Wakefield ( mi, Tiraweke or ) is a settlement in the

Tasman District Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council, ...

of New Zealand's South Island, located about 25km south west of

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. The settlement began in 1843 as Pitfure, but the name was changed to Wakefield a short time later. It may have been named after the birthplace of one of its original settlers, who was from

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. It may have also been named after Captain

Arthur Wakefield Captain Arthur Wakefield (19 November 1799 – 17 June 1843) served with the Royal Navy, before joining his brother, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in founding the new settlement at Nelson, New Zealand. Early life Arthur Wakefield was born in Essex, a ...

, who led the expedition that first established Nelson City and Province. Arthur Wakefield was killed in the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre in older histories, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take ...

, which may have helped confirm the change of name from Pitfure to Wakefield.McAloon, J. (1997). ''Nelson, A Regional History'', Cape Catley. Wakefield comes under the responsibility of the

Council, which has its offices in the nearby town of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. It is part of the

West Coast-Tasman West Coast-Tasman electorate boundaries used since the West Coast-Tasman is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. Since its formation for the , it has been held by Damien O'Connor of the Labour Party apart from one parliamentary term, when N ...

general electorate. St John's Church in 120 Edward Street, built in 1846, is New Zealand's second oldest surviving church. It is registered by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

as a Category I heritage structure, with registration number 40.

Demographics

The Wakefield statistical area covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Wakefield Anglican Church

Wakefield had a population of 2,448 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 147 people (6.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 474 people (24.0%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 864 households. There were 1,224 males and 1,227 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female. The median age was 41.5 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 552 people (22.5%) aged under 15 years, 345 (14.1%) aged 15 to 29, 1,170 (47.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 384 (15.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 96.6% European/Pākehā, 7.6% Māori, 1.0% Pacific peoples, 1.0% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 16.5%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 60.7% had no religion, 28.9% were Christian, 0.1% were Hindu, 0.1% were Muslim, 0.1% were Buddhist and 2.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 270 (14.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 372 (19.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $32,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 978 (51.6%) people were employed full-time, 297 (15.7%) were part-time, and 45 (2.4%) were unemployed.

Wakefield Rural

Wakefield Rural is a statistical area that surrounds but does not include Wakefiled. It covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Wakefield Sculpture

Wakefield Rural had a population of 1,248 at the

, an increase of 75 people (6.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 72 people (6.1%) since the

. There were 465 households. There were 654 males and 594 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.1 males per female. The median age was 47.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 213 people (17.1%) aged under 15 years, 186 (14.9%) aged 15 to 29, 648 (51.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 198 (15.9%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 96.9% European/Pākehā, 6.2% Māori, 0.7% Pacific peoples, 1.2% Asian, and 1.9% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 14.7%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 58.9% had no religion, 29.3% were Christian, 0.2% were Hindu, 0.5% were Buddhist and 1.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 165 (15.9%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 192 (18.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $36,100, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 576 (55.7%) people were employed full-time, 198 (19.1%) were part-time, and 18 (1.7%) were unemployed.

Education

Wakefield School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 6 students, with a roll of as of . Wakefield is notable for Wakefield Primary School, the oldest school in continuous usage in New Zealand. It was set up in 1843 by Mary Ann Baigent, the wife of

Edward Baigent Edward Baigent (22 June 1813 – 9 November 1892) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Nelson, New Zealand. He was one of the most successful saw-millers of the region, and his company existed for well over 100 years. Family Edward Baige ...

References

{{Tasman District Populated places in the Tasman District