| Roles held: | Captain 1967– 1976 |
| 1st Lieutenant 1957 – 1961 | |
| Firefighter 1949 – 1957 | |
At left: Mary & Neale Wright.
Photo courtesy of Flinders District Historical Society.
Mary was President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Auxiliary.
Neale Wright was born in Latrobe, Tasmania on the 30th of June, 1913. The third youngest of seven children, he was educated at Devonport during his early years, but due to the health of his mother, the family moved to Victoria in 1923, first to Picola on the Murray River and, then to Paringa Rd in Red Hill where he finished his education.
At 14, he joined with Vic Holmes snigging logs by horse into the sawmill and, during the coming years became sawyer, union rep, and steam engineer.
His parents Bill and Florence Wright moved to Shoreham as caretakers of Puckle’s property in Cliff Rd during the mid 1930’s. Neale purchased the 5 acres next door for 68 pounds per acre and, started building on the property soon after. He married Mary on the 24th of June 1939 and, when war was declared in September, he joined the 6th Battalion.
During periods of leave throughout the war Hilton, Charles and Noreen were born. After the war, twins Sue and Rod, David and Geoff completed the family.
Neale started his own sawmill in 1946 in Cliff Rd, which is run today as E. N. Wright and Sons (Milling) Pty Ltd, by his four sons Charles, Rod, David and Geoff, and grandsons.
He joined the Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade in 1953 and attended the few fires that occurred during the period when able. The brigade tanker was a trailer towed behind Glen Cornish’s FWD and then the mill ute. Considerable thought was required when stopping, many near accidents were averted getting to and during fires due to the weight.
Neale was elected Captain in 1967, the Brigade was loaned the region spare from Bittern, which was garaged at the sawmill. Shoreham moved towards a modern Brigade with radio and during the early years nervous operators communicated with VL3.OF on a Sunday morning. It was decided that a Fire Station and a new Fire truck were required and the brigade members canvassed the township for donations. Neale, Ron McKillop and Glen Cornish spent many weekends in the rural areas seeking donations. Only one person refused to donate to the project many donating $100.
Every fire season would come and it was always going to be the worst fire season ever, Mary would say “only if someone lights it” and he would not be amused. On Total Fire Ban days, Neale would stay by the phone or sit up at the station in case a fire call came in. He also served the Region as Deputy Group Officer for a period of years and was awarded a Queens Medal for service to the Country Fire Service. He was proud to be part of the local brigade and of the support his family gave him and the Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade during the many years he served. He passed away after a long fight with cancer in 1978 aged 65 years.
By Roderick Wright (son of Neale Wright)
An extract from the Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade, 50th Anniversary Booklet (1999)
Neale’s service was acknowledged in this local newspaper article (date unknown):
