Wakefield, Edward Gibbon (1796-1862), was a British colonial reformer and the pioneer of planned settlement in New Zealand. He attacked the system of settling Australia with convicts and claimed that the government should take more responsibility for settling colonies.
Early life.
Wakefield was born on March 20, 1796, in London, where members of his family were prominent Quakers. He showed at an early age that he had an able mind but an unstable character. He was convicted in 1827 of persuading a young heiress to elope with him and was held in Newgate jail until 1830.
Theories of colonization.
During his imprisonment, Wakefield studied colonization. This subject became his lifelong interest. He examined past attempts at colonization and the reasons they failed. He published his conclusions in a book, A Letter from Sydney, while in prison.
Wakefield urged that emigrants should be young people of good character who represented a cross section of British life. He felt that land should not be given away or sold too cheaply, but that proceeds from the sale of land should go toward churches and schools for the settlement. Some of Wakefield’s ideas were carried out when British settlers landed in South Australia.
Colonization of New Zealand.
Wakefield believed that New Zealand would be the best place to apply his theories. In 1837, missionaries and the colonial office opposed him. In 1838, Wakefield joined the staff of Lord Durham, the governor general of Canada. Wakefield influenced the ideas on land reform in Lord Durham’s report.
In 1837, Wakefield formed the New Zealand Association to promote his plans for British colonization of the country. In 1839, Wakefield reorganized the association and renamed it the New Zealand Company.
Wakefield’s ideas led to the foundation of the settlements of Wellington and Wanganui in 1840, New Plymouth in 1841, and Nelson in 1842. The New Zealand Company, with Wakefield as its agent, supervised the settlements.
Many people bought land in the colony to sell later at a higher price. These absentee speculators had no intention of settling in the colonies. They bought nearly three-fifths of the land sold by the company in Wellington and four-fifths in Nelson. Wakefield invested 1,000 pounds in land in the colony.
Arrival in New Zealand.
From 1841 to 1844, Wakefield lived in Canada. He then returned to the United Kingdom and began work with the company. In 1846, he became ill from overwork. In 1847, Wakefield and John Robert Godley began a colonizing venture for the formation of a Church of England settlement in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Canterbury Association founded the settlement in 1850, largely with Wakefield’s help.
In 1853, Wakefield settled in Wellington. He became a member of the Wellington provincial council and of the first Parliament. By 1857, his failing health forced him to retire from public life.
