Edward Fortescue Wright (born 11 March 1858 in Coburg,

Chudleigh Chudleigh () is an ancient wool town located within the Teignbridge District Council area of Devon, England; it is sited between Newton Abbot and Exeter. The electoral ward with the same name had a population of 5,919 at the 2021 United Kingdo ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, murdered on 23 November 1904 in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

) was an English cricketer who became a member of the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Life and career

Wright was a right-handed batsman and a round-arm right-arm fast bowler. He was educated at Sydney College, Bath. ''

Scores and Biographies Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted English amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as wel ...

'' notes that he was 5 foot 10½ inches tall and weighed 11 stone 10 pounds. Philip Thorn
"An Ill Wind in Jamaica"
''The Cricket Statistician'', no. 53, Spring 1986, pp. 4–6. Edward Wright played four matches for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

in 1878 scoring 81 runs and taking one wicket. On his debut against Surrey

James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual ''James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual'' was a cricket annual edited by Charles W. Alcock, the secretary of Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in th ...

reported that "Mr. E. Wright, an amateur debutant, ontributeda very freely hit 32." Earlier he had played for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

in 1875, before they were first-class, and for

between 1876 and 1884. He joined the Colonial Service and was posted to

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

. He made his debut for the colony against

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

in 1882-83 when he took 4 wickets and then scored 123 out of the British Guiana total of 168. This was the first first-class century in the West Indies. In 1887-88 he took 3-17 and 7–15 against

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. Against Slade Lucas's team in 1894-95 he took 5–34 in the first match and then scored 54 in the second match. More success followed in the 1895-96

Inter-Colonial Tournament The Inter-Colonial Tournament was the main first class cricket, first class cricket competition in the West Indian cricket team, West Indies held between 1892–93 and 1938-39. Competing teams * Barbados national cricket team, Barbados * Guya ...

when he scored 96 against Trinidad and then scored 26 and 85 and took 3-58 and 7–53 in the final against Barbados. In 1896-97 he played against Lord Hawke's team but had less success. The following season he was posted to Jamaica and joined the Jamaican Constabulary. He was promoted to Inspector General in charge of the Jamaica Constabulary and in 1902 was awarded the CMG for his services. While in Jamaica he played three matches for

against the touring R. A. Bennett's XI in 1901-02. Wright married Constance Hext in 1881 and they had a son,

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

, who played for the Army against the Royal Navy at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

in 1904 and also played for

. After the death of his first wife, Wright married Annie Douglas Alexander in 1891, and they had two sons:

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

and Oswin. In 1902 a riot took place at

Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...

. A small group of police with Wright in charge went there at once to investigate the incident. On the following day Wright and a colleague, Inspector Clarke, were strolling unarmed through the town and were mistaken for members of the local police force. They were attacked and whilst Inspector Clarke received a fractured skull from which he eventually recovered, Wright was so badly hurt that he died shortly afterwards.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Edward Fortescue 1858 births 1904 deaths English cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Jamaica cricketers Guyana cricketers Demerara cricketers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George British police officers killed in the line of duty People murdered in Jamaica People from Teignbridge (district) Cricketers from Devon 19th-century Jamaican people Sportspeople from the British West Indies