Upon the expiration of the period for which he had been placed with Hudson, Wright, at the age of nineteen, returned to Derby, and soon afterwards painted the portraits of his father and mother, his two sisters, his brother, and himself. These were probably the first portraits he painted, as, when they sat to him, he had only—it must be remembered—been two years at his profession. At this time he also painted the portraits of many of his friends, and of members of the principal families in the neighbourhood. Being, however, dissatisfied with his progress, he returned to London, in 1756, to study under Hudson for the second time, and remained with him for fifteen months, often lamenting during that period that he could not obtain better instruction, there being no master of eminence in England at that time.
Painting was not Wright’s only pursuit. He was a real lover of music, and was considered by those able to judge to be a first-rate amateur performer upon the flute, which he was taught by Tacet. Mr. Denby,[5] the organist at All Saints’ Church, at this time had weekly concerts at his house, at which Wright played the flute, Burdett (who published a Map of Derbyshire in 1767) the violoncello, the Rev. Mr. Hope “thorough bass on the harpsichord,” and the Rev. Mr. Blackwall and Mr. Charles Denby first and second violins. These were cheerful evenings, and Wright took a prominent part in the mirth, for, though naturally shy and retiring, he was of a social and lively disposition. He is said to have been the life of the party. He also attended the balls and assemblies[6] in Derby, Newark, Chesterfield, and other places, and from his handsome person and pleasant manners was a general favourite. An old inhabitant of Derby, Mr. Haden, used to relate that Wright once asked him whether he should teach him to draw, or to play on the flute, and that he foolishly chose the latter. Wright, he said, was a very pleasant master, who held the agreeable theory that Madeira was the best medicine for the flute, and never gave him a lesson without ordering in a bottle of it. Mrs. Cade (Wright’s daughter) has related that he used to play upon the flute in the evening, after he had prepared his palette for the next day; and that the Rev. Thomas Gisborne (who then resided in St. Helen’s House, at the top of Bridge Gate, and afterwards at Yoxall Lodge, Needwood Forest) was in the habit of drawing with him in the morning, and playing upon the flute with him in the evening. She also recollected going with him to Darley Grove, adjoining St. Helen’s, where he delighted to hear the echoes to his flute.
After Wright’s death, there was found a large box containing music for the flute, written very neatly by himself, which at last came to the ignominious fate of being used by the servants for lighting the fires.
An early memorandum of Wright’s states:—“My Father paid Sandys the colourman for me Mch 1759, £15. 17. 0. In March 1762 paid ditto £20. 14. 0. Lent me a guinea to send Wri. Paid for cloth for shirts when I was in London £4. 4. 0. For a German Flute £3. 3. 0.”
Having soon attained some local celebrity, Wright was allowed a room at the Town Hall when he wished to exhibit his pictures, and could not show them to advantage at his father’s. It was in this room that he painted the portraits of the members of the Derby Hunt, which now hang in Markeaton Hall, where they were placed by Francis Noel Clarke Mundy, the poet. This gentleman, from an elegy written by him in 1765, appears to have been “The life, the leader of the hunter train,” and in Wright’s MS. book occurs the following memorandum in connection with a portrait of one of the Mundy family: “The letter in Mr. Mundy’s picture to be dated from Amberley, in Sussex. It must conclude with ‘your friend Harry Deckham,’ not Henry. The case upon the letter table, directed to Francis Mundy, Esq., at Markeaton, near Derby.” Amongst the portraits known to have been exhibited at the Town Hall may be mentioned that of “Old John,” head waiter at the King’s Head Inn, which was raffled for ten guineas, and won by Danl. Parker Coke, Esq. This picture, which represents “Old John,” with roses in the button-hole of his coat, and a smiling and intelligent face under his wig, is now in the possession of Lord Belper. Another local character similarly distinguished, was Thomas Oliver, beadle at All Saints’ Church, whose attentive attitude, whilst Mr. Winter or his curate, Mr. Hope, preached, had caught the artist’s eye. The interest thus excited led the artist to obtain a sitting from the beadle, and the picture which resulted was exhibited at the Town Hall. Wright made a crayon drawing of this portrait, and gave it to Mr. Denby.
“THE TWINS.”
Etched by Mr. F. Seymour Haden.
Ann Haden, afterwards Mrs. Boot; and Sarah Haden, afterwards Mrs. James Oakes, of the Riddings, Derbyshire.
Original picture in the possession of Mr. James Oakes.