Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 179616 May 1862) is considered a key figure in the establishment of the colonies of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
(where he later served as a member of parliament). He also had significant interests in
British North America
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...
, being involved in the drafting of
Lord Durham's Report and being a member of the
Parliament of the Province of Canada
The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the Province of Canada, made up of the two regions of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada, later Ontario) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada, later Quebec).
Creation of the Parl ...
for a short time.
He was best known for his colonisation scheme, sometimes referred to as the Wakefield scheme, which aimed to populate the new colony South Australia with a workable combination of labourers, tradespeople, artisans and capital. The scheme was to be financed by the sale of land to the capitalists who would thereby support the other classes of emigrants.
Despite being imprisoned for three years in 1827 for
kidnapping a fifteen-year-old girl in Britain, he enjoyed a distinguished political career.
Early life
Wakefield was born in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1796, the eldest son of
Edward Wakefield (1774–1854), a distinguished surveyor and land agent, and Susanna Crush (1767–1816).
His grandmother,
Priscilla Wakefield
Priscilla Wakefield, ''nee'' Priscilla Bell (31 January 1751 – 12 September 1832) was an English Quaker philanthropist. Her writings cover feminist economics and scientific subjects and include children's non-fiction.Ann B. Shteir, "Wakefield ...
(1751–1832), was a popular author for the young, and one of the introducers of savings banks.
He was the brother of: Catherine Gurney Wakefield (1793–1873) (who was the mother of
Charles Torlesse
Charles Obins Torlesse (2 May 1825 – 14 November 1866) was a prominent surveyor for the Canterbury Association in Canterbury, New Zealand.
Biography
Torlesse was born in Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, England, in 1825. He was the eldest son of ...
(1825–1866));
Daniel Bell Wakefield
Daniel Bell Wakefield (27 February 1798 – 8 January 1858) was born in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, England. He practised law in London and was involved in planning a colony in South Australia. He migrated to New Zealand in 1842 where he served as ...
(1798–1858);
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 ...
(1799–1843);
William Hayward Wakefield
William Hayward Wakefield (1801 – 19 September 1848) was an English colonel, the leader of the first colonising expedition to New Zealand and one of the founders of Wellington. As a leader, he attracted much controversy.
Early life
William W ...
(1801–1848); John Howard Wakefield (1803–1862);
Felix Wakefield
Felix Wakefield (30 November 1807 – 23 December 1875) was an English colonist.
Early life
Felix Wakefield was born in 1807, the seventh child and sixth son of Edward Wakefield (1774–1854), a distinguished surveyor and land agent, and Susa ...
(1807–1875);
Priscilla Susannah Wakefield (1809–1887); Percy Wakefield (1810–1832); and an unnamed child born in 1813.
Wakefield was educated at
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
in London, and
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. He served as a
King's Messenger
The Corps of King's Messengers (or Corps of Queen's Messengers during the reign of a female monarch) are couriers employed by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). They hand-carry secret and important documents to Br ...
, carrying
diplomatic
Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...
mail all about
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
during the later stages of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, both before and after the decisive
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
. In 1816, he eloped with a Miss Eliza Pattle and they were subsequently
married
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
in Edinburgh. It appears to have been a love match, but the fact that she was a wealthy heiress probably played a part, with Edward receiving a marriage
settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
* Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fin ...
of £70,000 (almost US$7m in 2018 dollars), with the prospect of more when Eliza turned twenty-one.
The married couple, accompanied by the bride's mother and various servants, moved to
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, Italy, where Wakefield was again employed in a diplomatic capacity. Here his first child, Susan Priscilla Wakefield, known as Nina, was born in 1817. The household returned to London in 1820 and a second child,
Edward Jerningham Wakefield
Edward Jerningham Wakefield (25 June 1820 – 3 March 1879), known as Jerningham Wakefield, was the only son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. As such, he was closely associated with his father's interest in colonisation. He worked for the New Zealand ...
, was born. Four days later Eliza died, and Edward resigned his post. The two children were brought up by their aunt, Wakefield's older sister, Catherine.
Nina was suffering from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
, and Wakefield took his daughter to
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
in Portugal in the hope of recovery. He employed a young peasant girl, Leocadia de Oliveira, whom he later fostered, to help care for Nina, and after Nina's death in 1835, sent Leocadia on to
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, New Zealand, where she met John Taine and had 13 children.
Although wealthy by contemporary standards, Wakefield was not satisfied. He wished to acquire an
estate and enter
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, for which he lacked sufficient capital. Through deception he wed another wealthy heiress in 1826 when he abducted 15-year-old Ellen Turner, after luring her from school with a false message about her mother's health. Wakefield was brought to trial for the case known as the
Shrigley abduction
The Shrigley abduction was an 1827 British case of a forced marriage by Edward Gibbon Wakefield to the 15-year-old heiress Ellen Turner of Pott Shrigley. The couple were married in Gretna Green, Scotland, and travelled to Calais, France, before Tu ...
in 1827 and, along with his brother William, sentenced to three years in
Newgate prison
Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...
;
the marriage, which had not been
consummated
In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the consummation of a marriage, often called simply ''consummation'', is the first (or first officially credited) act of sexual intercourse between two people, following their marriage t ...
, was dissolved by a special
act of parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
.
He then attempted to overturn his father-in-law's
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
and gain control of the remainder of Eliza's estate. Wakefield emerged from this endeavour unsuccessful and with a reputation tarnished by suspicions that he had resorted to
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
and
perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
to strengthen his case.
He turned his attention while in prison to
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
subjects, and considered the main causes of the slow progress of the
Australian colonies
The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing pol ...
in the enormous size of the
landed estate
In real estate, a landed property or landed estate is a property that generates income for the owner (typically a member of the gentry) without the owner having to do the actual work of the estate.
In medieval Western Europe, there were two compet ...
s, the reckless manner in which land was given away, the absence of all systematic effort at colonisation, and the consequent discouragement of
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
and dearth of
labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
. He proposed to remedy this state of things by the sale of land in small quantities at a sufficient price, and the employment of the proceeds as a fund for promoting immigration. These views were expressed in his ''Letter from Sydney'' (1829), published while he was still in prison, but often quoted as if written on the spot.
After his release Wakefield briefly turned his attention to social questions at home, and produced a tract on the ''Punishment of Death'', with a graphic picture of the condemned sermon in Newgate, and another on the rural districts, with an equally powerful exhibition of the degraded condition of the agricultural labourer. He soon, however, became entirely engrossed with colonial affairs.
South Australia
In 1831, having impressed
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
,
Robert Torrens and other leading economists with the value of his ideas, Wakefield became involved in various schemes to promote the colonisation of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. He believed that many of the social problems in Britain were caused by
overpopulation
Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale m ...
, and he saw emigration to the colonies as a useful safety valve. He set out to design a colonisation scheme with a workable combination of labourers, artisans and capital. The scheme was to be financed by the sale of land to the capitalists who would thereby support the other classes of emigrants.
It took several attempts before the
Province of South Australia was established. Although initially, Wakefield was a driving force, he found that as it came closer to fruition, he was allowed less and less influence, until he was frozen out almost completely, whereupon he took offence and severed his connections with the scheme.
Nonetheless, in 1839 John Hill named the
Wakefield River
The Wakefield River is an ephemeral river that flows to an estuary in the Australian state of South Australia.
Course and features
The river rises above , flowing southward, passing the towns of Watervale and Auburn, where it is fed by severa ...
, a river north of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
in South Australia after Wakefield, which later led to the naming of
Port Wakefield Port Wakefield may refer to.
Australia
*Port Wakefield, South Australia, a town and locality
* Port Wakefield railway line, part of the now-closed Balaklava-Moonta railway line in South Australia
* Port Wakefield Circuit, a former motor racing cir ...
.
Wakefield Street, Adelaide
Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square in the centre of the city, which has a grid street plan. It continues as ...
, was also named after him by the street-naming committee.
America
However, he did not lose interest in colonisation as a tool for
social engineering Social engineering may refer to:
* Social engineering (political science), a means of influencing particular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale
* Social engineering (security), obtaining confidential information by manipulating and/or ...
. In 1833 he published anonymously ''England and America'', a work primarily intended to develop his own colonial theory, which is done in the appendix entitled "The Art of Colonization." The body of the work contains many new ideas, some of them reaching apparently extreme conclusions. It contains the distinct proposal that the transport of
letters
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
should be wholly free, and the prediction that, under given circumstances, the Americans would raise "cheaper
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
than has ever yet been raised".
New Zealand Association
Soon, a new project was under way, the
New Zealand Association
The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
. In 1837 the
Colonial Office
The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...
gave the New Zealand Association a charter to promote settlement in New Zealand. However, they attached conditions that were unacceptable to the members of the Association. After considerable discussion, interest in the project waned. Wakefield was undoubtedly one of the most influential voices in the Association, but he discovered another interest, Canada.
Canada (first time)
The
1837 Rebellion in
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
had been suppressed, but the colony was in turmoil. The Government of
Lord Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...
wanted to send
John George Lambton, Lord Durham to settle the disputes. He and Wakefield had been working together closely on the New Zealand scheme, and he was a convert to Wakefield's colonial theories; the report embodied Wakefield's ideas, and he surreptitiously
leaked it to ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', to prevent the government from tampering with it. Durham was only prepared to accept the task if Wakefield accompanied him as Commissioner of Crown Lands. However, they both knew that Wakefield would be completely unacceptable to the British government, so Durham planned to announce the appointment only after he had reached Canada. Wakefield and his son, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, sailed secretly for Canada in 1838, but before they arrived word had leaked out, and the appointment was forbidden by London. Despite this, Durham retained him as an unofficial representative, advisor and negotiator, giving him effectively the same powers he would have had if he been appointed.
Between them they successfully defused the situation and brought about the
union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
of
Upper and Lower Canada. Since Durham was ill for much of his time in Canada, a great deal of the credit for the success of his mission belongs to his advisers, Wakefield and
Charles Buller
Charles Buller (6 August 1806 – 29 November 1848) was a British barrister, politician and reformer.
Background and education
Born in Calcutta, British India, Buller was the son of Charles Buller (1774–1848), a member of a well-known Corn ...
. Clearly Wakefield had become a capable negotiator. Shortly afterwards political manoeuvring in London made Durham's position untenable, he resigned and they all returned to Britain.
Here Durham went into seclusion while he wrote and then presented to Parliament a
report on his administration. Although their names are not mentioned it seems likely that report was written cooperatively by the three men, Durham, Buller and Wakefield. Eventually this report, and its conclusions, became a blueprint for development of British Colonial policy.
The New Zealand Company
The defunct New Zealand Association reformed itself as the
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
in June 1838. By the end of the year they had purchased a ship, the ''
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
''. Early in 1839 they discovered that although they now complied with the conditions the government had laid down for the old New Zealand Association, it was not prepared to honour its promises. Furthermore, it was actively considering making New Zealand a British Colony in which case land sales would become a government
monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
.
[Garnett, ''Edward Gibbon Wakefield: The Colonization of South Australia and New Zealand'' (1898).]
At a meeting in March 1839, Wakefield was invited to become the director of the New Zealand Company. His philosophy was the same as when he planned his elopements: "Possess yourself of the Soil and you are Secure."
It was decided that the ''Tory'' would sail for New Zealand as soon as possible. His brother
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
was appointed the leader of the expedition with his son Jerningham as his nominal secretary. They had some difficulty finding a suitable captain for the ''Tory'', but then found Edward Main Chaffers who had been
sailing master
The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel. The rank can be equated to a professional seaman and specialist in navigation, rather than as a military ...
on
HMS ''Beagle'' during
Fitzroy's circumnavigation. Dr.
Ernst Dieffenbach
Johann Karl Ernst Dieffenbach (27 January 1811 – 1 October 1855), also known as Ernest Dieffenbach, was a German physician, geologist and naturalist, the first trained scientist to live and work in New Zealand, where he travelled widely under t ...
was appointed as scientific officer, and
Charles Heaphy
Charles Heaphy VC (1820 – 3 August 1881) was an English-born New Zealand explorer and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that could be awarded to British and Empire forc ...
as a draughtsman. The ''Tory'' left London on 5 May and called at
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
to complete the fitting out. Fearing a last-minute attempt by the government to prevent her sailing, Wakefield hastened down to Plymouth and advised their immediate departure. The ''Tory'' finally quit English shores on 12 May 1839 and reached New Zealand 96 days later.
Wakefield did not sail with the colonists, and many years were to pass before he saw New Zealand. He may have recognised that he did not have the patience, the skills or the talents needed on a frontier. His talents lay in visualising dramatic plans and grandiose schemes, ignoring the details, and then persuading other people to get involved. He was a salesman, a propagandist and a politician, secretly inspiring and guiding many parliamentary committees on colonial subjects, especially on the abolition of
penal transportation
Penal transportation or transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their ...
.
By the end of 1839, he had dispatched eight more ships to New Zealand, before he even knew of the success of the ''Tory'' expedition led by his brother William. He then recruited another brother,
Arthur
Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...
, to lead another expedition, this time to settle in the
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 ...
area at the top of the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
. Charles Torlesse, the 16-year-old son of his elder sister Catherine, and Rev. Charles Martin Torlesse, rector of
Stoke-by-Nayland
Stoke-by-Nayland is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England, close to the border with Essex. The parish includes the village of Withermarsh Green and the hamlets of Thorington Street and Scotland S ...
in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, sailed with Arthur as a trainee surveyor. By now William's daughter, Emily, and his ward, Leocadia, were already in New Zealand. Two more of his brothers also went to New Zealand later, along with numerous nieces and nephews.
Canada (second time)
While active with the New Zealand Company, Wakefield had maintained his interest in Canadian affairs. He was involved with the
North American Colonial Association of Ireland (NACAI). At his instigation, the NACAI were trying to purchase a large estate just outside
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
where they wanted to establish another colonial settlement. Wakefield pushed the scheme with his usual energy; apparently, the government did not object in principle, but they strenuously objected to Wakefield having any part of it.
However, trusted or not by the politicians, Wakefield was involved in the scheme. The NACAI sent him back to Canada as their representative; he arrived in Montreal in January 1842 and stayed in Canada for about a year. At this stage, Canada was still coming to terms with the union of Upper and Lower Canada. There were serious differences between the
French and English Canadians, with the English Canadians holding the political clout. Wakefield skilfully manipulated these differences; it was fairly easy for him to get the support of the French Canadians. By the end of that year he had got himself elected to the
Canadian Parliament
The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
. Having been elected, he immediately returned to Britain.
He returned to Canada in 1843 and spent some months there. In the parliamentary session of 1843 he initially aligned himself with the French-Canadian group, but part-way through the session he left them and supported the Governor on an important vote. However, when he heard of his brother Arthur's death at 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 ...
, he immediately quit Canada and never returned. This appears to be the end of his involvement with Canadian affairs, apart from being paid about £20,000 by the NACAI for his work in Canada.
Later life
Wakefield returned to England in early 1844 to find the New Zealand Company under serious attack from the Colonial Office. He threw himself into the campaign to save his project. In August 1844 he had a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
, followed in later months by several other minor strokes, and he had to retire. There is also a possibility that his
mental health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...
was not too sound in the succeeding months. His son Jerningham returned from New Zealand about this time and cared for him. In August 1845 he went to France to recuperate and to give himself a break from New Zealand affairs. It did not serve his purpose and he returned to London two months later in a semi-invalid state. During his convalescence he wrote his book ''A View of the Art of Colonization'', in the form of letters between a "Statesman" and a "Colonist".
By January 1846 Wakefield was back to his scheming. By now
Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
was Colonial Secretary. Wakefield approached him early in the New Year with a fairly radical plan that both the Government and the New Zealand Company should withdraw from New Zealand affairs and the colony should become self-governing. While it might have been a good idea, Wakefield wanted it accepted immediately, and became at first heated and then distressed when some months later, it was still being considered.
In August 1846, he had another, potentially fatal stroke. His friend,
Charles Buller
Charles Buller (6 August 1806 – 29 November 1848) was a British barrister, politician and reformer.
Background and education
Born in Calcutta, British India, Buller was the son of Charles Buller (1774–1848), a member of a well-known Corn ...
took up the negotiations. In May 1847 the British Government agreed to take over the debts of the New Zealand Company and to buy out their interests in the Colony. The directors readily accepted the offer. Wakefield found he was powerless and unable to influence the decision, which did not please him.
Without notice, his youngest brother
Felix Wakefield
Felix Wakefield (30 November 1807 – 23 December 1875) was an English colonist.
Early life
Felix Wakefield was born in 1807, the seventh child and sixth son of Edward Wakefield (1774–1854), a distinguished surveyor and land agent, and Susa ...
, who had been in
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
since the early 1830s, reappeared in England accompanied by eight of his children, having abandoned his wife and youngest child in Australia. Felix had no money and no prospects and was unable to provide for his family. Wakefield found him somewhere to live and farmed out the children among relatives, but it was another year before his health was strong enough to take over the role of surrogate father, Felix being apparently unable to do anything for his family.
Meanwhile, Wakefield was getting involved in a new scheme. He was working with
John Robert Godley
John Robert Godley (29 May 1814 – 17 November 1861) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and bureaucrat. Godley is considered to be the founder of Canterbury, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years.
Early life
Godley was born in Dubli ...
to promote a new settlement in New Zealand, this one to be sponsored by the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
. This plan matured to become the
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
Settlement. The first ship sailed from England in December 1849 with Godley in command of the expedition. Jerningham Wakefield also sailed with them, his health and finances ruined by his dissipated lifestyle in London. The
first immigrant ships bound for Canterbury sailed from
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
in September 1850, and others followed.
In the same year, Wakefield co-founded the
Colonial Reform Society with
Charles Adderley, a landowner and member of parliament for
North Staffordshire
The federation of Stoke-on-Trent was the 1910 amalgamation of the six Staffordshire Potteries towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Fenton and Longton into the single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. An anomaly in the history ...
.
Felix was causing problems back in Britain and causing Wakefield a great deal of grief. Felix decided that settlement in New Zealand was the solution to all his problems. Wakefield reluctantly sponsored his passage to Canterbury, where Felix was allocated (40 hectares) of land near
Sumner
Sumner may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica
* Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica
Australia
* Sumner, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane
New Zealand
* Sumner, New Zealand, seaside sub ...
. He and six of his children arrived in
Lyttelton in November 1851. A short time later one of the other settlers described him as "the worst man we have in Canterbury".
During 1851 and 1852 Wakefield continued to work for the
Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch. ...
and also worked towards making New Zealand a
self-governing colony
In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast to a ...
. The
New Zealand Constitution Act was passed on 30 June 1852. There was general satisfaction among New Zealanders about this, although they were less happy to discover that the new government was to be saddled with the remaining debts of the defunct New Zealand Company.
Wakefield now decided that he had achieved everything he could in England; it was time to see the colony he felt he had created. He sailed from Plymouth in September 1852, knowing he would never return. His sister Catherine and her son Charley came to see him off. Then, at the last minute, his father appeared. Edward Wakefield was now 78 years old; he and Wakefield had not spoken since the Ellen Turner abduction 26 years before. They were reconciled, and the elder Edward died two years later.
Wakefield's niece, Alice Mary Wakefield, who had cared for him since his 1846 stroke, continued to look after him until his death in Wellington in 1862.
Wakefield in New Zealand
![Edward Gibbon Wakefield bust](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Edward_Gibbon_Wakefield_bust.jpg)
The ship arrived at
Port Lyttelton on 2 February 1853. Wakefield had travelled with
Henry Sewell
Henry Sewell (7 September 1807 – 14 May 1879) was a prominent 19th-century New Zealand politician. He was a notable campaigner for New Zealand self-government, and is generally regarded as having been the country's first premier (an office th ...
who had been deputy chairman and full-time manager of the Canterbury Association. It seems likely that he expected to be welcomed as a founding father of the colony; to be feted and immediately asked to assume the leadership of colony. However, colonisation had inevitably changed the perspectives of the people of Canterbury. Many of them felt they had been let down and cheated by the Association, and the two arrivals were firmly linked in their minds with the broken promises and disappointments of the Association.
James Edward FitzGerald, who was one of the leaders of Canterbury, and who was elected as
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of the
Canterbury Province
The Canterbury Province was a Provinces of New Zealand, province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch.
History
Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Assoc ...
a few months later (in July 1853),
declined to meet with Wakefield for some days and certainly was unwilling to relinquish control to someone he probably saw as a tainted politician from London.
Within a very short time Wakefield was completely disenchanted with Canterbury. He claimed the citizens were far too parochial in their outlook; they were far more concerned with domestic issues rather than national politics. Clearly they were not worthy of Edward Gibbon Wakefield and after only one month he left Canterbury and sailed for
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
.
There was enough political ferment in Wellington to satisfy even Wakefield. Governor
George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...
had just proclaimed self-government for New Zealand, but it was a watered down version, significantly less "self-government" than was described in the New Zealand Constitution Act of the year before. In his own way George Grey was every bit as unscrupulous as Wakefield, and he had very firm ideas on what was good for New Zealand. They were not necessarily bad ideas, but they were different from Wakefield's. It seems likely that even before they met both men knew they would clash.
When they arrived in Wellington, Wakefield declined to go ashore until he knew he was going to be properly received by the Governor. Grey promptly left town. Sewell went ashore and met with various dignitaries including
Daniel Bell Wakefield
Daniel Bell Wakefield (27 February 1798 – 8 January 1858) was born in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, England. He practised law in London and was involved in planning a colony in South Australia. He migrated to New Zealand in 1842 where he served as ...
, another of the brothers who had been in Wellington for some years practising law and was Attorney General of the Province. He also managed to get an address of welcome for Wakefield, written by
Isaac Featherston
Isaac Earl Featherston (21 March 1813 – 19 June 1876) was a New Zealand politician, and was known for his advocacy for the establishment of New Zealand self-government, and the importance of the provincial governments.
Early life and family
...
and signed by many of the citizens.
Wakefield went on the attack almost as soon as he landed. He took issue with George Grey on his policy on land sales. Grey was in favour of selling land very cheaply to encourage the flow of settlers. Wakefield wanted to keep the price of land high so that the growth of the colony could be financed by land sales; it was a fundamental tenet of his colonial theory. He and Sewell applied for an injunction to prevent the Commissioner of Crown Lands selling any further lands under Governor Grey's regulations. The Crown Commissioner was Wakefield's second cousin, Francis Dillon Bell, early New Zealand really was a Wakefield family business.
Within a month of arriving in Wellington, Wakefield began a campaign in London to have him recalled not knowing he had already applied to leave the colony. Meanwhile, Grey was in control. He responded to the attacks on him by questioning Wakefield's integrity, always an easy target. Particularly he focussed on the generous fees that had been paid to Wakefield as a Director of the New Zealand Company at a time when it was reneging on its debts in New Zealand. This served to remind the people of Wellington just how badly they had been let down by the company and how angry they felt about it. Wakefield managed to clear himself of the actual charges, but a great deal of dirt was thrown around.
Member of Parliament
![Edward Gibbon Wakefield c1850-60](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Edward_Gibbon_Wakefield_c1850-60.jpg)
Elections for the
Wellington Provincial Council
Wellington Province, governed by the Wellington Provincial Council, was one of the provinces of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. It covered much of the southern half of the North Island until November ...
and
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
, the national parliament, were held in August 1853. Wakefield stood for the
Hutt electorate, and to the surprise of some, and the disappointment of others, he was elected to both the
Provincial Council and the General Assembly.
The first sitting of the Provincial Assembly was in October 1853. Wakefield was not only the senior member but also clearly the most experienced politically. However, the Assembly was controlled by the Constitutional Party led by Dr.
Isaac Featherston
Isaac Earl Featherston (21 March 1813 – 19 June 1876) was a New Zealand politician, and was known for his advocacy for the establishment of New Zealand self-government, and the importance of the provincial governments.
Early life and family
...
and they had been heavily involved in the recent criticism of his integrity. Working in opposition, Wakefield probably made certain that the Provincial Assembly became a working democracy rather than a Constitutional Party
oligarchy
Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...
. His wide knowledge of parliamentary law and custom made certain that the body of the assembly could not be ignored by the ruling party.
Early in 1854 the town of Wellington held a Founder's Festival. Three hundred people attended including sixty
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
and all the Wakefields. The principal toast of the evening was to: "The original founders of the Colony and Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield." Whatever the vicissitudes of the last few months, it confirmed Wakefield as one of the leading political figures of colony, possibly the only one with stature to take on Governor Grey.
Responsible Government conflict
Grey was gone and Colonel
Robert Wynyard
Robert Henry Wynyard (24 December 1802 – 6 January 1864) was a New Zealand colonial administrator, serving at various times as Lieutenant Governor of New Ulster Province, Administrator of the Government, and was the first Superintendent o ...
was acting as Governor. Wynyard opened the
1st New Zealand Parliament
The 1st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 24 May 1854, following New Zealand's first general election (held the previous year). It was dissolved on 15 September 1855 in preparation for that year's ...
on 27 May 1854. Wakefield and James Fitzgerald each immediately began manoeuvering for positions of influence, with Wakefield moving a motion for Parliament to appoint its own
responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...
s (Ministers of the Crown). Wakefield took a position supporting Wynyard, while FitzGerald took an opposite tack. The dispute over responsible government dragged on. As a compromise, on 7 June, Wynyard appointed James FitzGerald to the
Executive Council. Wakefield was not asked to form a part of the ministry.
By July 1854 FitzGerald was in serious conflict with Wynyard; FitzGerald's Executive Council (cabinet) resigned on 2 August 1854. Wakefield was summoned to form a government; he refused to do so. He said instead that he would advise Wynyard, so long as he acted on his advice alone. In effect, he sought to turn Wynyard into his own puppet. He did not have a majority of supporters in the house, and the assembly was paralysed. Wynyard
prorogued
A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections ...
parliament on 17 August,
but he had to recall it again by the end of the month when he needed money to run the country. The new ministry, headed by
Thomas Forsaith
Thomas Spencer Forsaith, JP (18 July 1814 – 29 November 1898), was a New Zealand politician and an Auckland draper. According to some historians, he was the country's second premier, although a more conventional view states that neither he nor ...
, composed mainly of Wakefield's supporters and it was soon clear that he was the ''de facto'' head of the ministry. However, they failed to survive an early vote of no confidence, and New Zealand's second government collapsed on 2 September 1854. In the remaining two weeks of the Assembly's life they managed to pass some useful legislation before they were dismissed and
new elections called.
![Edward Gibbon Wakefield grave](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Edward_Gibbon_Wakefield_grave.jpg)
Wakefield held two election meetings for his constituents in the Hutt Valley, which were well received. A third meeting was scheduled but never happened. On the night of 5 December 1855, Wakefield fell ill with
rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...
and
neuralgia
Neuralgia (Greek ''neuron'', "nerve" + ''algos'', "pain") is pain in the distribution of one or more nerves, as in intercostal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia.
Classification
Under the general heading of neuralg ...
. He retired to his house in Wellington. He retired from the Hutt seat on 15 September 1855 and retired from all political activity, making no more public appearances. He lived for another seven years, but his political life was over.
Legacy
He is mentioned and criticised in Chapter 33 of
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's ''
Das Kapital
''Das Kapital'', also known as ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' or sometimes simply ''Capital'' (german: Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie, link=no, ; 1867–1883), is a foundational theoretical text in Historical mater ...
''(Volume 1) and similarly in
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
's
''How to Help the Unemployed''.
By the turn of the twenty-first century, the direct descendants of the Wakefield family left in New Zealand were William Wakefield Lawrence Clague resident in
Kapiti Kapiti or Kāpiti may refer to:
*Kapiti Island, an island a short distance off the New Zealand coast north of Wellington
*Kapiti Coast District, the local government district which includes much of the Kapiti Coast
*Kapiti Coast Airport, an airport ...
, and descendants of Edward's sister Catherine Gurney Wakefield who married Charles Torlesse. A great-great-nephew of William and Edward Gibbon Wakefield, William Clague, is the great-great-grandson of John Howard Wakefield, one of the original brothers. John Howard Wakefield spent most of his life in India, ending his days back in England unlike his two better-known siblings.
Some Wellington Councillors have called for Wakefield monuments to be removed.
The
Wakefield River
The Wakefield River is an ephemeral river that flows to an estuary in the Australian state of South Australia.
Course and features
The river rises above , flowing southward, passing the towns of Watervale and Auburn, where it is fed by severa ...
, a river north of Adelaide, was named after Wakefield in 1839.
This later led to the naming of
Port Wakefield Port Wakefield may refer to.
Australia
*Port Wakefield, South Australia, a town and locality
* Port Wakefield railway line, part of the now-closed Balaklava-Moonta railway line in South Australia
* Port Wakefield Circuit, a former motor racing cir ...
, and
Wakefield Street, Adelaide
Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square in the centre of the city, which has a grid street plan. It continues as ...
, was also named after him by the street-naming committee.
Bibliography
''How to Help the Unemployed'' by
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
in The North American Review, Volume 158, Issue 447, February 1894.
*''Adventure in New Zealand'' by Edward Jerningham Wakefield, John Murray, 1845
*''An Account of the Settlements of the New Zealand Company'' by The Hon HW Petre, Smith, Elder and Co, 1842.
''A View of the Art of Colonization''by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, 1849.
last chapter in Karl Marx's ''Capital, Vol I'' focused on Wakefield's theory.
*''Facts Relating to the Punishment of Death in the Metropolis'' by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, James Ridgway, 1831.
Notes
Further reading
*
* Ashby, Abby and Audrey Jones. ''The Shrigley Abduction'' by 2003
* Burns, Patricia. ''Fatal Success: A History of the New Zealand Company'' (Heinemann Reed, 2002)
*
* Fairburn, Miles (1990):
* Fardy, Bernard D. ''William Epps Cormack, Newfoundland Pioneer'' 1985 page 46–48 section describing ''The Wakefield Scheme''.
* Foster, Bernard John (1966
''The Wakefield Myth''in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
*
* Garnett, Richard. ''Edward Gibbon Wakefield: The Colonization of South Australia and New Zealand'' (Longmans, Green & Company, 1898)
online* Hamilton, Reg. ''Colony : strange origins of one of the earliest modern democracies'' (2010
online* Hastings, W. K. "The Wakefield colonisation plan and constitutional development in South Australia, Canada and New Zealand." ''Journal of Legal History'' 11.2 (1990): 279–299.
* Henning, Jon "New Zealand: An Antipodean Exception to Master and Servant Rules," ''New Zealand Journal of History'' (2007) 41#1 pp 62–82
* Johnston, H.J.M. (1976):
* Kondo, Takahiro. ''Edward Gibbon Wakefield on Colonial Government and Patronage'' (Annals of the Society for the History of Economic Thought (Keizaigakushi Gakkai Nempo), 1989)
online
* Langley, Michael. "Wakefield and South Australia." ''History Today'' (Oct 1969), Vol. 19 Issue 10, pp 704–712; online.
* Mills, Richard Charles. ''The colonization of Australia (1829–42): the Wakefield experiment in empire building'' (1915)
online* Morrell, William Parker (1966
"Wakefield, Edward Gibbon"in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
* Olssen, Erik. "Mr. Wakefield and New Zealand as an Experiment in Post-Enlightenment Experimental Practice," ''New Zealand Journal of History'' (1997) 31#2 pp 197–218.
* Stuart, Peter Alan. ''Edward Gibbon Wakefield in New Zealand: His Political Career, 1853-4'' (Victoria University Press, 1971).
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, Edward Gibbon
1796 births
1862 deaths
Burials at Bolton Street Cemetery
People from the British Empire
Classical economists
Immigration to New Zealand
Members of the Wellington Provincial Council
Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand MPs for Hutt Valley electorates
Civil servants from London
English emigrants to New Zealand
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...
19th-century New Zealand politicians
Advocates of colonization
Criminals from London
British economists