In Memoriam Wally Wright 1924 – 2022
Wally Wright, the well-known historian, passed away on 1st June 2022. He will be sorely missed. For many years he was the ‘eminence grise’ of East Herts Local History, a prolific contributor to and recorder of the history of both Sawbridgeworth and Bishop's Stortford. In the 1980s, together with his late wife Doreen, he was the curator of the Bishop’s Stortford Museum.
Born in Croydon in 1924 he trained as an engineer and came to Harlow in 1965 to work for Cossor Electronics. After getting involved with digs’ along the new M11 route he developed an interest in archaeology. Throughout, his enthusiasm and dedication was shared with, encouraged and co-led by his wife Doreen. In the early 80s their membership of the Bishop’s Stortford Historical Society then resulted in the setting up of Stortford Museum in a lodge near the Cemetery.
While Wally busied himself visiting sites to be investigated, such as new roadworks or refurbished old houses in Bishops Stortford and Sawbridgeworth, Doreen – being less mobile – complimented this dedicated duo by organising and cataloguing the discoveries. Artefacts found and curated by the Wright’s still form part of the Stortford Museum’s display today, now based at the Mills Art Centre.
Over the many decades, Wally wrote and co-wrote many articles and contributed to several books, leaflets and public information boards. He was also generous with his time and vocal in his support for others. In 2005 he re-edited The Story of Sawbridgeworth, still the standard work on the history of the town.
When the Sawbridgeworth Local History Society was set up in 2016, Wally was the clear choice to become the President. Although age had started to slow him down by this time, he continued to be an active participate in society meetings. In recent months the Sawbridgeworth Local History Society was the driving force behind a new Town Council initiative to honour residents who have made a major contribution to the town as Honorary Freemen and Freewomen with Wally as the first recipient. Unfortunately, Wally Wright did not live to receive the award.