Born 8 January 1842, at Wexford, Ireland, Harry Charles William Wrigg served in H.M. Dragoon Guards before training as a civil engineer in the north of England.

He arrived in New Zealand in the early 1860s and took up surveying. He served in the 1st Waikato Regiment, the Auckland Militia, the Bay of Plenty Cavalry Volunteers and the Wellington Guards, and was involved in the Opotiki Campaign of June 1867 (Te Kooti).

During active service he was awarded the New Zealand Cross. Harry Wrigg was draughtsman to H.R.H. Duke of Edinburgh, chief draughtsman in the Engineer-in-Chief's department at the Thames Goldfields and also in the New Zealand Public Works Department. He also held first awards in drawings, with a silver medal at the Sydney Exhibition (1879), Melbourne (1880), and the Centennial Exhibition (1887). Harry Wrigg died at Auckland on 30 June 1924, aged 82 years. He was survived by his wife Margaret, who died nearly ten years later on 12 November1933, aged 87 years.

A Cornet was the lowest ranked commissioned officer in a troop of cavalry. This rank and the infantry equivalent of Ensign were replaced by the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1871

AWMM Harry Wrigg's New Zealand Cross and New Zealand Medal are on display in the New Zealand Wars gallery, 2nd floor, Auckland War Memorial Museum. AWMM