Morton Wright

George Morton Wright (23 August 1914 – 26 October 1940) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL).^[1]

Morton Wright
Personal information
Full name	George Morton Wright
Date of birth	(1914-08-23)23 August 1914
Place of birth	Mount Gambier, South Australia
Date of death	26 October 1940(1940-10-26) (aged 26)
Place of death	Collingwood, Victoria
Original team(s)	Mount Gambier
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	83 kg (183 lb)
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1938	Hawthorn	1 (0)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1938.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

The son of George Edgar Wright (1883-1954),^[2][3] and Annie May Wright (1888-1936), née Morton,^[4] George Morton Wright was born at Mount Gambier, South Australia on 23 August 1914.

He married Lorna Helen Payne (1912-1988), later Mrs. William Beeston Ross, in 1940.

Swimming

Wright had a successful swimming career before playing football.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Football

Initially linked with Geelong's Second XVIII, he was cleared to Hawthorn on 25 May 1938,^[10] where he went on to play a single senior game, against Fitzroy, on 13 June 1938, at the Glenferrie Oval.^[11]

Death

A fireman, Wright died when the two upper floors and roof of a waste-paper factory collapsed on him while he was fighting a fire -- that had been lit by two boys^[12] -- in Collingwood on the night of 26 October 1940.^[13][14][15]

At the time of his death he had passed all of the tests required to train as a RAAF pilot; but, when the Fire Brigade declared that it would not release him to the RAAF, Wright made an appeal direct to the Victorian Premier, Albert Dunstan, and Wright was waiting to hear the results of the Premier's efforts on his behalf.^[16]

Notes

1. Holmesby & Main (2014), p.974.
2. Mr. George Wright Dies in Melbourne: Well Known Singer, The Border Watch, (Tuesday, 30 March 1954), p.1.
3. Deaths: Wright, The Argus, (Tuesday, 30 March 1954), p.9.
4. Death: Wright, The Border Watch, (Saturday, 7 May 1936), p.3.
5. Casterton Swimming Carnival: Morton Wright Outstanding, The Border Watch, (Saturday, 27 February 1932), p.1.
6. Morton Wright Successful at Casterton, The Border Watch, (Saturday, 10 February 1934), p.1.
7. S.A. Country Swimming Championship: Won by Morti=on Wright: Four Yards to Spare, The Border Watch, (Thursday, 28 March 1935), p.1.
8. Local Swimmer in Sydney: Morton's Wright's Success, The Border Watch, (Thursday, 2 January 1936), p.3.
9. "SWIMMER AND FOOTBALLER". The Border Watch. Vol. 80, no. 8694. Mount Gambier. 29 October 1940. p. 1.
10. V.F.L. Permits, The Age, (Thursday, 26 May 1938), p.6.
11. Hawthorn's Injured, The Age, (Wednesday, 15 July 1938), p.9.
12. Boys Started Fatal Fire, The Daily Telegraph, (Thursday, 19 December 1940), p.7.
13. "FIREMEN KILLED". The Argus. No. 29, 386. Victoria, Australia. 28 October 1940. p. 1.
14. Deaths: Wright, The Age, (Monday, 28 October 1940), p.1.
15. In Memoriam: Wright, The Age, (Saturday, 25 October 1941), p.1.
16. Krummel, Paul, "Tribute to a Gallant Young Man: Late Morton Wright's Funeral", The Border Watch, (Thursday, 14 November 1940), p.2.

References

• Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
• Inquest Evidence Referred to Authorities: Death of Two Firemen, The Herald, (Wednesday, 18 December 1940), p.3.
• Paper Store a "Death Trap": Regulations Urged, The Argus, (Thursday, 19 December 1940), p.5.
• Death of Two Firemen: Coroner Critical, The Age, (Thursday, 19 December 1940), p.9.

External links

• Morton Wright's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Morton Wright at AustralianFootball.com