Jessie Samuel Wright was born in 1874 and lived at Warren Park, Little Leighs.  He ran his building company from The Willows, Main Road, Great Leighs.

He would sometimes meet a gentleman named Mr. Odd in a pub near where he did a lot of work.  One day Mr. Odd asked Jessie if he knew of any willow trees in his area, Jessie replied he did not know anything about Willow trees.  But Mr.Odd asked him to look out for any and let him know when he found some, then he would come and see if they were the right variety.  Once Jessie knew what to look for he decided it would be more lucrative than the building industry, so he bought The Willows in Little Leighs and named his company J. S. Wright in 1894.

Jessie married a lady named Annie Mansfield and they had five children; Grace (the oldest), Bessie, Stanley, Albert and Doris.  But Annie died very young and Jessie then married a lady named Kate Cranfield (c.1910) and they had two more children; Laura and Carleton.

As regards the Willow business Jessie would do all the carting of trees and delivering of clefts to Rayne railway station, among other places, using a horse and cart. In those days the clefts were split from the rolls and left to stand for eighteen months before being sold air dried, no circular saws were used to shape the cleft.

This photo shows Carleton Wright riding on the trailer with George Herbert Driving © 1929

Stanley, Albert and Carleton were involved from a very early age.  During the first world war Jessie did not go to war but was in the Special Constabulary, therefore the business was able to continue.  Sometimes soldiers would march from Colchester Barracks to Warley Barracks and would stop in the village for their lunch, the officers would come into The Willows and have lunch with Jessie. 

In around 1922 the  company was visited at The Willows by a member of the Royal family, namely Princess Marie Louise, who took time to look at the process and inspect the clefts.  This was a great thrill, especially for the children and she arrived by horse and coach.

It was now the second world war, only Carleton was called up for service, he was first stationed at Littlehampton and eventually travelled to many countries. Stanley and Albert were in the Special Constabulary, so,  as in the first world war, the company was able to tick over.  The site was nearly destroyed one day when a stick of bombs were dropped and landed in a field at the back of the yard. Jessie died in 1963 aged 88 and now the sons took over the business.

L to R: Stan, Jessie, Albert and Carleton