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Edward Gibbon Wakefield's New Zealand Land Company
established settlements at
New Plymouth (1841)
and to some degree Otago (1848)
and Canterbury (1850).
Wakefield, a tireless propagandist, plan was for systemic colonization of New Zealand by careful selection of colonists in proportions reproducing the rank and degree of rural English society, without paupers, and the fixed and uniform price of land. Land was the keystone of the Wakefield system. Advertisements in Great Britain attracted applicants from various social classes. NZ Co. embarkation registers of assisted emigrants (1839-1844, 1847-1850) are indexed at Archives New Zealand and the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Colonise New Zealand
Preserve and civilise the nation
Land to be sold at a uniform price - might be sold either in England or NZ
A proportion of the purchase money was to be devoted to local improvements, remainder to form an emigration fund
Ordinary revenue of the colony to be raised by taxation
To initiate the project a large loan was to be raised
The New Zealand Land Company was formed and announced to the British Government of their intention to colonise New Zealand. An expedition in charge of Col. William Wakefield set sail from Plymouth in the 'Tory', a 382 ton ship, 15 May 1839 without proper Government authority. This and certain French claims hastened the Government to send a representative to N.Z. to establish British rule. Hobson summoned as many Maori chiefs, with the help of the missionaries as interpreters, to Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed 6th February 1840. The chiefs ceded their land to Great Britain in return guaranteed protection as British subjects. By 1846 the NZ Land Company found itself in financial difficulties and E.G. Wakefield ceased to be the managing director and in 1852 the company ceded all rights to the crown.
The 'Tory' was laden with NZ Co. officials, settlers, Jerningham Wakefield, son of E.G.W. and Col. W'm. Wakefield with instructions to buy land on the shores of Cook Strait from the Maoris. Another passenger was Charles Heaphy, the artist. Land was purchased. The 'Cuba' , 273 ton barque, carrying Capt. William N. Smith, surveyor and a survey party arrived at Port Nicholson 4 Jan. 1840 followed by the 'Aurora' , 22nd Jan. 1840, the first emigrant ship. The township of Wellington was named in honour of the Battle of Waterloo hero. By 1841 confusion reigned regarding land titles and hostilities increased. "Tory diary, 1839" by W'm Wakefield is at the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
April 4 1843 The New Zealand Colonists
'Before sitting down Mr Hanson (newspaper man} would beg to draw attention to one individual, but for whose exertion this colony (Wellington) would never have had an existence- Mr Edward Gibbon Wakefield. It had been his fortune to have been associated with that gentleman for a period of nine years. Although he could not say that the "Wakefield System," would accomplish all that was desired and anticipated, yet it was so superior in theory and practice to any thing of the kind ever before offered to the world.'
The Plymouth Co. of NZ was formed as a branch of the NZ Land Co. and purchased 60,000 acres from the original company. 532 emigrants sailed for New Plymouth August 1840 to January. 1841. Labourers of good character were taken out for free and persons buying land to the value of �300 received back 25% of the passage fare.
People wanted to come out to NZ as there was a lack of decent jobs, wages were low and housing conditions were dreadful in the UK. Captain Arthur Wakefield, R.N. single, age 42, was sent out as NZ Co. Agent for Nelson with assistants and surveyors to establish another settlement so he selected the area that was to become Nelson, named after the British naval hero. Wakefield accompanied by his nephew Charley Torlesse arrived on the 'Whitby', bark, London to Port Nicholson 5 Feb. 1841 then on to Nelson 18 Sept. with a survey party. Arthur's diary is at the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. The brig 'Arrow' and the barque 'Will Watch' were part of the party. After his 1843 death in the 'Wairau massacre' he was succeeded by Fox (later Sir William Fox, premier for NZ)
Frederick Tuckett, the surveyor for Nelson was sent by the company on a scouting expedition in 1844 to select another settlement and selected Otago Harbour. In 1845 144,600 acres in Otago was purchased from the NZ Land Co. by the Free Church of Scotland and settlers began arriving in March 1848.
Edward Gibbon Wakefield and J.R. Godley formed the Canterbury Association to establish an Anglican settlement on the
Canterbury plains with Port Cooper, later renamed Lyttelton, the port of entry.
Wakefield sent Captain J. Thomas as chief surveyor and leader of the Associations
preliminary expedition with two assistants, Thomas Cass and Charles Torlesse (nephew of E.
G.W.) to select, survey and prepare a site for the proposed settlement.
Catherine a sister to E.G. Wakefield. Catherine Gurney Wakefield d/o Edward and Susanna (Crash) Wakefield; born July 27, 1793; married to Rev. Charles Martin Torlesse, M.A. vicar of Stoke-by-Nayland; he died July 12, 1881. She died April 26, 1873. Son; Charles Obins Torlesse, b. May 3, 1835; married , 1851, Alicia, daughter of James Townsend, of Christchurch, NZ; died Nov. 14, 1866. Another son Henry Torlesse, in holy orders, died at Rangiora, NZ Dec. 17, 1870, aged 39 years. He married July 1857, Elizabeth Henrietta, daughter of Thomas Revell, of Kaiapoi, NZ.
Torlesse, Charles Obins, 1825-1866. The Torlesse papers : the journals and letters of Charles Obins Torlesse concerning the foundation of the Canterbury settlement in New Zealand, 1848-51 Christchurch: Pegasus Press.  edited by Peter Bromley Maling.
Williams, Willis Charles Torlesse Blazed a Trail
for the Early Plains Settlers, The Press, 10 June 1978
"Edward Gibbon Wakefield was one who made the people of Britain feel that the planting of colonies was a task worthy of a great nation." Alan Mulgan
"Public-spirited, resolute, a man to whom New Zealand has not perhaps been sufficiently grateful for his services rendered." A.H. Reed
"Confident style of man who lived as if he was never going to die, or to be blown from course to whom winds and waves were in subjection, and whose time table had to be taken as serious as the railway guides" Paul Bloomfield
"Mr Wakefield naturally
filled a large space in the small colonial Parliament" Hon. W.
E.G.W. represented the Hutt District in the first NZ Parliament in 1854.
Edward WAKEFIELD b.1750 d.1826 m. Priscilla BELL 1771 (b.1751 d.1832) a noted author, Quaker and philanthropist and the grandmother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, British businessman who played a leading role in the colonisation of New Zealand. Children:
1. Isabella b.1772(?) d.1841 m. Jeremiah HEAD
2. Edward b.1774 d.1854 m. Susannah CRUSH (b.1767 d.1816)
3. Daniel b.1776 d.1846, married twice, no issue.
Children of Edward and Susannah Wakefield of Bunham Hall, Essex:
1. Catherine Gurney b.1793 d.1873 m. Rev. Charles Martin TORLESSE. Children: Seven including two to NZ - Henry and Charles. 'Minerva'. Charley came out to NZ on the 'Whitby' in 1841 and later on the 'Bernica' to Lyttelton in 1849.
2. Edward Gibbon b. March 20, 1796 London, England. Died May 16, 1862 at the age of 66. (1863 folio #103 Wellington, NZ). Buried in one of the few small corners of historic Bolton Street Cemetery to survive the Wellington Motorway beside his two brothers, Daniel and William (27 Sept. 1848). In 1816 he eloped and 27 July 1816 married Eliza Anne Frances Pattle (b.1799 d.1820). Children:
a) Susan Priscilla (Nina) b.1817, Piedmont, Italy, d.12 February 1835, Lisbon, Portugal
b) Edward Jerningham (Teddy)1820 - 1876 buried at the old Ashburton Cemetery, Canterbury, NZ. Returned to England in 1844 after assisting in the founding of Wellington, New Plymouth and Nelson. Returned to NZ in 1850. Represented the 'Christchurch Country' at the General Assembly 1854-1855. Married Ellen Rowe, her brother was a proprietor of the Denbigh Hotel, Feilding
Ellen Turner, a young heiress, was abducted by Edward Gibbon Wakefield and his brother William from her boarding school in 1826, and under false pretences, persuaded to marry Edward in Scotland, 8 March 1826. The marriage was annulled in 1827 and the brothers were tried and imprisoned. The trial of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, William Wakefield and Frances Wakefield, indicted with one Edward Thevenot, a servant, for a conspiracy, and for the abduction of Miss Ellen Turner, the only child and heiress of William Turner, Esq., of Shrigley Park, in the County of Chester. London : John Murray, 1827.
3. Daniel Bell b.27 Feb 1798, Burnham, Essex, England, d. 8 Jan 1858, Wellington, NZ, m. Selina de BURGH 1824 (d.1830) and m. Angela ATTWOOD 1835. Children: Charles Marcus b.1838 d.1902 and Alice Mary. Daniel emigrated to New Plymouth under the name BOWLER. Buried at Bolton St Cemetery (database) beside his brothers E.G. and William and Selina Elizabeth d. 20 Aug. 1848. ?his daughter. Daniel was a acting judge, Supreme Court, NZ.
4. Arthur b.1799 d. 17 June 1843. Capt. Wakefield was killed by Maoris in the 'Wairau Massacre'.
5. William b.1803 d. 19 Sept.1848 Wellington, m. Emily Elizabeth Shelly-SIDNEY 1826 (d.1827) daughter of Sir John Shelley Sidney, of Penhurst Place, England. Emily Charlotte Sidney Wakefield (1827 - 1857) was their only child. In 1846, in NZ, Emily Charlotte Sidney Wakefield [niece of E.G. Wakefield] the daughter of Colonel William Wakefield , m. Edward William STAFFORD, and was thus brought Edward Stafford into close contact with the New Zealand Company, later Sir Edward Stafford, premier for NZ. Death: April 18 1857 at Auckland, Emily, wife of Edward W. STAFFORD, Esq., of Mayne, County Louth, Colonial Secretary of New Zealand. Emily is buried in an Anglican cemetery, the St. Stephens churchyard, Parnell, Auckland. Colonel William Hayward Wakefield's gravestone is at the Bolton Street Cemetery, Wellington. William was a principal agent for the New Zealand Company.
6. John Howard b.1803 d.1862 m. Maria SUFFOLK 1832 Children: Four
7. Felix b.1807 d.1875 Christchurch. Married Marie Felice Eliza BAILLEY [Bailli] 1830. Felix was a land owner at Sumner. Children: nine of whom several lived in NZ, notably Edward (1845 -1924) Editor of the Timaru Herald and the first representative for the Geraldine District, South Canterbury 1875-1881 in the General Assembly. Married July 15, 1874, Agnes Mildred, daughter of G. W. Hall, and has two sons and two daughters. Another child: Salvator Rosa Wakefield, chr. 24 March 1836, Longford, Tasmania, Australia. Married, firstly, Grace Cox; married, secondly. Fanny Fenn. Then there was Oliver under-secretary for gold fields, etc.. New Zealand; died in Dunedin in March 20, 1884; aged 40 years.
8. Priscilla b.1809 d.1887 m. Henry CHAPMAN 1835
9. Percy b.1810 d. about 1831 Unmarried.
Lyttelton Times, 16 April 1862, Page 4
We regret to hear that the rumour is confirmed of the death of Mr. Ariosto Wakefield. He was drowned about a fortnight since in the Tekapo, in consequence of a waterlogged punt capsizing. The deceased is a son of Mr. Felix Wakefield, and brother of Mrs. Witherby of Lyttelton.
The New Zealand Colonist�and Port Nicholson�Advertiser�
Friday July 7 1843
The late Arthur Wakefield, R.N., whose lamented fate we recorded last week, was in the 44th year of his age, at the time of his death. He was the third son of Edward Wakefield, Esq., of Burnham, Essex, the author of the well known statistical and political account of Ireland.
Captain Wakefield entered the Navy at ten years of age, and first sailed in the Nisus frigate, with Captain Philip Beaver, whose expedition to Bulama and other services are matters of history. He was subsequently present at the raking of Batavia and the Isle of France, and in the lad engagements of Bladensburg and Washington, where he served as Aide de Camp to Admiral Sir George Cockburn. He was, afterwards, for some time in command of a brig on the coast of Africa, where he captured several slave ships after obstinate engagements and boarding from boats away from the ship. It is thrice occurred to him to jump overboard and save the lives of shipmates at sea.
Few officers were better known or more highly considered in the Navy than the subject of our remarks. Before his promotion to the rank of commander, he was much sought after as a First Lieutenant, and was seldom at home many days between leaving a ship paid off, and being appointed to another newly put in commission. He had served in all parts of the world, and left the command of the Rhadamanthus steam frigate before undertaking the foundation of the Nelson settlement in the New Zealand Company. His conciliatory manners and moral worth had made him respected and beloved by all classes at Nelson, and it will be difficult to find a successor to him possessed of his energy and ability in the administration of the Company's affairs. - New Zealand Gazette
Daily Southern Cross, 14 February 1867, Page 3
By last mail from England we are informed of the death of one of the earliest colonists, of New Zealand. Mr. Charles O. Torlesse left England in 1842 with the Nelsons' pioneers, under Captain Arthur Wakefield. He was employed in a cadet in. the survey department, and just escaped being among the number of those who fell at the Wairau massacre. Mr. Torlesse returned to England after about five years' residence in the colony, and was employed as amanuensis to the late Mr. E. G. Wakefield. In 1848 he again left England, in company, with Captain Thomas, and was associated with Mr. Cass in the preliminary surveys and explorations of the province. A plucky explorer, Mr. Torlesse, in 1849, made his way south by the coast as far as the Waitaki, returning along the foot of the ranges. On this expedition he was absent eleven weeks, and was put to considerable straits at times for food. The result of his exploration was a very useful sketch map, from which the first lithographed maps of the-Canterbury settlement were made. In the latter part of 1849 and early part of 1850 he was employed with Mr. Boys on the trigonometrical survey north of the Waimakariri, leaving the service an 1851. Mr. Torlesse , was the second who applied for a run in the province. As a sheep farmer Mr. Torlesse acquired a moderate competence Retaining his love of exploration, he undertook, in 1858, a reconnoissance survey of the country about the head waters of the Waimakariri and Ashley, being the first to ascend Mount Torlesse, which was named after him. Mr Torlesse paid a second visit to England in 1860, returning to the province in 1863, when he became a merchant and commission agent in Christchurch. Mr. Torlesse always took a lively interest in all matters relating, to the welfare of the colony and this province. In church matters he took, an especial interest, and always occupied prominent position. Mr. Torlesse finally left the colony in the Mermaid, on April 29 1865.� Lyttelton Times
The Star Friday 24 December 1875
Sudden death of Mr. Felix WAKEFIELD between Cave Rock and Sumner Hotel. Age between 60 & 70
Timaru Herald 12 February 1875
WAKEFIELD - On November 30th, 1874 at Cheshunt, Herts, Angela, widow of the late Mr Justice Daniel Wakefield, age 62 years
Evening Post, 6 March 1879, Page 2
ASHBURTON. 5th March.
E. J. Wakefield was buried this afternoon by the Freemasons of Ashburton. Fully 100 persons attended the funeral, at which Edward Wakefield, of Timaru, was the chief mourner. The band played the "Dead March" in "Saul."
Evening Post, 21 March 1884, Page 2 The Late Mr.
A very painful sensation was created in this city last night by the arrival of the shocking intelligence that Mr. Oliver Wakefield, the popular Under-Secretary for Goldfields, had just met with a sudden and dreadful death in Dunedin, having been run over by a tram-engine and so frightfully mutilated, that he expired within a few hours. It appears that Mr. Wakefield having had no holiday of any length for seven years past, found himself suffering from nervous exhaustion and need of rest and change. He accordingly obtained six weeks' leave of absence, and left by the s.s. Waihora last Monday for Australia, intending to visit Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, returning to Wellington by way of Auckland. It was while he was paying a passing visit to Dunedin that the fatal catastrophe took place. Mr. Oliver Wakefield was about 40 years of age, and was unmarried. He was a son of the late Mr. Felix Wakefield, and came out with his father and family to Nelson [sic, it was Lyttelton] many years ago. ... He was in very comfortable worldly circumstances. It may be added that he was a nephew of the celebrated Edward Gibbon Wakefield, and a brother of the present member for Selwyn [Edward Wakefield]. His intention was to visit his eldest, brother, Mr Salvator Wakefield, who lives at, Adelaide. He was about 40 years of age, and was born Launceston, Tasmania. His father, Mr Felix Wakefield, and family subsequently went Home, but came out to New Zealand in the Sir George Pollock, in 1851.
Hawera & Normanby Star, 19 August 1914, Page 4
The death is announced of another of New Zealand's pioneer settlers of i 1840, in the person of Mr J. J. Taine, who died at Auckland, having attained the great age of 97. Up to a few days ago he had been enjoying splendid health, and was in complete possession of all his faculties, when an attack of bronchitis, supervening on a cold, brought to a close the life of an interesting personality. Mr Taine in 1840 landed from the New Zealand Company's ship Adelaide, accompanied by Mrs Taine, who as Miss Leoiadia de Olivera was the adopted daughter of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Here and in other parts of New Zealand Mr Taine soon built up a lucrative business, and in a few years he was able to retire into private life. He was a contemporary of all the men who made names for themselves at the founding of this Dominion prior and subsequent to 1840, and could converse most interestingly on such personalities as Captains Hobson and Fitzroy, our first Governors the Wakefields, Shortlands, Bishop Selvwn, and many others, while on the Native side he frequently met such redoubtable characters as Rauparaha, Rangihaeata, and other turbulent leaders of the Maori race. Mr Taine leaves a numerous family in various parts of the Dominion. They are Messrs A. and W. Taine, Dunedin; Mr H. Taine, Stoke; Mr C.F. Taine. Wellington: and Mr A. G. Taine, Auckland; while the daughters are Mrs Darling and Mrs Fildes, Wellington; Mrs Webb and Mrs Russell, Auckland.
Evening Post, 15 August 1924, Page 7
MR. EDWARD WAKEFIELD
LONDON, 13th August. Edward Wakefield, formerly of New Zealand, is dead. The late Mr. Wakefield, who was 79 years of age, was the fifth son of Felix Wakefield, of Sumner (Christchurch) and was a nephew of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. He was born in Tasmania, but went to England as an infant, and came out to New Zealand with his father in 1851. He afterwards came from Christchurch to Wellington with his uncle. In 1855, at the age of ten, he was sent to England to be educated, and, on returning in 1863, joined the "Nelson Examiner,' and so began his career of journalism. In 1865, however, he entered the Civil Service as a clerk, and next year became private secretary to the Premier Sir Edward Stafford, and subsequently held for four years the position of confidential secretary to the Cabinet. After further service as secretary to Ministers, he entered the Customs Department, but very soon afterwards left the Public Service and took to journalism in which he soon became prominent as a writer on political and literary subjects. In December, 1875, he entered the House of Representatives as the first member for Geraldine, and was re-elected by that constituency in 1879. In 1880 he was chairman of the Royal Commission on Local Industries. He unsuccessfully contested Geraldine (1881) and and Inangahua (1883), was returned for Selwyn in May, 1884, and again, unopposed, in July of the same year. He was Colonial Secretary and Native Minister in the short-lived Atkinson Government in 1884. After leaving the Ministry, Mr. Wakefield resumed journalism, and became editor of the "Press" in Wellington. Subsequently he went to London, and continued journalistic work there as a writer of special articles for London papers.
Sir Francis Dillon Bell (18221-1898 ) joined his relative Edward Gibbon Wakefield in NZ venture by becoming a clerk with the New Zealand Company in 1839 and within two years was its acting secretary. Bell arrived in New Zealand on September 12 1843 aboard the Ursula. His father, Edward Bell, was a merchant and the British consul at Bordeaux and a cousin to Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Dillon became fluent in Maori, and was based in Nelson. When the company folded F. Dillon Bell moved to the Hutt. Henry Angelo Bell was a brother to F. Dillon Bell and secretary to Arthur Wakefield came out on the Whitby in 1841 but Angelo developed typhoid fever and died at Nelson, March 10 1842. F. Dillon Bell's son Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell was born in Nelson in 1851 and held the office of PM of NZ for two weeks (d. 1936) and his son Capt. William Henry Dillon Bell 1st King Edward's Horse died in France 31/07/17. Age 33.
Cyclopaedia of New Zealand Vol. 1. Wellington
Temple, Paul. Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the Colonial Dream: A Reconsideration Friends of the Turnbull Library, Published 1997 GP Publications ISBN 1-86956-204-6., Philip Temple is working on a Wakefield Family Biography "A sort of Conscience".
White Wings by Brett,
Dictionary of NZ Biographies Vol. 1 1769-1869
Bateman NZ Encyclopedia
Canterbury Museum holdings & E.J. Wakefield's papers wayback
Settling of New Zealand was a Wakefield family concern
|Arrival date||Wakefield||Vessel||Arrival Port||Comments|
|20 Sept. 1839||William||Tory||Port Nicholson|
|20 Sept. 1839||E. Jerningham||Tory||Port Nicholson|
|05 Feb. 1841||Arthur||Whitby||Port Nicholson||survey party > Nelson, Sept.|
|1842||Daniel||New Plymouth||aka Bowler|
|12 Jan. 1844||Daniel or Felix||Himalaya||Nelson|
|11 May 1842||Emily (age 15)||Clifford||Nelson||daughter of Wm.|
|Nov. 1848||Charles Torlesse||Bernica||New Plymouth||nephew of EGW|
|09 May 1850||E. Jerningham (age 29)||Lady Nugent||Lyttelton||via Otago|
|10 Nov. 1851||Felix & family||Sir George Pollock||Lyttelton||145 passengers|
|2 Feb. 1853||E.G.||Minerva||Lyttelton|
|28 Nov.1853||Mr & Mrs Wm K & family?||John Taylor||New Plymouth||How are they related to E.G.?|
|8 Dec. 1863||Felix, E., Misses J. and O.||Napier||Nelson|
Wakefield's were inclined to put pen to paper
Bloomfield, Paul, b.1898- Edward Gibbon Wakefield : Builder of the British Commonwealth. London : Longmans, 1961 Includes a Wakefield family genealogy.
Mason, Andrew (ed). Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the Colonial Dream: a Reconsideration. Wellington, N.Z.: GP Publications in association with The Friends of the Turnbull Library, 1997. ISBN 1-8695-204-6 (pbk.) "In August 1996 The Friends of the Turnbull Library held a seminar entitled Edward Gibbon Wakefield and New Zealand 1830-1865 : a reconsideration, to mark the bicentenary of [his] birth ... publication of the seminar proceedings ..."--Introd. 200pp Illus Col. Includes a Wakefield family genealogy.
Martin, Ged. Edward Gibbon Wakefield: abductor and mystagogue. Edinburgh, Scotland: Ann Barry, 1997. 56pp ISBN: 095264410X
Wakefield, Edward Gibbon A View of the Art of Colonization in present reference to the British Empire in letters between a statesman and a colonist. London: John W. Parker, 1849.
Wakefield, Edward Gibbon Art of Colonization 1833 2 Vols.
The Collected Works of Edward Gibbon Wakefield / edited with an introduction by M. F. Lloyd Prichard. Auckland : Collins, 1969.
The Founders of Canterbury / edited by Edward Jerningham Wakefield ; with a new introduction by Peter Burroughs. Folkestone, England : Dawsons, 1973.
Otago Witness 4th March 1851
Pamphlet by Mr Edward Jerningham Wakefield
"The principle on which the Canterbury Settlement was projected is by no means a new one. The projects of the Association were first laid before the public in 1848. Communications were entered into with her Majesty's Government; the Earl Grey honoured it with his approval, and promised to recommend your Excellency to assist... The Association determined that no spot should be fixed upon for the settlement, which might not receive the approval of your Excellency and the Bishop of New Zealand. Accordingly, in July 1848, Mr Thomas was despatched hither as Chief Surveyor, with instructions.... He selected as the most suitable for the Canterbury Settlement. A special messenger conveyed the tidings to England; and the Association received them in the autumn of 1849. ..
The Founders of Canterbury. Vol. 1., Being letters from the late Edward Gibbon Wakefield to the late John Robert Godley, and to other well-known helpers in the foundation of the settlement of Canterbury in New Zealand. Christchurch : Published by Stevens and Co., 1868.
Wakefield, Edward Jerningham, Adventure in New Zealand, from 1839 to 1844; with some account of the beginning of the British colonization of the islands. 2 Vols. London, J. Murray, 1845. [Auckland: Wilson and Horton, 1971] Wakefield chartered a 30 ton schooner, 'Surprise' from Port Nicholson to the Wanganui River 14 May 1940. He also chartered the 'Guide', 249 ton brig to take him from the Bay of Islands to Port Hardy (Cook Strait) etc. in 1840. One of the best descriptions of settlement in the early days. online
Long-lost journal will stay in NZ
Otago Daily Times Dunedin photo
By John Gibb on W,ed, 25 Jun 2008
The long-lost journal written by early colonist Jerningham Wakefield. Alexander Turnbull officials said the manuscript could not be exported without the permission of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, given restrictions under the Act. Edward Jerningham Wakefield was the only son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who was instrumental in the development of the New Zealand Company and was the driving force behind much of the early colonisation of New Zealand. The journal, covering 1850-58, was missing for about 100 years before it came up for auction in Dunedin last year. The London-born Edward Jerningham Wakefield accompanied his uncle, Colonel William Wakefield, to New Zealand on the New Zealand Company ship Tory in 1839, seeking a site for a colony in the Cook Strait area. Jerningham Wakefield later returned to London, where his book Adventure in New Zealand (1845), giving an account of early colonial life, was published. He came back to New Zealand in 1850, twice serving as a parliamentary representative for the Christchurch area (1853-55 and 1871-75) and also representing the City of Wellington on the Provincial Council (1857-61). Jerningham Wakefield's later life was dogged by alcoholism and he died, penniless, in Ashburton in 1879. The journal's text is being published as a limited edition book by Dunedin's Kilmog Press early next month.
Wakefield, E. J. The British colonization of New Zealand : being an account of the principles, objects, and plans of the New Zealand Association together with particulars concerning the position, extent, soil and climate, natural productions and native inhabitants of New Zealand London : John W. Parker, 1837.
Wakefield, E. J. The Handbook for New Zealand : consisting of the most recent information compiled for the use of intending colonists, by a late magistrate of the colony, who resided there during four years. London : John W. Parker, 1848. 493 pp. State Library of Tasmania
Stevens, Joan The London Journal of Edward Jerningham Wakefield, 1845-46 / edited by Joan Stevens. Wellington : Alexander Turnbull Library and Victoria University of Wellington, 1972.
Wakefield, Edward 1845-1924. New Zealand Illustrated : the story of New Zealand and descriptions of its cities and towns.
Wakefield, Edward New Zealand after Fifty Years: Published: 1889 Cassell & Co. Ltd, Hardback, fold out map.
Timaru Herald Saturday 14 December 1889 pg2
Mr Edward Wakefield has been to New York to arrange for the publication there of his book "After Fifty Years."
Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 2 February 1850, Page 193
MR. E. G. WAKEFIELD'S THIRD LETTER TO MR. H. PETRE.
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES: THEIR MUNICIPAL ANNEXATION OR THEIR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE. Reigate, 20th Sept., 1849. My dear Henry Petre� In continuation of my letter to you of 16th April, which was originally sent by the Cornwall, and in duplicate by the Pekin, I now write by the Berkshire on the most important of the subjects of the former communication.
Edward Jerningham Wakefield (1820 - 1879), 1858 by William Beetham, oil on canvas. He succeeded his father, E.G. Wakefield, as a Wellington provincial Councillor for the Hutt in 1855.
"You may make a colony agreeable to men but not to women; you may make it agreeable to women without being agreeable to men. You may induce some men of higher class to emigrate without inducing the women; but if you succeed with the women, you are sure not to fail with men. A colony that is not attractive to women is an unattractive colony; in order to make it attractive to both sexes, you do enough if you take care to make it attractive to women."
Edward G. Wakefield wrote in : Art of Colonisation, p. 156.