WAKEFIELD, WILLIAM HAYWARD (1803-48) was the fourth son of Edward Wakefield, and brother of Edward Gibbon (q.v.). Born at Burnham Wick, Essex, he was brought up for the most part by his grandmother, Priscilla Wakefield, and educated at Haigh's school at Tottenham. When little more than a youth he was attached to the British embassy at Turin (where Edward Gibbon was also employed). He married (1826) Emily Eliza (d. 1827), daughter of Sir Philip Charles Sidney, of Penshurst. Wakefield was implicated in the abduction of Miss Turner, and was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, which he served in Lancaster Castle. On being liberated he travelled in Austria, Russia and Lapland, and in 1832 entered the service of Portugal, where he was decorated with the order of the Tower and Sword. He then took service in the British Legion in Spain, gained some distinction and rose to the rank of colonel commanding the 1st Regiment of Lancers under Sir de Lacy Evans. After returning to England he rejoined, and commanded the 3rd Spanish Legion (after the disbandment of the 2nd in 1837). In this corps d'élite of cavalry and artillery he again distinguished himself in the operations which resulted in the defeat of the Carlist forces in the Biscay provinces. He received from Queen Isabella the order of San Fernando. Wakefield now found himself out of employment, and returned to England with his future quite obscure. At this juncture the affairs of the New Zealand Company were making rapid progress. The directors had made up their minds to colonise the Port Nicholson district and, failing to obtain the sanction or even the goodwill of the Colonial Office, had decided to hasten their expedition as the surest means of forestalling French activities in New Zealand. Edward Gibbon Wakefield had intended that his younger brother Arthur should command the first ship and settlement, but Arthur had unexpectedly been given a new sea command in the Mediterranean and was not available. The post was therefore offered to William, who accepted. He sailed in the Tory from Plymouth on 12 May 1839 to prepare the way for the Company's settlers by making purchases of land from the natives on both sides of Cook Strait and laying out the town of Port Nicholson and the country sections in the neighbourhood. The instructions given to Wakefield were carefully drawn to carry out the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon, and to ensure that the natives should be treated with every consideration and forbearance and their interests fully preserved. The ship's company and others who sailed in the Tory numbered 35 all told, and included Edward Jerningham Wakefield, Charles Heaphy (artist), Ernst Dieffenbach (naturalist), Edward Main Chaffers (the master, who had been with Darwin in the Beagle), Dr John Dorset and Nayti, the New Zealander. On 16 Aug the Tory entered Queen Charlotte Sound, and four days later, having taken on board Dicky Barrett (q.v.) from Te Awaiti, she entered Port Nicholson and anchored off Petone beach, not far from the pa of the Ngati-Awa chief Te Puni. He and Wharepouri spent the night on board.

Having saluted the New Zealand flag, Wakefield proceeded to negotiate for the purchase of 1,100 acres of town land and 110,000 acres of country land that was required for the settlement. E. J. Wakefield drew up the deed of purchase, which was translated to the Maori sentence by sentence by Barrett. It transferred to the Company a triangle of land enclosed by lines between Sinclair head, Cape Turakirae and the summit of the Tararuas. While this was being transacted, the surveyors examined the harbour and surrounding land. On 30 Sep the sale was celebrated by the hoisting of the New Zealand flag, which was saluted with 21 guns. Wakefield then sailed in the Tory (4 Nov) for Cloudy Bay. At Kapiti island he purchased from Te Rauparaha and other chiefs tracts of land on both sides of the strait. These he named North and South Durham. After visiting Taranaki, he proceeded to Hokianga (where he arrived on 2 Dec) to inspect the property of the New Zealand Company of 1825, which was situated at Herd's point. There he met the Wesleyan missionaries Bumby and Hobbs (q.v.). He took formal possession of the land, and purchased from the supposed widow of Captain Blenkinsopp what purported to be the original conveyance to him by Rauparaha, Rangihaeata and others of the plains of Wairau. The Tory struck on a bank in Kaipara harbour, sustaining such damage that she could not be seaworthy again for several weeks. Wakefield therefore walked overland to Bay of Islands and, chartering the brig Guide, reached the rendezvous at Port Hardy on 11 Jan 1840, to find that none of the emigrant ships had arrived. He proceeded to Port Nicholson, where the Cuba surveying ship was anchored.

On 20 Jan the emigrant ship Aurora arrived, followed by the Oriental on 31 Jan and the Duke of Roxburgh on 7 Feb. Wakefield found that Captain W. M. Smith (q.v.) had laid out the town and settlement along the Petone shore, at the southern end of the Hutt Valley. He favoured the site at Thorndon, but he conceived that in this matter Smith's opinion should prevail, and work continued at the town of 'Britannia' (as it was called) until events occurred which led to a revision of this decision. On 2 Mar the first meeting took place of the council of colonists, which had been formed before sailing from London, to provide for their self-government pending the establishment of British authority. Wakefield was its first president, Samuel Revans the secretary, and G. S. Evans the umpire or judge. When Evans arrived in the Adelaide (7 Mar) the committee was able to function, and steps were at once taken for the inauguration of public works, finance and public institutions. On 30 May, in pursuance of a resolution of the council, Wakefield issued an order calling upon all settlers between the ages of 18 and 60 to present themselves for military training in view of the hostile attitude of some natives in the Hutt valley. While these measures were in train Lieutenant Shortland, the Colonial Secretary, arrived in Port Nicholson with a detachment of soldiers and constables. His first act was to cause the New Zealand flag on the beach at Petone to be lowered and replaced by the Union Jack. On 4 Jun he hoisted the flag with ceremony at Thorndon, and read the proclamations of British sovereignty. The council automatically went out of existence, and Wakefield and his colleagues formally welcomed the appearance of British authority. Acting on instructions from the Company, Wakefield was anxious to persuade the Governor to establish his capital at Port Nicholson. When this was obviously impossible, he proceeded to Bay of Islands to present his respects to Captain Hobson and deliver up the house which had come out in parts from England in one of the Company's ships. Wakefield resided at Government House, and on his return reported to a public meeting on 19 Aug having been received with cordiality and assurances of co-operation.

While he was away news arrived of the passing by the Legislative Council of New South Wales of an ordinance declaring titles to land in New Zealand null and void until adjudicated upon by land commissioners to be appointed for the purpose, and limiting to 2,560 acres the extent of land that might be granted to any applicant. A deputation sent to Sydney to interview Governor Gipps obtained from him an undertaking not to disturb the settlers at Port Nicholson, but to endeavour to procure for them confirmation of titles up to 110,000 acres, with the usual reservations for native purposes. The area available about Port Nicholson being inadequate, Wakefield in Jan 1841 sent Carrington to explore Blind Bay and Taranaki. He reported on the latter as the better site for the second settlement. A flood in the Hutt River in 1840 inundated much of the land upon which the town of Britannia stood, and convinced the settlers that they should remove to Thorndon. It is not entirely certain which site Wakefield preferred. By the end of 1840 the town of 'Wellington' was beginning to take shape, the name having been adopted by the directors, at the instance of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in recognition of the help given by the Duke to the South Australian Association. On 8 Feb the Brougham sailed for Taranaki with pioneer settlers for that colony (accompanied by Dicky Barrett). In 1841 Wakefield was gazetted a justice of the peace. With his fellow justices he joined in an address to the Governor congratulating him on the establishment of New Zealand as a separate colony. This document was used as a vehicle for importuning Hobson once more to establish his capital in Wellington, a point upon which he had already made up his mind.

Wakefield was engaged for several years in endeavouring to prove the claims of the Company to the land which he believed he had purchased from the natives. To find room for expansion, he had explorations made in the Manawatu, in the Wairarapa and the South Island, and on the suggestion of Hanson he despatched him to endeavour to purchase land in the Chatham Islands. He took prompt steps on hearing of the affray at the Wairau to protect the settlement at Nelson, and he accompanied the magistrates to the spot where the fatal collision had occurred. The Wellington volunteers having been summoned for duty by the magistrates, the Superintendent of the Southern Division (Major M. Richmond) forbade their assembling. Early in 1844 Wakefield received Governor FitzRoy on his visit to Wellington. Later in the year he sailed in the Deborah to investigate the suitability of South Island ports and neighbouring regions for settlement, in view of the projected New Edinburgh colony. Wakefield occupied for eight years the responsible position of principal agent for the Company in New Zealand, having control over the resident agents at the other settlements as they were established. Surrounded by a growing body of settlers, many of whom were discontented owing to delay in receiving their land, suffering from the counter attractions of the other settlements in turn and constantly harassed by the agitation of his fellow settlers against the government at Auckland, Wakefield steered a sensible middle course, and so avoided being drawn into conflict on occasions when a majority of the settlers was against him. He did, nevertheless, allow himself occasionally to write too freely in his despatches against Government officials and the missionary body, and thus came into conflict with a powerful interest in Great Britain.

Accounts differ as to Wakefield's character. The baffling reserve which is remarked by almost all who encountered him was no doubt a serviceable trait in the awkward situation in which he was placed, having to conciliate settlers, directors, local and home government. Gisborne says: 'No one knew what he really thought and what he really meant to do. His manner was attractive and, in outward appearance, sympathetic, but the inner man was out of sight and hearing.' Wakefield died on 19 Sep 1848, and was buried in the Sydney street cemetery, Wellington.

G.B.O.P., 1840 et seq., 1849/1120; Godley, Letters; O'Connor; Garnett; Gisborne; Saunders; N.Z.C. reports and despatches (principal agent to Secretary and to resident agents); Ward (p); Evening Post, 24 Aug 1929 (p).

Reference: Volume 2, page 228

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