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1915-1918 (Creation)
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Physical description
6.5 cm of textual records and graphic material
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Name of creator
Biographical history
Robert Percy Wright was born in Montreal on 5 October 1882. He was educated at McGill University where he excelled in athletics, graduating in medicine in 1908. He interned at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal from 1908-10 followed by a placement at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital in New York, 1910-1912. After a lengthy tour through Europe, Wright was appointed as a specialist in his two fields of expertise, Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology, in October 1911 at Jeffery Hale Hospital, Quebec City. He became a Vice-President of the Medical Officers Association of Quebec in 1913.
In 1904 he had joined the Canadian militia as a private and received regular promotions through the ranks. When he left for France in 1915 he was a Major with the 1st Canadian Field Ambulance, Canadian Expeditionary Force. In France he rose to the rank of Colonel, and was appointed Assistant Director Medical Services (A.D.M.S.), Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.), 1st Canadian Division in July 1917. Upon his return to Canada he received an appointment at the Montreal General Hospital. From 1923 to 1929 he practised at the Methodist General Hospital, Terreon, Mexico before returning to Montreal. In 1925 he married Hectorine Lafleur. He published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, was a fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. His date of death is not known.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of three bound journals. Each journal is brown, stamped "Army Book 152. Correspondence Book. (Field Service)". The first journal contains entries from 15 May 1915 to 31 October 1915, as well as a spoof on Genesis from the Bible, some camp and other maps and drawings, and a biographical sketch of Wright written by himself including a long list of his athletic achievements. The second journal contains entries from 14 November [1915] to 30 August [1916], a list of his military leaves, maps, and one loose sheet of paper dated 13 June 1916. Wright was by then a Lieut.-Colonel. The third journal contains entries from 1 September 1916 to Saturday [2 December 1916] including some maps. Wright was stationed at the Vadencourt Chateau, and the third journal includes a building plan sketch and a map of the camp. The first journal is written entirely in ink; the other two journals are in ink and pencil. The journal entries begin with a weather description as does his official war diary. The fonds also contains Wright's official War Diary as A.D.M.S, 1st Canadian Division from 1 January 1918 to 31 December 1918. The diary is black and stamped "War Diary 1918". Each typewritten entry (except for the first few) has been initialled by Wright. In addition to the typewritten entries, the diary contains mimeographed orders, typewritten and mimeographed correspondence, maps and diagrams. There are 139 typed pages, 157 folio pages, and 10 maps.
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Immediate source of acquisition
Fonds (19-2000) was purchased from The Alexander Gallery on 31 May 2000.
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Associated materials
For a history of The First Canadian Division, see The First Canadian Division in the Battles of 1918 (1919) which also contains a chronology of the Division from its formation in 1914 to its return to Canada in 1919. See also Sir Andrew Macphail's The Medical Services, a volume of the Official History of the Canadian Forces in the Great War (1925), which contains a few mentions of Wright including his appointment as A.D.M.S.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
