Thanks for all the responses. Since we're into the detail of this, let me explain what I know so far.
Thomas Wright was probably the son of Henry Wright. Thomas apprenticed in 1788 to James Grigg in Bristol, and his father was listed as Henry Wright. A baptism for Thomas to Henry and Alice Wright in 1775 seems a good match, and in the baptism register it confirms Henry's profession was cabinet maker.
Henry took on three apprentices in 1793, 1798 and 1802. He is listed in "The New Bristol Directory" in 1792 at Thomas St, then at Bath St. in 1793 when duty was paid on his first apprentice, then in "Mathew's Bristol Directory" at 10 Bath Street in 1793/4-1799. There is a burial for a Henry Wright in 1814 in St Paul's Parish which may or may not be the same man.
Thomas Wright became a Burgess of Bristol in 1807, qualifying as an apprentice, then appears in 1812 in the Poll Book as a cabinet maker at Bath St. So maybe he had been working with, or taking over from, his father Henry.
Thomas had three sons who were all cabinet makers: Thomas, Henry and Edwin. Thomas snr and Thomas jnr may have been in business together. There is no apprentice record for Thomas jnr but Thomas Wright, chair maker, was admitted as a Burgess in 1830, thanks to his father Thomas being a Burgess, so maybe Thos jnr apprenticed informally with his father. Then in the Poll books of 1830 and 1835 they are listed at the same address, first Ellbroad St, then at the Dings. Thomas's two other sons, Henry and Edwin, were both convicted of crimes and transported, and each is recorded as a cabinet/chair maker from Bristol, and in each case their father Thomas Wright wrote to appeal for clemency. When Thomas wrote on Henry's behalf in 1825, he was at 22 Westgate Street, Bath. Then when Edwin was convicted in 1840, Thomas was at Anchor St in Bethnal Green in London, aged 65.
I saw the BIFMO Dictionary and have been in touch with the editor who kindly sent me images of the original index cards submitted by the volunteer transcribers for Thomas Wright, but unfortunately the transcriber hasn't added details of where the obtained their info, except to say it was from directories. The transcriber seems to have found Thomas at 18 Milk Street from 1806-1809, then absent in 1810 and 1812, then at 10 Bath Street in 1813 and 1814. Finally, Thomas was at 19 Milk Street in 1816 and 1817.
The jump from Milk St, to Bath St, then back to Milk St seems odd and I wonder if it's the same Thomas listed in the directories. More specifically, I'm wondering if the Thomas described above has been confused with another Thomas Wright who was in Bristol at this time, but who ran a significant timber merchant business. That Thomas was originally from Kidderminster and based at Catherine Place, Stoke's Croft. He also had premises at Sea Banks. In his will of 1834 he left a lot of money and the suggestion his he had various estates also - Catherine Place is mentioned and also a workshop / rooms / yard. Since 1815 auction at 19 Milk St seems a substantial sale, including land and also premises, and since the switch from Milk St to Bath St to Milk St seems odd, maybe the Milk St listings and 1815 auction are Thomas Wright, timber merchant, not Thomas Wright cabinet maker?
This is why I'm trying to locate the directories apparently consulted by the BIFMO volunteer, to see if there's any detail that might help clarify which Thomas it was at Milk St.
I believe that the Mathew's Bristol Directory was published annually after 1805, so suspect that may be the directory in question, but I cannot find the editions for the years in question, and even Bristol Archives don't seem to have these editions in their collection of diretories.
As a coda, I have the BAFHS transcriptions of the Burgess Books and Apprentice lists and cannot find any other Henry or Thomas Wright, cabinet makers, in Bristol during this period. Only Thomas Wright timber merchant.
