William Wakefield - The Trials of A Colonist

The Trials of A Colonist

Wakefield arrived back in Port Nicholson in early January, 1840. The first of the settlers’ ships arrived on 21 January with five others coming in over the next few weeks. However as the settlers prepared to begin building their new homes it became apparent that the land around Petone was not suitable, being too swampy. A new site had to be selected and Lambton Harbour was chosen, a few kilometres further west. However the newly chosen site was already occupied by the Māori, being one of their residential areas. Wakefield was quite clear that he had bought and paid for the land on behalf of the New Zealand Company but it soon emerged that despite his efforts the Māori had not fully understood the nature of the deal. They had expected to share the land with the Pakeha and were most unwilling to move.

It was a difficult situation for the Māori; while they had overwhelming numbers and military power they did not want a confrontation that might drive the Pakeha elsewhere. They probably suspected also that not only would they be fighting the settlers but also the other Māori in the area. Reluctantly, and with bad grace, they moved. However this was the beginning of a resentment and anger that has plagued Māori-Pakeha relations right up until the present day.

To make matters worse the missionary Henry Williams appeared in the district with copies of the Treaty of Waitangi for Māori to sign. Furthermore he was claiming some of the land the New Zealand Company had purchased. Wakefield was furious as he recognized that Henry Williams’s claims were made for selfish reasons but he granted him one acre (4,000 m²) of town land for his personal ownership. Henry Williams was soon to be dismissed and disgraced by the Church Missionary Society for defrauding the Māori.

During this period Wakefield would have been extremely busy. He was not only the leader of the expedition and the colony and the principal agent for the New Zealand Company but he was also president of the Settlers' Council which had been formed to maintain law and order in the Colony.

Meanwhile another problem was looming; the consequences of the furtive and hurried way in which the New Zealand Company had established the settlement ahead of the establishment of British Sovereignty. Naturally the new governor, William Hobson, resented their actions. The Settlers' Council was seen as an attempt to establish an illegal republic. The Acting Colonial Secretary Willoughby Shortland was dispatched with soldiers and mounted police to disband the illegal organization. Fortunately he stayed on to administer justice and the change-over happened smoothly, albeit with some resentment from the colonists.

Wakefield strongly believed that Port Nicholson's central position made it the obvious choice to be New Zealand's capital and seat of government. However Hobson chose Auckland, he probably recognized that Port Nicholson was dominated by the New Zealand Company. Meanwhile Shortland was scrutinizing the details of the land purchase very critically. Inevitably he found a flaw, one of the Māori chiefs had sold land he did not own and without the consent of the owners.

There were other problems too. Many of the settlers were not happy with the land they had been allocated, others were not getting the land they had paid for. To satisfy its commitments the New Zealand Company needed about 500 km². There is not that much arable land in the Wellington area. Furthermore Wakefield's nephew, Edward Jerningham was causing concern, drinking heavily and fornicating with Māori maidens.

Altogether poor old Wakefield was beset on all sides. He seems to have withdrawn into himself; one of the settlers described him as "the coldest mannered man they have met". Despite all the difficulties the Colony thrived, Port Nicholson or Brittania became Wellington and continued to grow. How much of the credit belongs to William and how much depended on the determination of the settlers probably depends upon the opinions of the historian.

The death of his brother Arthur in the Wairau Affray (as it is now called, rather than Massacre) was a huge blow particularly as William felt partly responsible. Governor Hobson died and was replaced by Robert FitzRoy. Initially Fitzroy and Wakefield clashed seriously, particularly when FitzRoy declined to take any action against his brother's killers, as the settler party was acting illegally over a questionable land claim. But the situation gradually improved, as the two men recognized that they had to work together. The Wellington settlement was a fait accompli while the Governor was the most powerful man in New Zealand.

There was continuing criticism of the land deals the New Zealand Company had made. Wakefield felt he had been honest but very few of the government agreed with him. Several of the deals were renegotiated and the putative owners paid a second time. Gradually though the Land Claims Commissioner, William Spain, swung around. Initially he had appeared to favour the Māori, he became neutral and then began to support the claims of the New Zealand Company.

However over the next few years Wakefield was involved in disputes with the Crown, with the Māori and with his own surveyors. These disputes meant that the colonist land titles were delayed by months or years leading in turn to disputes with the various settlements. One of the undertakings of the New Zealand Company was that labourers going to the colony were guaranteed work. Because of the delays William had no work for them and this caused further anger, at one stage Nelson was almost in a state of armed rebellion against the Company’s agents. Wakefield and the Company simply did not have the resources to carry out their commitments. The situation was made worse by Wakefield's personality; he demonstrated no sign of any leadership qualities and was unwilling to take any initiative in dealing with the problems. His time was apparently spent writing letters back to London describing the wonderful progress being made. When confronted with problems he blustered, cajoled, and criticized, but he would not do anything.

By April, 1844 he had alienated practically every colonist. One of them wrote "The baneful influence of Colonel Wakefield has ruined every settler and the colony of Port Nicholson."

Early in 1842 Wakefield had been joined in New Zealand by his daughter, Emily, then sixteen years old. Shortly afterwards she became engaged to Francis Molesworth but it was broken off when ill health forced him to return to England. Then in late 1845 she met Edward Stafford of Nelson and they were married the following year. From his surviving letters it is clear that William greatly missed his daughter, as he had enjoyed very little family life until she came to New Zealand.

In March 1847 Wakefield fought a duel with his doctor, Isaac Featherston over an editorial in the Wellington Independent newspaper which questioned his honesty. Featherstone fired first and missed then Wakefield fired into the air saying he could not shoot a man who had seven daughters. Just as well, the following year Wakefield had great need of his services.

William suffered a mild stroke early in 1848 and then a more severe one in August. Then on 15 September 1848, while at the bath house, he collapsed; there were soon three doctors on the scene but to no avail and he died four days later in a room at the Wellington Tavern (known as Alzdorfs after the proprietor Baron von Alzdorf). He was given what amounted to a State funeral, Governor Grey attended as did nearly half of Wellington, both Māori and Pakeha, The Māori Chief, Te Puni was one of his pall bearers. In death Wakefield was given the respect he seldom had gained in life. It was acknowledged that he had worked to the best of maybe limited ability at an impossible task and had probably contributed more than anyone else to the foundation of Wellington.