EIGHTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 100, 22 January 1927, Page 7

EIGHTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD

WELLINGTON’S BIRTHDAY TO-DAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE FOUNDER CAREER OF COLONEL WAKEFIELD To-day is the eighty-seventh anniversary of the founding of Wellington. Colonel William Wakefield, principal agent of the New Zealand Company, formed in London in 1838, under whose direction the settlement of Port Nicholson took place, is buried in Sydney Street Cemetery. The town of Wellington was founded on January 22, 1840, when the first immigrants, sent out by the company under a definite scheme of colonisation, arrived in the ship Aurora, which left England on September 18, 1839. Colonel Wakefield had already arrived in the survey ship Tory a few months previously, having come on ahead of the first batch of people, and had been engaged in the meantime in negotiating for land with the Natives. He met the Aurora on arrival. Wakefield Described. Colonel Wakefield is thus described by Mr. J. C. Crawford, F.G.S., for some years Resident Magistrate of Wellington, and also a member of the Legislative Council. “Colonel Wakefield, it was at once perceived, was a man of action. Of medium height, fair in complexion, and Saxon in appearance and temperament, astute and reticent, he had seen much of the world both British and foreign, and could make himself a very pleasant'companion. People said lie was always so except when spoken to on business.’’ Colonel Wakefield was married in 1826 to Miss Emily Elizabeth Sidney, daughter of Sir John Shelley Sidney, of Finliurst Flace, and sister of kord de Lisle and Dudley’. His only daughter married Mr. (afterwards Sir Edward) Stafford.i who, in 1856, became the third Premier of New Zealand. Colonel Wakefield died at Wellington’ On September 19, 1818, aged 48. His grave is in the Church of England Cemetery, Bolton Street, on the righthand side of the rise going through to Sydney Street, and not far from the ofd mortuary chapel. The grave is surrounded by those of other early settlers, notably Dr. Isaac Earl Featherston, M.D., the first superintendent of the Wellington Province. The memorial stone is in a good state of preservation, and the lettering is perfect. The stone has- at one time, apparently, fallen down, as it is cracked about' two feet from the base. It lias been repaired, however, and ( is now enclosed in a frame of wood. The grave- is maintained in good order. Others of the family interred in the same plot are:-—Edward Gibbon Wakefield: died 1862. Daniel Wakefield; died 1858. Selina Elizabeth Wakefield, daughter of Daniel Wakefield; died 1848, aged 11. Colonel Wakefield’s Career. The inscription on the memorial stone to Colonel Wakefield reads as follows:— ‘'Sacred to the Memory of William Wakefield, “First Principal Agent of the New Zealand Company, “Colonel of the Ist Regiment of Lancers in the British Auxiliary Force of Spain, “Knight of the Tower and Sword of Portugal, _ “Knight of San Fernando of Spain.” Colonel Wakefield was the fourth son ot Edward Wakefield, Esq., of Burnham, in the County of Essex, in England! In the vear 1825 he acted as secretary to the English Minister at Turin. In 1828 he travelled through Austria, Russia, and Lapland. From 1832 to 1838 he served with distinction in the English Regiment of Lancers engaged in the _ Constitutional cause throughout the civil wars in Portugal and Spain, and in 1839 led the first body of English colonists to the shores of New Zealand. From tins period to his death Colonel Wakefield conducted the affairs of the New Zealand Company through all their difficult and varying relations with the Government, the settlers, and the Natives with eminent temper, moderation, and prudence, with great sagacity, judgment, and ability. In private life he was esteemed for urbanity of manners and kindliness of disposition. He was hospitable, liberal, and unassuming. His hand was ever open to assist the poorer colonists in the evil days of the infancy of the settlement, generously, but judiciously, without ostentation, without indifference.

He died at Wellington on Sentember 19. 1848, in tlie 48th year of his age, and was followed to the grave a large body of the settlers and of Natives from all the surrounding district.