Alonzo Wright was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 member of Parliament and businessman commonly known as "King of the Gatineau".

He was born in Cantley, Quebec

Cantley, Quebec

Cantley, Quebec, Canada, is a rural municipality north of the city of Gatineau, east of the Gatineau River, located within Canada's National Capital Region approximately 15–20 minutes from Parliament Hill. The population in 2006 was 7,926. Between 2001 and 2006, Cantley had the largest population...

 in 1821. He was a grandson of Philemon Wright

Philemon Wright

Philemon Wright was a farmer and entrepreneur who founded Wrightstown, the first permanent settlement in the National Capital Region of Canada...

, and son of Tiberius Wright. He earned his fortune in the family's lumber business.

In 1848, he married Mary Sparks, who was the daughter of Nicholas Sparks and Sarah Olmstead Wright, the widow of his uncle.

In 1863, he was elected in the County of Ottawa

Ottawa (County of)

Ottawa was a federal and provincial electoral district in Quebec, Canada, which was represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1830 to 1867, in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1892, and in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1867 to at least 1919.The...

 riding of Canada East

Canada East

Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....

 to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the...

. He continued to represent this district until 1891, after 1867 as a member of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

.

He died in 1894 at Ironside, Quebec, now part of the city of Gatineau.

The Alonzo-Wright Bridge over the Gatineau River

Gatineau River

The Gatineau River is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec...

 was named after him. Although Wright wasn't involved in the construction of this bridge, he did have a role in petitioning for the replacement of the ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 service at this location by a bridge. His original homestead became the Collège Saint-Alexandre

Collège Saint-Alexandre

Collège Saint-Alexandre is a private secondary school located in Gatineau, in the Outaouais region, in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on Rue Saint-Louis in the Gatineau sector in the Limbour neighbourhood....

, and some have claimed that a log cabin at 893 av. Gatineau served as the family residence in the 1830s.

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