Darwin was Wright’s close friend, and treated his asthma; Wright painted his portrait more than once. Josiah Wedgwood and Arkwright were industrialist patrons as well as good friends, Arkwright’s mill featuring in a painting, all smouldering night-time chiaroscuro. Through the older Wedgwood, Wright befriended his son Thomas. Although Wright was never a Lunar Society member, Priestley, Watt and Boulton were also among his friends. Coleridge, travelling around the Midlands promoting his radical magazine, met Wright among other influential locals.