Apathy Towards Pioneer Criticised

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31984, 10 May 1969, Page 2

Apathy Towards Pioneer Criticised

The only surviving de-p scendants of Edward ! Gibbon Wakefield, the English economic writer and coloniser, are saddened by the apathy, and even hostility, accorded his memory by New Zealanders. “And the most hopeless amount of indifference is here in Canterbury,” his greabgranddaughters, Misses Irma and Deryl O’Connor, of Auckland, said in Christchurch yesterday. “The people seem convinced that John Robert Godley was the sole founder of Christchurch, but Edward Gibbon Wakefield was responsible for all the planning. He regarded Christchurch as a model colony, incorporating all his ideals.” Wakefield returned to England after be had put two of his brothers in charge of planting colonies at Wellington and Nelson. He then started work on planning a Church of England settlement for Canterbury. “He was determined that ' capital and labour should go across the seas together and that, for the first time, proper prices should be paid for the land,” said Miss Irma O’Connor. “He hoped that a charge of £1 an acre would deter speculators.” “Model Colony” , Wakefield, described as a [ persuasive man, apparently I chose all the settlers for his . “model colony” himself, when he was in England. r He approached John ; Robert Godley, who agreed I to come to Canterbury and r plant the settlement for him. Wakefield arrived later, 1 intending to retire in Christ' b church, but he found, to his - disgust, that a cheap land I scheme had been instituted, e “Naturally, he rose up in arms," said Miss O’Connor m "He went to Wellington and h stood for Lower Hutt it f order to convince th< B people of his view: V on fair prices for land H< succeeded and was elected.’ Edward Gibbon Wakefiek e eventually died, and wai a- buried, in Wellington, aftei n being a complete invalid foi h seven years. is The failure of New Zea n landers to recognise his wori e for the country astounds th< It Misses O’Connor. d “He founded South Austra y lia and there is a promlnen <- statue of him in the squan

in Adelaide to mark this. Canada also recognises him; he was confidant-adviser to three of their GovernorsGeneral,” said Miss Irma O’Connor.

Wreath Laid “A former Governor of New Zealand, Lord Bledisloe, who bought the Waitangi Estate and gave it to the nation, was appalled at the indifference to Wakefield’s memory. Although not a New Zealander himself, he he gave 9200 to be used in perpetuity for a wreath to be laid on Wakefield’s grave in the Bolton cemetery on May 16, the anniversary of his death, each year. This is always done.” The Misses O’Connor were pleased to learn that the Wakefield plot—holding the graves of Edward Wakefield, Colonel William Wakefield (who founded Wellington), Daniel Wakefield (AttorneyGeneral for the colony in the early days), and Daniel’s small daughter—will not be disturbed by the proposed new motorway in Wellington. The plot, in fact, is to be made the centre of an historic square. A building on one of the four corners will house comprehensive records ( of the graves disturbed to i make way for the motorway. , Recently, too, interest in Wakefield has been aroused through the publication of a .book, “The Collected Works of Edward Gibbon i Wakefield,” by Dr M. Lloyd- - Prichard, associate professor i in economic history at Auck- , land University. ‘ Work Unknown I Dr Lloyd-Prichard, who : lectured for a time at Cam- , bridge University in England, . was "absolutely horrified” at s the lack of knowledge of I Wakefield's work, said Miss Irma O’Connor. 1 For her book, she had to -. borrow works on Wakefield 1 from libraries and have them i microfilmed because they e were out of print. s Dr Lloyd-Prichard ree ceived a Carnegie grant and ” a grant from the Smuts d Memorial Fund for the work, s The book will be of great r value to students and hisr torians. Miss Irma O'Connor cani- vassed early settlers’ k societies throughout the e country for money to help cover the expense of pubi- lishing the book. Only one it woman from Canterbury had e subscribed, she said.