John Wright and Son was a former

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

located in

Tuncurry Tuncurry is a coastal town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Mid-Coast Council LGA, about north north east of Sydney. It is immediately adjacent to its twin town of Forster, which is the larger of the two t ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

between 1875 and 1958. In partnership with Alexander Croll, John Wright built at least three ships at

Bungwahl Bungwahl is a small town in the Australian state of New South Wales, near Myall Lakes Myalls are any of a group of closely related and very similar species of ''Acacia'': * ''Acacia binervia ''Acacia binervia'', commonly known as the coast myal ...

, before selling his share of the sawmill and shipwright business at

Myall Lakes Myalls are any of a group of closely related and very similar species of ''Acacia'': * ''Acacia binervia ''Acacia binervia'', commonly known as the coast myall, is a wattle native to New South Wales and Victoria. It can grow as a shrub or as a t ...

. In 1875, he was the first white settler of the area now known as Tuncurry. He took out a 99-year lease on the waterfront land and built a timber mill,

, slipway and associated buildings. A wharf ran about 50 feet along the length of the waterfront at Tuncurry, with a receiving shed, with a skin shed at one end which housed cattle skins to be sent to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Vessels

His first boat built at Tuncurry was the "Stanley", which carried timber to Sydney and returned with

general cargo In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, refers to goods that are stowed on board ship in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bills of lading ...

. This was replaced by the first ship named

. John Wright built a number of vessels used on the North Coast including the ''Bellinger'', '' Tuncurry II'', ''Our Jack'' and the ''

Comboyne Comboyne is a village on the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales. It is situated on the Comboyne Plateau, some 60 km south-west of Port Macquarie, 35 km west of Kew, New South Wales, Kew and 54 km north-west of Taree, New Sou ...

''. After Wright's death in 1910, his son Ernest continued the business with the building of the '' Narani'', ''Wallamba'', ''Glenreagh'', ''Allenwood'', ''Nambucca 1'', '' Nambucca 2'' and the '' Uralba''. Additionally other craft were built, including small

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

lighters A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s and launches. The company name was changed to E. Wright & Son.North Coast Run: Men and Ships of the New South Wales North Coast M. Richards P94 - 95

External links

Fate

The business became un-financial in the 1950s. The 99-year lease was approaching finality, and John Wright junior decided to close the shipyard and return the land to the crown. In 1960 all buildings were demolished. In February 2018, the 'US Army WT85' - 'Protrude'/'Koolya', the last of the Wright ships sunk at its mooring at

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...

. The water front land where the mill and shipyard stood at Tuncurry was gazetted as an area for public recreation and in 1962 was renamed John Wright Park.

References

External links

Gallery

Image:Coastal_steamer_NARANI_(9559320406).jpg,

HMAS Narani HMAS ''Narani'' was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. ''Narani'' was requisitioned from the Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Company as auxiliaries. The 381-ton vessel was armed w ...

Image:HMAS Uralba 1945.jpg,

HMAS Uralba HMAS ''Uralba'' was an auxiliary minefield tender and armament stores carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1942 by Ernest Wright, Tuncurry, New South Wales as ''Uralba'' (presumably named af ...

Image:HMAS_Allenwood.jpg, HMAS Allenwood Image:Tuncurry_(ship).jpg, the first Tuncurry, built 1903 {{coord, -32.178437, 152.501267, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Engineering companies of Australia Shipyards of New South Wales Shipbuilding companies of Australia Mid North Coast