THE FOUNDERS OF WELLINGTON

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 68, 13 December 1939, Page 5

THE FOUNDERS OF WELLINGTON

Pilgrimage To Wakefield Graves NEED FOR MORE LASTING MEMORIAL • Doubtless many during centennial year will make a pilgrimage to the graves of the Wakefields in the old Sydney Street cemetery. Not that there is anything to be proud about in the humble marble slabs that mark their resting places. Indeed, Welling-

ton has never given fitting recognition to the founders of the settlement; nor has any special effort been made to raise in honour of Edward Gibbon Wakefield a memorial worthy of the man.

On the northern edge of the old graveyard, on gently sloping turf,, there is a spiked iron fence surrounding four fiat, tombstones. Of the great colonizer, one of these stones says: "In memory of Edward Gibbon 'Wakefield, who died May IG, 1862, aged G 6 years.” Only that and nothing more. Alongside lies another square of marble, on which is engraved: "Sacred to the memory of William Wakefield, who died September 27, 1848, aged 47 years.” Below these are two other stones, one to the memory of Daniel Wakefield, who died on January S, 185 S, aged 59 years, and the other to that of bis child, Selina Eliza, daughter of Daniel and Augusta Wakefield, who died on August 20, 1848, aged 11 years. The whole plot measures 20ft. by 10ft. But on one side of the enclosure is an upright slab of Sydney sandstone, badly cracked across the middle, and framed in wood, which does tell the visitor something of the man who negotiated the acquisition of Wellington from the native owners —Colonel William Wakefield. Let the stone speak its eulogy. .. . It reads:— “Sacred to the memory of William Wakefield, first personal agent of the New Zealand Company, Colonel of the First Regiment of Lancers in the British Auxiliary Force of Spain; Knight of the Tower and Sword of Portugal; and Knights of San Fernando, of Spain. Colonel Wakefield was the fourth son of Edward 'Wakefield, of the County of Essex in England. In the year 1823 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. “In 1839 he led the first body of English colonists to the shores of New Zealand. From that period to his death Colonel Wakefield conducted the affairs of the New Zealand Company through the difficult and varying relations with the Government the settlers, and the natives with eminent temper, moderation and prudence, and witli great sagacity, judgment and ability. In private life he was esteemed for his 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 as without indifference.

“He died at 'Wellington on the 19th day of September in the 4Sth year of his age, and was followed to the grave by a large body of settlers and natives from all the surrounding district.” Though the stone is cracked and crumbling, it is still able eloquently to tell the story of one Wakefield, whose tact and ability did so much for the white settlers in the days t of their earliest struggles ip a primitive land. But where is the story of the other Wakefield told?

One citizen said yesterday that he for one would like to subscribe in this year of the centennial toward a fitting memorial to Edward Gibbon Wakefield, and a more enduring one to Colonel Wakefield, liis trusted deputy in the beginning. ' Perhaps the least known of the Wakefields to the present generation Avas Daniel Wakefield. A brother to Edward Gibbon and 'William, he arrived at Wellington by tlie ship Himalaya in 1841. Daniel Avas a lawyer by profession, and practised iu Wellington till he was appointed AttorneyGeneral to the Wellington Provincial Government. His daughter Alice became Mrs. Harold Freeman, and was a great favourite of her uncle, Edward Gibbon Wakefield.