WRIGHT, DAVID McKEE (1867-1928) was born at Ballynaskeagh, County Down, Ireland, the son of a Congregational minister, the Rev William Wright (author of The Brontes in Ireland). Educated chiefly at a private school in London, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1887. For some years he worked in the country, and while rabbiting on Puketoi station, in Central Otago, he commenced to write verse about station life and characters. These were first published in the poetry corner of the Otago Witness. In 1896 his first small volume of verse, Aorangi, appeared. In the following year he won the prize offered at Otago University for a poem (on Queen Victoria) and was encouraged to publish his Station Ballads. He also won the first Stuart prize for a poem.

Having continued his studies at Otago University, Wright was admitted in 1898 to the ministry of the Congregational Church, and appointed pastor at Oamaru. Two years later he was removed to Newtown, Wellington, where he published two volumes of verse, Wisps of Tussock, and New Zealand Chimes (1900). In the following year he was moved to Nelson, where he spent some years of fruitful work. During the election campaign of 1905 he conducted a paper entitled the Nelson Times. In 1909, anxious to find a wider field for his pen, he moved to Sydney, where he soon established an appreciated and lucrative connection with the Bulletin. For many years he contributed to the "Red Page" and acted as critic for his journal. For The Sun he wrote leading articles for some time, besides helping with the moving picture page.

Wright's prose was versatile and excellent. In later years he devoted much study to early Irish literature, especially verse and plays, and in 1919 he published An Irish Heart. In the following year he was awarded a prize offered by the Australian Women's National League for a poem commemorating the visit of the Prince of Wales, and also the Rupert Brooke Memorial Prize for a poem commemorating the peace, which is amongst his best work. Wright's poetry was sweet and sensuous, his ballads lilting, topical and correct. As a critic he was remarkably discerning. His hobby was the collection of gems and china, of which he was a competent judge. He died at Glenbrook on 5 Feb 1928 and was buried in the Church of England cemetery at Emu Plains.

The publication of Station Ballads was due to the advice and financial assistance of Robert McSkimming ('Crockery Bob' of 'The Hawker's Cart').

Otago Witness, 14 Feb 1928 (Portrait: 21 Feb).

Reference: Volume 2, page 269

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