Edward Jerningham Wakefield (25 June 1820 – 3 March 1879), known as Jerningham Wakefield, was the only son of

Edward Gibbon Wakefield Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 179616 May 1862) was an English politician in colonial Canada and New Zealand. He is considered a key figure in the establishment of the colonies of South Australia and New Zealand (where he later served as a ...

. As such, he was closely associated with his father's interest in colonisation. He worked for the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...

and later was a member of the

Canterbury Association The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...

. He was active as a politician in New Zealand, both at national and provincial level, but became an alcoholic and died penniless in an old people's home.

Early life

Wakefield was born in London in 1820. His parents were Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Eliza Anne Frances Pattle, but his mother died within days of his birth. Together with his sister Nina, he was mostly brought up by Catherine Torlesse, his father's sister and mother of Charles Torlesse. Wakefield was known by his middle name and educated at Bruce Castle School and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Later life

In 1839 he accompanied Colonel

William Wakefield Colonel William Hayward Wakefield (1801 – 19 September 1848) was an English officer of the British Legion (1835), British Auxiliary Legion, and the leader of the second New Zealand Company's first colonising expedition to New Zealand; one of ...

, his uncle, to New Zealand on the

ship ''

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

''. This expedition was an advance party seeking a suitable site to found a colony in the

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...

area. In 1840 he explored the coast from Wellington to Whanganui River, guided by a group of Maori he referred to as his "slaves". Jerningham Wakefield had intended to stay in New Zealand for only a few months, but he found the growth of the new colony so fascinating that it was four years before he returned to England in 1844. He quickly assembled his journals and they were published as ''Adventure in New Zealand'' in April 1845. The favourable picture he presented of the colony founded by the New Zealand Company helped the company to avoid censure in the House of Commons. For the next five years he lived a dissipated life in London. In September 1845 he attended a lecture there at the Royal Adelaide Gallery by Barnet Burns, a tattooed Pākehā Māori who had previously applied unsuccessfully to join the New Zealand Company on the ''Tory''. He joined the Canterbury Association on 6 May 1848, but resigned on 8 November 1849. Then, in 1850, faced with bankruptcy, Wakefield sailed for New Zealand, this time with the advance party for the Canterbury settlement. He entered politics, in New Zealand's 1st Parliament, as one of the two members for

Christchurch Country Christchurch Country was a parliamentary electorate in the Canterbury region of New Zealand from 1853 to 1860. It was thus one of the original 24 electorates used for the 1st New Zealand Parliament. Geography The area covered by the Christchurc ...

for 1853–1855. He moved to Wellington in 1855 to be near his sick father, and represented the City of Wellington in the Provincial Council from 1857 to 1861. He was a member of the 5th Parliament for Christchurch City East for 1871–1875. He stood in the 1875 election in the electorate, where six candidates were contesting three available positions, but came fifth and was thus defeated. He had a financial interest in the earliest daily newspapers. Because of his increasing alcoholism, his behaviour was very erratic and he was an embarrassment to his supporters. He was one of the MPs sometimes locked in small rooms at Parliament by whips to keep them sober enough to vote in critical divisions, though in 1872 this was defeated when political opponents lowered a bottle of whisky down the chimney to him. Gradually over the next few years he dissipated his wealth and substance and destroyed his health. He died, penniless, in

Ashburton, New Zealand Ashburton () is a large town in the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury Region, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The town is the seat of the Ashburton District. It is south west of Christchurch and is sometimes regarded as ...

, in 1879.

Works

* ''The British Colonization of New Zealand'' (1837) * ''Adventure in New Zealand; from 1839-1844'' (1845) 2 vols. * ''The Hand-book for New Zealand'' (1848) * ''The Founders of Canterbury; being Letters from the late Edward Gibbon Wakefield to the late John Robert Godley etc.'' (1868) editor * ''The Lost Journal of Edward Jerningham Wakefield; being an Account of his Exploits and Adventures in New Zealand in the Years 1850-1858'' (c. 1909) posthumously published * ''The London Journal of Edward Jerningham Wakefield 1845-46'' (1972) posthumously published; edited by Joan Stevens

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, Jerningham 1820 births 1879 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the Wellington Provincial Council Members of the Canterbury Association Unsuccessful candidates in the 1875–1876 New Zealand general election People from London English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates People educated at Bruce Castle School Alumni of King's College London Jerningham