John Wright was born in 1857, likely in or around Kent, for he exhibited from various Kent addresses between 1894 and 1900, before moving to Robin Hood's Bay in 1901. He joined the Staithes Art Club in 1904, the year the exhibition moved from Staithes to the Anderson Gallery in Whitby - incidentally, his exhibit 'Robin Hood's Bay' was the cheapest that year, priced at £1 5s.
Unlike many artists of the Staithes Group, he resided in the area, having a house in Robin Hood's Bay, although we do not know whether this was his primary residence or a second home. As well as being a painter, Wright was one of the most prolific etchers of the Staithes Group, being elected a full member of Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1917, and many of his etchings are in the collection of the Pannett Gallery, Whitby. John Wright exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, and seemingly moved to London sometime before 1913, where he later died in 1933.