Gibbon Wakefield

Edward Gibbon Wakefield

(born March 20, 1796, London, Eng.—died May 16, 1862, Wellington, N.Z.) British colonizer of South Australia and New Zealand. After viewing the problems of the penal system, including the forcible removal of convicts to British colonies, he wrote A Letter from Sydney (1829) and proposed colonization by the sale of small landholdings to ordinary citizens. He influenced the founding of South Australia as a nonconvict settlement. As organizer and manager of the New Zealand Company (1838–58), he sent colonists to settle New Zealand and forced the British government to recognize the colony. As an adviser to the earl of Durham, he influenced the report that led to the union of Upper and Lower Canada. He founded a Church of England settlement at Canterbury, N.Z. (1847).

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield

Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March, 1796 – May 16, 1862) was the driving force behind much of the early colonization of South Australia, and later New Zealand. Wakefield, who in 1816 married Eliza Pattle (1799 – 1820), was the eldest son of Edward Wakefield (1774 – 1854) and Susanna Crash (1767 – 1816). He is mentioned and criticised in Chapter 33 of Karl Marx's Das Kapital (Volume 1).

Early life

Born in London, Great Britain, in 1796, Wakefield was educated in London and Edinburgh. He served as a King's Messenger, carrying diplomatic mail all about Europe during the later stages of the Napoleonic Wars, both before and after the decisive Battle of Waterloo. In the year 1816 he ran-off-with a Miss Eliza Pattle and they were subsequently married in Edinburgh. It appears to have been a "love match", but no doubt the fact that she was a wealthy heiress did "sweeten the pot". Mr. Wakefield eventually received a marriage settlement of seventy-thousand pounds, with the prospect of more when Eliza turned twenty-nine.

The now married couple, accompanied by the bride's mother and various servants, moved to Genoa where Mr. Wakefield was again employed in a diplomatic capacity. Here his first child, Nina, was born in 1817. The household returned to London in 1820 and a second child, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, was born. Four days later Eliza died and the two children were thereafter brought up by their aunt, Mr. Wakefield's older sister, Catherine.

Although wealthy by contemporary standards, Mr. Wakefield was not satisfied. He wished to acquire an estate and enter Parliament, for this Mr. Wakefield needed more capital. He managed almost to wed yet another wealthy heiress but that fell through. He then attempted to overturn his father-in-law's will and get his hands on the remainder of his dead wife's money. This did not work either and, in fact, the entire affair did a lot to tarnish his reputation - there were strong suspicions that in order to strengthen his case he had resorted first, to forgery and then, perjury, although no charges were ever then brought to a trial.

Scandal and prison

On March 7, 1826, assisted by his brother William, he abducted Ellen Turner, the fifteen year old daughter of a wealthy family. They fled to Scotland where the couple were married at Gretna Green, Scottish law being considerably laxer than English law in this respect. They then went over to Calais, France to await results. Wakefield was hoping that in the interests of avoiding a scandal the girl's family would accept the marriage as a fait accompli. This was not the case.

When her family caught up with her the girl was very ready to return to her father's care. Her family had no wish to avoid any scandal, rather they wanted to make the whole matter public and destroy the reputation of the Wakefield clan. Wakefield and his brother William were both arrested as was their stepmother, who had participated in the early planning of the escapade. A very public trial followed. The stepmother was acquitted, Wakefield and his brother were both sentenced to three years imprisonment. Wakefield was lucky; he only just escaped hanging.

Wakefield served his time in Newgate Prison, one of the most notorious in the country. Being relatively wealthy, he was able to have a fairly comfortable life despite his confinement. Among his visitors during this period were his sister Catherine and her cousin, Elizabeth Fry. He emerged from prison committed and active in the cause of Prison reform. In 1831 he was giving evidence to a Parliamentary Select Committee enquiring into prison conditions. From this his interests expanded and he became involved in various schemes for social improvement.

However his name and his reputation were severely tarnished, and Wakefield soon discovered that he had very little influence with the Government.

South Australia

In 1831 Wakefield became involved in various schemes to promote the colonization of South Australia. He believed that many of the social problems in Britain were caused by overcrowding and overpopulation and he saw emigration to the colonies as a useful safety valve. He set out to design a good colonization scheme, one 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.

The South Australia colony took several attempts to get going. Although initially Wakefield was a driving force he found that as it came closer to reality he was allowed less and less influence. Eventually he was frozen out almost completely whereupon he took offence and severed his connections with the scheme. It was during this period that his daughter, Nina, died. He had taken her to Lisbon hoping the warmer climate would improve her health. This also meant that he was away from the scene of negotiations for several months.

However he didn't lose interest in colonization as a tool for social engineering and a new project was soon under way, the New Zealand Association.

In 1837 the Colonial Office 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 and he had discovered another interest, Canada.

Canada

The 1837 Rebellion in Lower Canada had been suppressed but the colony was in turmoil. The government of Lord Melbourne wanted to send John George Lambton, Lord Durham to sort it out. He and Wakefield had been working together closely on the New Zealand scheme, he was a convert to Wakefield's colonial theories. Durham was only prepared to accept the task if Wakefield would accompany him as Commissioner of Crown Lands. However they both knew that Wakefield would be completely unacceptable to the British Government and so Durham was going 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 had he been appointed.

Between them they successfully defused the situation and brought about the union 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. 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 in cooperation by the three men, Durham, Buller and Wakefield. Eventually this report and its conclusions became a blue print for development of British Colonial policy.

The New Zealand Company

The defunct NZ Association reformed itself as the New Zealand Company in June 1838. By the end of the year they had purchased a ship, the Tory. Early in 1839 they discovered that although they now complied with the conditions the Government had laid down for the old New Zealand Association the government 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.

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. Brother William was appointed leader of the expedition with son Edward Jerningham as his nominal secretary. They had some difficulty finding a suitable captain for the Tory but then found Edward's Main Chaffers who had been sailing master on the HMS Beagle during its circumnavigation. Dr Ernst Dieffenbach was appointed as scientific officer and Charles Heaphy as a draughtsman. The Tory left London on 5 May and called at 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 ninety six days later.

Wakefield did not sail with the colonists, many years were to pass before he saw New Zealand. Probably he also recognized that he did not have the patience, the skills or the talents needed on a frontier. His talents lay in visualizing dramatic plans and grandiose schemes and then persuading other people to get involved. He was not even a good organizer as he tended to ignore the details. He was a salesman, a propagandist and a politician.

By the end of 1839 he had dispatched eight more ships to New Zealand, before he even knew of the success of the Brother William and the Tory expedition. He then recruited his brother, Arthur to lead another expedition, this time to settle in the Nelson area at the top of the South Island. Catherine Wakefield's son, Charlie Torlesse, sailed with Arthur. By now William's daughter, Emily and his ward, Liocadia, were already in New Zealand. Two more of his brothers would also eventually go to New Zealand along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Canada again

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 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.

But 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 skillfully 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. It is perhaps typical of Wakefield that, having been elected, he immediately returned to Britain and never took up his seat.

He went back to Canada in 1843 and spent some months there. However when he heard of his brother Arthur's death at the Wairau Affray, he immediately quit Canada and never returned. This appears to be the end of his involvement with Canadian affairs except that he was paid about twenty thousand pounds by the NACAI for his work in Canada.

Final years in Britain

Wakefield returned to England early in 1844 to find the New Zealand Company under serious attack from the Colonial Office. As usual he threw himself into the campaign to save his project. Then in August, 1844, he had a stroke followed in the months ahead by several other minor strokes and he had to retire from the struggle, there is also a possibility that his mental health was not too sound in the succeeding months. Fortunately his son, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, returned from New Zealand about this time and was on hand to care for him. In August, 1845 he went to France to recuperate and to give himself a complete break from New Zealand affairs. However it did not serve his purpose and he returned to London two months later in a semi-invalid state.

By January 1846 Wakefield was back to his scheming. By now Gladstone 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.

Then during August 1846 he had another, potentially fatal stroke. His friend, Charles Buller 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 accepted the offer with alacrity and Wakefield found he was powerless and unable to influence the decision, which did not please him.

Perhaps fortunately he almost immediately had a distraction. Without warning his youngest brother Felix, who had been in Tasmania 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 various 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 to promote a new settlement in New Zealand, this one to be sponsored by the Church of England. This plan matured to become the Canterbury Settlement. The first ship sailed from England in December, 1849 with Robert Godley in command of the expedition. With them also sailed Edward Jerningham Wakefield, his health and finances ruined by his dissipated life style in London. Then the first immigrant ships sailed from Plymouth in September, 1850, bound for Canterbury and others followed.

In the same year, 1850, Wakefield co-founded the Colonial Reform Society with Charles Adderley, a landowner and member of parliament for Staffordshire.

Brother Felix was causing problems back in Britain and causing Wakefield a great deal of grief. Perhaps fortunately Felix decided that settlement in New Zealand was the solution to all his problems, not realising that he created most of them himself. Reluctantly Wakefield sponsored his passage to Canterbury where he was allocated of land (40 hectares) near Sumner. He and six of his children arrived in Lyttelton in November 1851. A short time later one of other settlers described him as "the worst man we have in Canterbury".

During 1851 and 1852 Wakefield continued to work for the Canterbury Association and also to work towards making New Zealand a self-governing colony. 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 every thing 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 twenty six years before. However they were reconciled, and the elder Edward died two years later.

Wakefield in New Zealand

The ship arrived at Port Lyttelton in 2 February 1853. Wakefield had travelled with Henry Sewell 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 colonization 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.

Additionally the Colony already had a leader, James Edward Fitzgerald, who declined to meet with Wakefield for some days and certainly was not willing 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.

There was enough political ferment in Wellington to satisfy even Wakefield. Governor George Grey had just proclaimed self government for New Zealand but it was a watered down version of it, significantly less "self-government" than was describe 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 up with various dignitaries including Daniel Bell Wakefield, 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 Featherstone 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. Unfortunately 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 was leading the attacks on George Grey, they 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

Elections for the Provincial Councils and General Assembly, the national parliament were scheduled for August 1853. Wakefield stood in the Hutt Valley and to the surprise of some and the disappointment of others he was successfully 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 experiences politically however the Assembly was controlled by the Constitutional Party led by Dr Isaac Featherstone 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 Constitutional Party oligarchy. 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 Maori 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

But Grey was gone and Colonel Robert Wynyard was acting as Governor. Wynyard opened the 1st New Zealand Parliament on the 27 May 1855. Wakefield and James Fitzgerald immediately began manoeuvring for positions of influence, with Wakefield moving a motion for Parliament to appoint its own responsible governments (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, Wynyard appointed James Fitzgerald on 7 June to the Executive Council. Wakefield was not asked to form a part of the ministry.

By July the Fitzgerald was in serious conflict with Wynyard and resigned. Wakefield was sent for to form a government but he refused to do so. He said instead that he would advise the Wynyard, so long as he acted on his advice alone. In effect he sought to turn Wynyard into his own puppet. However he did not have a majority of supporters in the house and the assembly was paralysed. It was prorogued by Wynyard 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 was 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. Fitzgerald and his team returned to office. 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.

Wakefield began electioneering in grand style. He was always able to move people with his speeches. He held two election meetings for his constituents in the Hutt Valley which were well received. A third meeting was scheduled but it never happened. On the night of 5 December 1855, Wakefield fell ill with rheumatic fever and neuralgia. He retired to his house in Wellington. He retired from all political activity and made no more public appearances although he lived on for another seven years. His political life, his real life, was over.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield died in Wellington on May 16, 1862.