1. Colonel William Hayward Wakefield was an English officer of the British Auxiliary Legion, and the leader of the second New Zealand Company's first colonising expedition to New Zealand; one of the founders of Wellington city.
22 Facts About William Wakefield
1. 2.
William Wakefield was born just outside London in 1801, the son of Edward Wakefield, a distinguished surveyor and land agent, and Susanna Crush.
3.
William Wakefield's grandmother, Priscilla Wakefield, was a popular children's author and helped to establish savings banks.
4.
Wakefield's siblings were Catherine Gurney Wakefield, the mother of Charles Torlesse ; Edward Gibbon Wakefield ; Daniel Wakefield ; Arthur Wakefield ; John Howard Wakefield ; Felix Wakefield ; Priscilla Susannah Wakefield ; Percy Wakefield ; and an unnamed child born in 1813.
5.
William Wakefield was largely raised by his elder sister, Catherine, who found him a difficult child.
6.
In 1825, William Wakefield became formally betrothed to Emily Sidney, but before they could be married he became involved with his elder brother Edward in the abduction of a wealthy heiress and both brothers were arrested.
7.
William Wakefield returned to England when the baby was born and was promptly arrested and held in Lancaster Castle until his trial, and subsequently sentenced to three years in jail.
8.
William Wakefield survived the Siege of Porto and the subsequent campaigning, and earned several medals.
9.
William Wakefield emerged from the campaign with the rank of major, re-enlisted, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
10.
William Wakefield was one of the few officers to survive the campaign; he stayed until the Legion was disbanded in 1837 and returned to England the following year.
11.
William Wakefield was given set of instructions for the expedition's activities: to purchase land for the New Zealand Company, to gather knowledge about New Zealand, and to prepare for building settlements.
12.
William Wakefield was expected to treat the Maori with the utmost fairness.
13.
William Wakefield had bought and paid for the land on behalf of the New Zealand Company, but soon realised that Maori had had a different understanding of the deal; they had expected to share the land with Pakeha, and were unwilling to move.
14.
William Wakefield believed that Port Nicholson's central position made it the obvious choice to be New Zealand's capital and seat of government.
15.
However, Governor William Wakefield Hobson chose Auckland, possibly feeling that Port Nicholson was dominated by the New Zealand Company.
16.
In 1842, William Wakefield was joined in New Zealand by his daughter Emily, then sixteen years old.
17.
Governor William Wakefield Hobson resented the New Zealand Company, seeing the Settlers' Council as an attempt to establish an illegal republic.
18.
William Wakefield was affected by the death of his brother Arthur in the Wairau Affray, and felt partly responsible.
19.
In March 1847, William Wakefield fought a duel with his doctor, Isaac Featherston, over an editorial in the Wellington Independent newspaper that questioned his honesty.
20.
Featherstone fired first and missed, then William Wakefield fired into the air, stating "I would not shoot a man who has seven daughters".
21.
On 15 September 1848, William Wakefield collapsed at a bath house following two strokes earlier that year, and he died four days later in a room at the Wellington Hotel.
22.
William Wakefield was given what amounted to a state funeral.