Edward Gibbon Wakefield - The New Zealand Company

The New Zealand Company

The defunct New Zealand 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. His brother William was appointed leader of the expedition with his son Edward Jerningham as his nominal secretary. They had some difficulty finding a suitable captain for the Tory but then found Edward Main Chaffers who had been sailing master on HMS Beagle during Fitzroy's 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, and many years were to pass before he saw New Zealand. Probably he also recognised that he did not have the patience, the skills or the talents needed on a frontier. His talents lay in visualising dramatic plans and grandiose schemes and then persuading other people to get involved. He was not even a good organiser 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 Tory expedition led by his brother William. 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. The 16 year old son of his sister Catherine, Charles Torlesse, and of the rector of Stoke-by-Nayland (who subsequently also went to New Zealand for a time), sailed with Arthur as a trainee surveyor. 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.

By the turn of the century (2000) no direct descendants of the Wakefield family are left in New Zealand with the exception of William Wakefield Lawrence Clague resident in Kapiti, and some Torlesses. A great great nephew of William and Edward Gibbon Wakefield, William Clague is the great great grandson of John Howard Wakefield, one of the original brothers. John Howard Wakefield spent most of his life in India ending his days back in England unlike his two more well known siblings.