(a.k.a Artie) lost a lot of his sight when he grew older. If he was alive in 1960 then he would have been 79 years old. Alan visited them in Birtley. Arthur was still alive and Olive was there with her son Peter. Olive never married according to Maureen.
Olive was born in 1922.
The twins were nicknamed ‘Pip and Squeak’ even though they well over 6 foot tall perhaps as tall as 7′. The truth is he had nine , however Maureen got all the names correct. Dolly and Connie apparently also went to London. Dolly and Connie were theatricals who sang and danced, both apparently had white blonde hair and were exceptionally pretty. Georgia Grace has white blonde hair which may be inherited as does my son Alex and my daughter Olivia! Blonde hair is very common amongst the Wrights.
Arthur James Wright was born on the 12th October 1881 at Buck Row , Framwellgate Moor. It’s said that Artie attended school and enjoyed English, he was a very good letter writer . However it was said that Artie was lazy and frequently lost jobs through not showing up, not good when you are a father of nine . On Sunderland Road Arthur and his friend were walking down the road when they met an old gypsy woman who asked to read their palms. She read Artie’s and she said he would have a very long life. When she read his friends she simply frowned and pushed his hand back, a week later he was killed by a bus. In 1914 he met Sarah Taylor, she was completely deaf and her father was or had been quite abusive . Her mother had died in 1912 , three days before the titanic sunk .
Sarah fell pregnant to Arthur and in August they were married. In the September their first son was born, Herbert Wright. In 1916 the second child was born Estelle followed by Charles in 1918 . In 1918 Artie was earning money and all of it was going on drink . Sarah took what she could but it wasn’t near enough for food , whenever she asked Artie for money he just knocked her down . Subsequently in the winter of 1918 they were evicted for not paying the rent . It was raining and windy , so they sheltered in a derelict barn . Arthur had just started a fire when two police came and threw them out . From there they walked to Queen Street . They lodged with James and Jane for a few weeks but Jane didn’t like being around kids again saying to Sarah, “ ya should put them bloody kids in the workhouse if ya know what is good for you “. Sarah eventually fell out with Jane which caused them to move out , it is also said that Jane made them very unwelcome. From 58 Queen Street they moved into Elizabethville AKA the Belgian Huts in Birtley. In 1920 Victor Arthur was born , followed by Constance 1921 , Olive 1922 , then Eva in 1925 . The Belgian people were ‘ canny ‘ but they were not very easy to get on with . Whenever one of them died , instead of burying them they put the body in the attic of the hut .
In 1926 , Sarah’s father Joseph died and left her a sum of £100 , with her money she bought a caravan and from the huts they moved to Shadons Hill in Eighton Banks . At first they had the caravan on the west side of the hill but the wind would blow the caravan down the hill with the family inside. So they dug out the east side of Shadons Hill and put the caravan on it . This was a successful solution . In 1928 Sarah gave birth to twins Clarence and Lawrence although they were always called Clary and Billy . As the family grew up it was decided that they’d build a extended shelter . The family went over to where they were building Malone Gardens in Birtley and Herbert Orlando , Charles , the eight year old Victor and Herbert junior stole the wood during the night . Victor was under the hedge when the police came , Herbert Orlando told him to freeze, they all stayed still and the police passed . Sarah fearing that they’d be caught , went over to a wood yard in Newcastle and bought 1 piece of wood then put extra zeros on the receipt. The police did return and were satisfied with the receipt. At some point Charles Wright began building a chalet on Shadons Hill but opted to move to Gateshead. Arthur worked as a chemist and occasional building jobs . He would also buy bruised fruit and sell it on . However he spent the money in the pub , Sarah found it increasingly hard to feed her family , she sent the children to get cinders from the pit after and before school. They kept hens , ducks and geese , there was a gander called Paddy , he used to fly around Shadons Hill, there was a pig who used to meet Sarah at the bus stop , the children were sad to find her in their bacon sandwiches one day !
one day Arthur would not get up to work , they said he would lose it if he didn’t go once more . Sarah tried to get him to go, Arthur said give him his breakfast and he’ll go to work, he ate it then went back to bed . Sarah lost her temper and poured the hot fat on Artie’s head . He jumped up and chased her down the hill , catching her at the bottom and giving her a good beating according to Bill.
Vic went to Lester to work at the age of 14 and never came back to live. Arthur was very protective of his daughters and used to chase Dolly’s suitors with an axe . In 1938 Sarah persuaded Arthur to move to York Road . They hadn’t had running water , gas , electricity or a toilet for 12 years .
Arthur enlisted on 31st July 1916 discharged 4th February 1918 in Nottingham, he never went abroad unlike his brothers.
Here is a list of Arthur and Sarah’s children .
Herbert Wright 1914-1999
Estelle Doreen Wright 1916-1999
Charles Wright 1918-1999
Victor Arthur Wright 1920-2007
Constance Wright 1921-1985
Olive May Wright 1922-2001
Eva Louise Wright 1925-2020
Clarence Wright 1928-2017
Lawrence ‘ Bill ‘ Wright 1928-
There were also another set of twins which were stillborn .
Although he was the one who caused the lack of supplies he was always trying to get them . Arthur would buy bruised fruit and bring it back to the hill and York Road, he would buy the scrap timber from the wood yard , he and Peter would go along with a barrow , stacking the wood double the height. They came over a bridge when suddenly it got faster and faster until it pulled up and tipped back, Arthur held on until he was stretched too far and ruptured his rib muscles.
Sarah died in 1963 after a third heart attack and two strokes. Arthur was always fighting with Herbert and Carl , Olive always got the backlash and I’ve expanded on that in her page . Arthur was still pushing the barrow at 85 and was still walking to the pub at 90 . At 92 he took to his bed to get away from Herbie and the others , his room was 5ft high with newspaper with only a 1ft gap to his bed . Olive cared for both her parents, in his final year Artie only ate a tin of tomatoes and whiskey in his tea , he drank two bottles a week . A week before he died he said to Olive’ the worst thing that I did was take to my bed .
James Arthur Wright died on the night of 22nd November 1976 with Olive by his side, he was 95 .
- James Arthur Wright m Sarah Taylor
- Herbert
- Estelle Dolly
- Joan
- Charles m Eleanor Walton
- Jimmy/James
- Victor Arthur
- Diane
- Connie m Thomas ?
- Marjorie
- June
- Eric
- Olive May
- Peter m Heather
- Stephen
- Lee m Louise
- Dominic
- Peter m Heather
- Eva Louise m John/Jackie Bell
- John
- Sandra
- David
- Clarence/Carl
- Laurence
The Wrights Family History 