: Arthur Robert Donald Wright
in ''The Church Times'' dated 9 November 2012, accessed 31 March 2019

Career

From school, Wright joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, received officer training, and during the Second World War rose to the rank of captain in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. He took part in the Allied

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landings in Normandy, saw fighting across northern France and into Germany, and was later stationed near the Russian lines. After the war, Wright joined

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, graduating with a degree in History in 1948 and later proceeding to

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

. On 26 June 1948 he married Helen Muryell Buxton, a daughter of Patrick Buxton FRS, and they had five children. Going into schoolteaching, Wright's posts were at

University College School University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views. ...

, 1948–1950;

The Hill School The Hill School is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admission Organization. The school is accredited by the Mi ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, 1950–1951,

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having ...

, 1951–1953,

, 1953–1963, where he was a housemaster, and finally at

as headmaster 1963–1975. In 1971 he was Chairman of the Headmasters' Conference. One of Wright's former schoolboys,

Christopher Martin-Jenkins Christopher Dennis Alexander Martin-Jenkins, Order of the British Empire, MBE (20 January 1945 – 1 January 2013), also known as CMJ, was a British cricket journalist and a President of Marylebone Cricket Club, MCC. He was also the longest serv ...

, recalled him in his years at Marlborough as "an imposing figure, very tall, with a slight stoop, he had a loud voice and was never dull or predictable. On one occasion he threw a book at a boy called Horsey who had offended him in some way. On another... he threw a whole desk at someone as well." On his time at Shrewsbury, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' has called Wright a "great reforming headmaster". While there, working with the

Anglican Diocese of Liverpool The diocese of Liverpool is a diocese of the Church of England in North West England. The diocese covers Merseyside north of the River Mersey, south-west Lancashire, western Greater Manchester, and part of northern Cheshire. Liverpool Cathedral ...

, Wright took a leading role in the building of a new Shrewsbury House, the school's mission in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, which was opened in 1974 by

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

. While he was head of Shrewsbury, he secured many leading churchmen to come to preach in the school chapel, including Henry Chadwick, David Jenkins, Dennis Nineham, Stuart Blanch, and

Donald Coggan Frederick Donald Coggan, Baron Coggan, (9 October 1909 – 17 May 2000) was the 101st Archbishop of Canterbury from 1974 to 1980.

. After retiring as a headmaster in 1975, Wright became the Archbishop of Canterbury's Patronage Secretary, based at

, also chairing the William Temple Foundation and serving as Secretary to the Crown Appointments Commission which has the task of recommending the appointment of Church of England bishops. He was still in post when Archbishop Coggan retired in 1980 and was asked to consult on his successor.

Later life

With his wife, Helen, Wright had some twenty years of retirement at Coulston,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, where he was active in the parish church and became a campaigner on environmental causes. He was a Governor of

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, 1981–1992, and a member of the committee of the Wiltshire Blind Association, 1985–1997. In 1984 he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

.Wright, (Arthur Robert) Donald
in ''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

'' online, accessed 31 March 2019, He died in July 2012, aged 89, and his funeral service was at Edington Priory.Donald Wright - Headmaster from 1963 - 1975 has died, aged 89
dated 13 July 2012 at shrewsbury.org.uk

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Donald 1923 births 2012 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II Headmasters of Shrewsbury School Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at The Downs School, Herefordshire Royal Artillery officers The Hill School faculty