He was born in March 1735 in
Crieff,
Perthshire, and was educated at
Crieff Grammar School. He served as an apprentice physician with G Dennistoun in
Falkirk from 1752 to 1756. He then studied medicine at
University of Edinburgh. In 1758 he joined the
Royal Navy as a surgeon, serving in the
West Indies until 1763. He obtained his doctorate (MD) from
St Andrews University in 1763. , and became a navy surgeon in 1760. He was elected to the
American Philosophical Society in 1774. Wright was a slaveowner and opposed the abolition of slavery. In 1764 Wright became the assistant to a Dr. Gray on a sugar plantation in
Kingston,
Jamaica, where he invested the income from his medical practice into slaves and land. In partnership with
Dr Thomas Steel, he built
Orange Hill estate Wright published numerous articles in medicine. His Jamaican collections became an important contribution to
natural history. Notably, he described more than 750 plant species, and owned 33 slaves. He lived his final years at 51 Hanover Street in
Edinburgh's New Town. In 1795 he was visited by
Johann Gottfried Schmeisser. He died in Edinburgh on 19 September 1819 and is buried in the north west section of the western extension to
Greyfriars Kirkyard. He never married and had no children. ==Botanical Reference==