John Wright appears in Montagu's correspondence in the mid-1760s, serving as colliery viewer [manager] at the East Denton colliery owned by Elizabeth and Edward Montagu from 1758 until his dismissal in 1767. The highlight of Wright's tenure at Denton was his appointment of a schoolmaster in 1766 to teach the children of the mine workers, in accordance with Elizabeth Montagu's philanthropic and charitable efforts towards her workers, epitomised by the practice of providing them with annual feasts, also inaugurated in 1766. Wright's dismissal and replacement with Edward Brown in 1767 appears to have been precipitated by the temporary loss of the East Denton colliery due to flooding in the autumn of 1766. There is only one letter from Montagu to Wright extant in her correspondence, the majority of his interactions taking place through mediators or Edward Montagu (1692-1775)