The Third Entrepreneurial Venture
The New Zealand Company was founded with a nominal capital of £400,000. At its head was Lord Durham and its chairman Joseph Somes, the largest individual shipowner in England, while the directors included several former Association members together with some leading citizens of London. Wakefield remained in the background not becoming a director until April 1840.
When the Company approached the Colonial Office early in 1839, advising that it had fulfilled Lord Glenelg's 1837 stipulation's and wished to apply for a charter, it was informed by Glenelg's successor, Lord Normanby, that while sympathising with the Company's aims he could not encourage or recognise its proceedings until New Zealand was annexed wholly or in part.
Defying the warning from Lord Normanby that the Government could not sanction the establishment of a system of government independent of the Crown or pledge itself to recognise any titles to land which it might acquire, the Company at Wakefield's prompting, despatched Colonel William Wakefield in May in the vessel Tory to buy as much Maori land as possible in anticipation of the annexation.
Capital Raised in a Month
Defying the warning from Lord Normanby that the Government could not sanction the establishment of a system of government independent of the Crown or pledge itself to recognise any titles to land which it might acquire, the Company at Wakefield's prompting, despatched Colonel William Wakefield in May in the vessel Tory to buy as much Maori land as possible in anticipation of the annexation.
Capital Raised in a Month
Investors were promised 100 acres (40.5 hectares) of farmland and one town acre; the initial 1,000 orders were snapped up in a month, raising the £400,000 capital required to establish the Company.
It was amazing that this amount of money was raised in such a short period of time and on "preliminary orders". No land purchases had yet been made. The investors were betting on the good nature and character of EGW, William's negotiating skills, and the as yet to be determined actions of the Government. Would it prove to be a wise investment?
Extensive marketing and promotion was undertaken to present New Zealand in the best possible light. As previously stated, in his presentation to the House of Commons, EGW's view of the prospects in New Zealand were as follows:
‘Very near to Australia there is a country which all testimony concurs in describing as the fittest in the world for colonization, as the most beautiful country with the finest climate, and the most productive soil, I mean New Zealand'.This romantised painting by Charles Heaphy, who came to New Zealand on the "Tory" in 1839, was used by the Company in their Marketing and Promotion for their new settlements and shows the view of Port Nicholson painted from the Petone hills.
The Story They Were Told
So it was one thing to convince the investors to risk their money in the venture, it was another to convince the emigrants to give up all that they new and risk their lives, their families and their future.
In the 1830s and 1840s many people in England believed in the theory that population growth was related to food production, and that as Britain’s population continued to rise there would be penury and starvation - as depicted, in the scene on the right in this famous emigration poster comparing life in England and New Zealand. The solution was to encourage emigration New Zealand where abundant land would bring plenty of food and health – as in the happy scene on the right.
The Story They Were Told
So it was one thing to convince the investors to risk their money in the venture, it was another to convince the emigrants to give up all that they new and risk their lives, their families and their future.
To combat any negative notions about New Zealand, the company used books, pamphlets and broadsheets to promote the country as ‘a Britain of the South’, a fertile land with a benign climate, free of starvation, class war and teeming cities.
In the 1830s and 1840s many people in England believed in the theory that population growth was related to food production, and that as Britain’s population continued to rise there would be penury and starvation - as depicted, in the scene on the right in this famous emigration poster comparing life in England and New Zealand. The solution was to encourage emigration New Zealand where abundant land would bring plenty of food and health – as in the happy scene on the right.
Agents spread the good news around the rural areas of southern England and Scotland. As added inducement the company offered free passages to ‘mechanics, gardeners and agricultural labourers’. Free passage meant that the emigrants were bonded to the Company for a period to work on the establishment of the town of Wellington.
Obviously William and Elizabeth would not have seen the images above as they were already in the country. However they would have definitely been to the meetings and seen the posters.
Obviously William and Elizabeth would not have seen the images above as they were already in the country. However they would have definitely been to the meetings and seen the posters.
EWG had, in the late 1830s, taken into his home a Maori named Nahiti, who had been abandoned in France. Nahiti, was the younger son of an inferior chief of a Cook Strait tribe, and he was to play a prominent role in progressing the company schemes.
Public Promotional Meetings with Nahiti
The company "displayed" him in public meetings as proof of the malleable, friendly Maori. Nahiti was also coached to speak approvingly of the idea of settlers going to New Zealand: 'I like it. I do not know what my country-men would like. I think they would like it too, because they like even the bad people now. I think they would like gentlemen', from "A Sort of Conscience The Wakefields - Philip Temple pg 196 and 207"
Ongoing Marketing
Ongoing Marketing
Advertising and propaganda attracted thousands of people over the next 40 years, and the main drawcard, the free or assisted passage, became hugely important. Company immigrants sent letters back home which encouraged others to come out over the years.This drawing is by William Mein Smith, the first New Zealand Company surveyor general, shows the company settlement of Petre (Whanganui) in September 1841. A major source of this propaganda was Edward Jerningham Wakefield’s book, "Adventure in New Zealand", published in London in 1845. It contained many coloured lithographs.
The Son - Edward Jerningham Wakefield
EJW's task on arrival in New Zealand was to negotiate land purchases from Maori tribes in Wanganui and Taranaki and support the settlement of emigrants in those two areas. Not bad for a 19 year old youth. He returned to England for a period in the mid 1840s where he wrote his book.
What was the Reality
The Son - Edward Jerningham Wakefield
Also on board the "Tory" was EGW's only surviving child, and in his short 19 years had survived a bit. From the death of his mother 4 days after his birth to experiencing, as a 7 to 10 year old, the humiliation of his father and extended family following EGW's trial and imprisonment in 1927. The stablising force in his life was EGW's sister, Catherine and her husband the Rev Charles Torlesse, who bought him up following Elisa Wakefields' death.
EJW's task on arrival in New Zealand was to negotiate land purchases from Maori tribes in Wanganui and Taranaki and support the settlement of emigrants in those two areas. Not bad for a 19 year old youth. He returned to England for a period in the mid 1840s where he wrote his book.He went on to become an MP for Canterbury in the first New Zealand parliament and died in 1879.
What was the Reality
But back to the reality......The company’s promises were flights of fancy, only partially made good by dubious land purchases from Māori, one of which would eventually led to violence on the Wairau in Marlborough, and the violent death of Arthur Wakefield, who headed up the Nelson settlement in 1841. EGW by 1842, resulting from either his direct or indirect actions, had seen one brother spend three years in prison and another killed by Maori in a land dispute.
Wakefield’s neat plans were not working out – land titles were uncertain, overturned by the terms of the Treat of Waitangi. There was a lack of useable land and no obvious way to generate income through exports, and there were too many absentee landowners speculating on capital growth.
Wakefield’s neat plans were not working out – land titles were uncertain, overturned by the terms of the Treat of Waitangi. There was a lack of useable land and no obvious way to generate income through exports, and there were too many absentee landowners speculating on capital growth.
By 1843 the new settlers were short of food and the company was virtually bankrupt. Two interventions by the British government saved it from total disaster. Yet the company began to organise large-scale migration to New Zealand.
Significant Impact Inspite of the Problems
Considering its dubious practices it is easy to disparage the New Zealand Company, but it had a remarkable impact on immigration to New Zealand. Of the 18,000 settlers who came directly from Britain between 1840 and 1852, about 14,000 were brought in by the company or its successors. As a result of the company’s policy, by 1852 the European population in New Zealand had reached some 28,000. The New Zealand Company established the outlines of immigration from Britain to New Zealand, setting in place the mechanisms and promotional pitch that were used by the provinces and the government in later years.
Off to New Zealand
So there you go, William and Elizabeth Trevarton and their three young children were off to New Zealand. We have seen that the conditions in England were on the verge of Revolution, they had no prospects of ever owning their own land and little chance of getting ahead. Edward Wakefield and the New Zealand Company had come along and presented the opportunity of a new life in "little England", there was nothing to loose, so let us take a trip on a sailing ship...............
Source material and additional reading:
Look forward to reading about the ship & their story...
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