At once notorious and visionary, Edward Gibbon Wakefield (EGW), his son and his brothers played a key but controversial role in the early British settlement of New Zealand, and at one point in our history, famed as New Zealand's 'Founding Fathers'.
Until about 50 years ago, Edward Gibbon was considered at least partly responsible for the British settlement of New Zealand, his brothers and son its active agents and its occurrence essentially a good thing. However in some quarters they have since become the arch-villains of all post-colonial scenarios of the past.
Wakefield played a seminal role in the shaping of British colonial policy over two decades from the early 1830s, and had a direct influence on the settlement of South Australia and assisted in the creation of a Canadian constitution.
This positive work however was always overshadowed by the notorious cases of fraud and abduction that had led to his earlier imprisonment. Yet many of Wakefield's notable contemporaries, and historians and economists over the century following his death, were willing to look past the notoriety to his vision and political achievements.
Like and admire them or not, they undeniably made a difference to their world and remain an indelible part of British colonial history, and of New Zealand in particular. If we understand them better, we may better understand ourselves.
The Family
Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 - 1862) (EGW), was born in London, to a Quaker family deeply involved in reform movements of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, during a time of great political and social change. He was the eldest son of a family whose financial resources had unexpectedly contracted.
In times of general upheaval in the country there was also much personal upheaval; tensions both creative and destructive governed the future of a family whose reduced income could no longer adequately support the upper middle-class status and political influence they had come to expect. They became a part of the growing 'uneasy classes' who would turn to emigration in the great wave of British colonisation of North America and Australasia that began in the generation after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
The Draconian laws of the day meant that following a marriage, particularly in Scotland, the daughter of a wealthy family would need to supply the husband with a significant settlement. 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", with Edward receiving a marriage settlement of 70,000 pounds, from the estate of his recently deceased father-in-law, and the prospect of more when Eliza turned twenty-nine. Eliza's mother who was still alive, was denied 2/3rds of her husband's estate.
With Eliza, EGW moved to Genoa, in Italy, where he was employed in a diplomatic service. They had their first child in Italy and returned to England in 1820 for the birth of a son Edward Jerningham Wakefield (EJW). Four days later Eliza died.
Although now wealthy by contemporary standards, EGW was not satisfied. He wished to acquire an estate and enter Parliament, and for this needed more capital.
Second Entrepreneurial Venture - Kidnapping
In 1826, with the help and support of his step mother and brother William, the thirty year old EGW planned and executed the kidnapping of Ellen Turner, a fifteen year old heiress from a very wealthly family. Ellen was the only daughter of William Turner MP, a prosperous cotton magnate, and High Sheriff of Cheshire. The stakes were high and if successful, would make him a very wealthy man. He was wanting to take possession of Shrigley Hall (see photo) amongst other assets.
He abducted her from school, lying about her father's "embarassed state of affairs" and saying that her father had sent him to take her back home. He then travelled with her to Scotland where they were married. Ellen's father pursued the couple, over the next few weeks, through the UK and parts of France, until Wakefield was finally apprehended and charged with kidnapping and abduction.In the court case that followed, witnesses testified that, EGW "lavished her with his extensive charm and skilled diplomacy,.... and although she must have half-guessed what was happening, she was probably fearful of the consequences of attempting an escape and, perhaps, intoxicated by the growing fantasy of elopement".
In his defence, Wakefield stated that "I behaved to her as I would a beloved sister.... with intimacy but without familiarity..., and with the greatest of kindness". He was hoping to genuinely win her heart, and to "render her the happiest of women, before the ultimate conjugal connection", required to make the marriage legal.
Judgement Day
Edward Gibbon Wakefield and his two accomplices were all found guilty. His step mother was let off, while EGW and his brother were escorted to Newgate prison, where they both served a three year sentence.
A legal commentator at the time said, "nor is every heiress, especially if she is a 'clever' girl, and 'well educated', so credulous as to believe any cock-and-a-bull story told to her by an utter stranger.... or so exceeding pliable as in a few hours to consent to marry him, on the strength of his mere statement as to her father's wishes.... how ages may elapse before such a Quixote.... shall stumble on such a heiress.... and how many thousand chances to one are there against the completion of the scheme. In short, in all human probability, such a case will never occur again.
The Prison Years
So EGW's second entrepreneurial venture was a dismal failure. He had become the laughing stock of the country and spurned by his family. How would he redeem himself.
He began to study, write articles and eventually publish his thoughts and ideas on social and polictical issues of the day. In his 'A sort of Conscience - The Wakefield's', Philip Temple writes, "The culmination of three years in the hell-hole of Newgate, EGW's 'Facts Relating to the Punishment of Death' reveals not only literary skill and deeply engraved experience, but also a baring of social concern that would have made his grandmother proud. This and his other work deriving from the Newgate period, A Letter from Sydney, contributed much to EGW's redemption within his family and established the base from which he could attempt social and political rehabilitation"
Although hostile to his theories, Karl Marx paid EGW the compliment in 'Das Kapital' of describing him as the most notable political economist of the 1830s.
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.
One glaring hole in his "scheme" however, is that no account or consideration was taken with regard to the rights and position of the indigenous people who had owned and occupied the land for hundreds of years.
One glaring hole in his "scheme" however, is that no account or consideration was taken with regard to the rights and position of the indigenous people who had owned and occupied the land for hundreds of years.
Not A Good Start on the Path to Redempton
One of the first things EGW did on his release from prison in 1830, was attempt to overturn his father-in-law's will and get his hands on the remainder of his deceased wife's money, at the expense of his mother-in-law. This did not work either and, in fact, the entire affair did a lot to further 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.
It is hard to believe that for such an obviously intelligent, charismatic and self assured man on the one hand, could be so blind, callous and calculating on the other. Some of the lessons had still not been learnt!!
In only a short ten years time, this man's word and character would be believed and trusted, by hundreds of investors and thousands of emigrants. They would put their money, and the future of their families into his hands.
However, would he be able to regain the respect and trust of his peers and family, those closest to him. It was clear that by the end of the 1830s he had been able to convince many others. The road back would be a long one, and it is a matter of debate and conjecture as to whether that ever happened.
To be continued.......
It is hard to believe that for such an obviously intelligent, charismatic and self assured man on the one hand, could be so blind, callous and calculating on the other. Some of the lessons had still not been learnt!!
In only a short ten years time, this man's word and character would be believed and trusted, by hundreds of investors and thousands of emigrants. They would put their money, and the future of their families into his hands.
However, would he be able to regain the respect and trust of his peers and family, those closest to him. It was clear that by the end of the 1830s he had been able to convince many others. The road back would be a long one, and it is a matter of debate and conjecture as to whether that ever happened.
To be continued.......
Source material and additional reading:
A Sort of Conscience - Philip Temple (c) 2002
Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Wakefield Edward Gibbon
Gretna Green Marrige Record
William Turner MP
Shrigley Abduction
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