Alonzo Wright (April 28, 1821 – January 7, 1894) was a Canadian member of Parliament and businessman commonly known as "King of the Gatineau". He was born in Hull, Quebec in 1821. He was a grandson of Philemon Wright, and son of Tiberius Wright. He earned his fortune in the family's lumber business. In 1848, he married Mary Sparks, who was the daughter of

Nicholas Sparks Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and philanthropist. He has published twenty-three novels and two non-fiction books, some of which have been ''New York Times'' bestsellers, with over 115 m ...

and Sarah Olmstead Wright, the widow of his uncle. In 1863, he was elected in the County of Ottawa riding of Canada East to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. He continued to represent this district until 1891, after 1867 as a member of the House of Commons of Canada. He died in 1894 at Ironside, Quebec, now part of the city of Gatineau. The Alonzo-Wright Bridge over the

Gatineau River The Gatineau River (french: Rivière Gatineau, ) is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec. The river is long and drain ...

was named after him. Although Wright wasn't involved in the construction of this bridge, he did have a role in petitioning for the replacement of the ferry service at this location by a bridge. His original homestead became the

Collège Saint-Alexandre Collège Saint-Alexandre is a private secondary school (high school) located in Gatineau, in the Outaouais region, in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on Rue Saint-Louis in the Gatineau sector in the Limbour neighbourhood. Once exc ...

. According to the current owners, the log cabin now located at 893 av. Gatineau, known locally as the "Little Red House" built by Alonzo's father, Tiberius, served as the family residence in the 1830s. It dates from as early as 1824, possibly making it the oldest building in the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts and the Papineau region. Geographically, it is located on the north side of the Ottaw ...

region in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Electoral record

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* * * 1821 births 1894 deaths Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople Pre-Confederation Quebec people Businesspeople from Quebec Canadian people of English descent History of Gatineau Politicians from Gatineau Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Anglophone Quebec people Canadian people of American descent {{Conservative18671942-Quebec-MP-stub