NELSON’S FOUNDER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 18 June 1932, Page 8

NELSON’S FOUNDER

CAPTAIN ARTHUR WAKEFIELD R.N. (BY L. 11. PALMER, M.A., Dip.J.) lII.—DISASTER By September, 1842, Nelson had a population of 2,000 people, but many of them were bewailing their choice of setj t lenient. In a Press which preached prosperity letters began to appear stating that Nelson was too highly rated, that its settlers were deceived, that they were discontented, and would evince it soon. Such protests contained at least a germ of truth, and could not afford to bo ignored by the authorities. Captain Wakefield realised that many of the troubles arose from the failure of tlie Company to settle the emigrants on the kmc! they had bought and paid for—principally because sufficient land did not exist within the original bounds of the settlement. The town sections had been allotted, but even bona fide settlers could not make a living off an acre. It was not till January, 1843, that the disposal of the accommodation sections terminated, while the rural seqtions, for which everyone was waiting, were never found by the Company. WAKEFIELD’S EXTREMITY Surveys had been proceeding since early in 1842, and it was becoming increasingly evident that the land had not been found. In August, 1842, Barnicoat records that Tuckett, chief surveyor, was at a loss to understand where the land was to come from. Wakefield must have also recognised it, though there is no evidence of his having admitted it. Doubtless it was in this extremity that he turned his eyes to the Wairau, the favoured country of the wily Te Itauparaha, who declared that the white men should never have it. Cotterill, on Wakefield’s instructions, first sought arable land to the south and west, penetrating to Loke Roto-iti without finding but little. In 1842 he returned from the Wairau, where he went also on Wakefield’s instructions, to report having found some 240,000 acres. The prevailing opinion was that this valley formed no part of the original Nelson settlement, but Captain Wakefield’s necessity was extreme. He had to choose between abandoning the original scheme of settlement and entering the Wairau; he choose the latter, with what results New Zealand now knows.

SIGNS OF TROUBLE The Wairau was advertised for survey by contract in March, 1843. On the l6th of the same month Te Rauparaha, To Rangihaeata and E. Hiko arrived in Nelson,"" each accompanied by a few retainers, Te Rauparaha with a plurality of wives as his attendants. The chief was then about 73 years of age, but looked much younger. His ruthlessness and cunning are notorious. In the first interview between these two firstnamed and Wakefield, the Police Magistrate, Thompson, and Tuckett, surveyor, Te Rauparaha was unceasing-in his requests for “utu,” for, said he, the burial place of his revered ancestors was being disturbed in the Wairau. He particularly requested this to be rum, but Wakefield refused, promising wine, tobacco, sugar and a blanket. Tuckett records: “Te Rauparaha spoke with all the blandness and suavity of an artful woman. Te Rangihaeata, on the other hand, at once denied our right, and defied us, and never opened his mouth but to breathe forth threats and defiance.” It must have been apparent to the Company's representatives that, to the natives, the Wairau was a much-prized possession indeed. Wakefield, however, was not the man to bo overawed by such a show of hostility and the survey proceeded. The contracting parties, who reached the Wairau about 25th April, 1843, were met by no open hostility by the local natives, but, in the course of a day or two others arrived in large numbers. They pulled up the ranging rods in Parkinson’s survey, destroyed a sawpit, and talked much of Te Rauparaha’s impending visit. He would, they said, send the white man away.

On Ist June, this chief, accompanied by about ICO Maoris, including women, arrived from Mana Island, whence they had been transported by a whaler, George Toms. They went to Cotterill’s station, and, on the following morning, ordered him and his men to leave. They stripped the hut and burnt it, along with that of the men and the timber intended for the survey stakes. They then assisted Cotterili to carry the surveyors’ belongings to the boats and dispatched them to Cloudy Bay. Tuckett, chief surveyor, arrived next day, meeting Cotterili, at the mouth of the Wairau, and dispatched him with a note to Nelson. Meantime the Maoris sought Barnicoat’s station and burnt the fern used for tent roofs and the timber which they considered their own, but they were especially careful not to destroy anything that they considered the white men’s property.

WARRANT FOR ARSON Up till this time ominous gestures but no direct hostility. Indeed, the Maoris, in protecting what they repeatedly said they were determined not to give up, exercised commendable forbearance. especially for savages. CotteHU arrived in Nelson and laid an information against Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, whereupon Thompson, the police magistrate, issued a warrant against them for arson. Thus the immediate action had nothing to do with the land controversy, but was the execution of a summons for a particular offence. Thompson determined to serve it in person, and, being informed that a number of the Maoris were armed, resolved to take an armed force. He expressed the opinion that such a demonstration of authority would prevent bloodshed and impress the natives with the authority of the law. Actual resistance was not anticipated. It was simply the law of the Queen vindicated so that Thompson, as mouthpiece of the law, was in virtual command of the expedition and not Wakefield. Rut this does not exculpate Wakefield for we know that he acquiesced in the plan.

WAKEFIELD’S LAST LETTER That he himself had a totally wrong conception of the resistance of the natives, the motives for it and the means he should take to overcome it, is shown by the tenor of his letter to his brother William, written on the same day as the Government brig left for Cloudy Bay. and the last he ever wrote: “We heard on Saturday that To Rauparaha and Rangihaeata have commenced operations in the Wairau, and have burned one of the surveyor’s houses. The Magistrates have granted a warrant for the information, and Thompson, accompanied by myself, England and a lot of constables, are off immediately in the Government brig to execute it. We shall muster 60, so I think we shall overcome these tra-j veiling bullies. I have never felt more convinced of being about to act lightly for the benefit of all, and not less especially so for the benefit of the native race. I shall probably communicate with you from Cloudy Ray.” Wakefield’s feeling betrayed him. His duty was not to overcome “travelling buliies,” but to settle a very sore point.

Moreover, the question had been turned from land into the enforcement of English law, of which Liie natives knew nothing. What' could they know of arson as a punishable offence? Naturally, when the Maoris saw the white men land at Cloudy Bay their only thought was that they were come to take their much-prized land from them. EXPEDITION SETS OUT The men chosen for the expedition wore mostly of the labouring class. Oldfashioned muskets and rusty cutlasses were their weapons. The brig Victoria sailed cm 13th June, and in the Bay on the same day met the Company’s boat returning, with Tuckett among those on board. As a Quaker he was alarmed at the display of force, and urged them to return. This Wakefield was inclined to do, as he was told that Te Rauparaha would be content to leave the question of the land to Commissioner Spain, when the Land Court should sit in Nelson. Thompson, however, was adamant; he thought the Maoris needed a lesson; He had his way, and the expedition went on. WAKEFIELD’S FATE There is no need to tell again the wellknown and tragic story of the final encounter, except to dispute the propriety or the term “massacre” as applied to it. Maori and pakelia engaged in hand-to-hand fighting, which could easily have been averted at this late stage by the exercise of tact and forbearance on the part of the police magistrate. The whites were outnumbered. Some were killed in the conflict, some escaped, while some, among whom were Wakefield and Thompson, gave themselves up. The law of the Maoris, centuries old, was that he killed and ate his captives. In this "case he carried out only the first part. Eye-witnesses have stated that Wakefield and Thompson were tomahawked by Te Rangihaeata as were one or two others. Captain Wakefield’s coat had been torn off. Under his head the natives had placed a piece of bread and a pistol across his throat. He lay with his arm across his chest, but his face had not been mutilated. The chiefs had carried out their threat, made to Barnicoat during the progress of the! surveys, “that if ‘Wide-Awake’ (this was what the Maoris called Wakefield) liked the Wairau so much, they would kill him and bury him there.” The news of the disaster burst like a bombshell on the infant settlement of Nelson ten days later. All work, public and private, was at a standstill; special constables were enrolled and the Church Hill was fortified and named “Fort Arthur.” The apprehension at Wellington wa,s hardly less. The Maoris had suddenly changed, in the opinions of the settlers, from simple natives to dangerous savages. In England, too, the news caused a sensation.

NELSON MOURNS Nelson had suddenly been bereft of her leading spirits, and no man among them was mourned, both by Maori and Pakeha, more than Captain Wakefield. One Maori chief at Motueka was so affected that he decided to build a house after the style of “Wide-Awake’s” in memory of him. Amidst the general distress tributes to the late Captain arose on all sides. No better estimate of his qualities can be given than by quoting the eulogies of those who knew him best. That from the pen of Francis Jolie, a well-known Nelson pioneer, is typical: “The loss of Captain Wakefield has, of course, left a void, a hiatus in this settlement which to us, it appears vain to hope to see adequately supplied. He must be missed by us for ever, both in his public and in his private capacity. For the task of founding a colony he was by nature pre-eminently qualified. It was his forte —one might also say his hobby. But hobby as colonising might be with him, he had all the requisite strength and breadth of character for doing the thing well and nobly. “He possessed the physical temperament for it—that which it would be well for all settlers to have—perfect coolness and self-possession under all circumstances ; small impressionability by those ordinary physical or moral influences which "most weigh down the animal spirits; at the same time there was none of that frigidity and want of earnestness of purpose which generally characterise men of similar temperament; on the contrary, when known, no man probably ever displayed in finer beauty and proportion those valuable qualities of soul which obtain the esteem of society and the warm-hearted sympathies of the intimate and discriminating few. The life he had lived, in constant fellowship with his species, and his slow and gradual promotion from the lower to the higher ranks of his profession—a profession distinguished for its broad generosity and absence of all self-consideration upon fine original elements both of mental and physical constitution, had developed in hi mall that one most desired to see in a man occupying the post he did. “It had made him, in a few words, a man of the world, not in the mere ordinary sense, but in the larger and completer one which comprehends the knowledge and practice of the right, the true, and the good, as much as the knowledge of life and humanity. So furnished, it is not necessary to say that a prominent feature of his character was the very practical, businesslike turn which everything took with him. There was no 'heating about the bush,’ no circumlocutory display, but straightforward, intelligible action in all his proceedings. “His judgment, indeed, in all matters of practical life, was remarkably sound; he had seen the world of life in action, and brought away from it all that was ; valuable for guidance and conduct in af- j fairs. Hence the confidence and admira- ' tion which communication with him in- ! variably imparted; and hence also his successful management of the affairs of this settlement as the Company’s chief resident officer; a success which we presume there are very few amongst us at all qualified to judge, who, however they may dissent from the propriety of cue or two small points in his public policy, will not cordially admit him to have attained in the main.

“One remarkable characteristic of the man remains to be noticed; no person, probably of any discernment and susceptibility coming in contact with him in the ordinary intercourse of society, but must have been struck by something or other about him that betokened a mind above the common stamp, both in power and object ; something distinct from and above the sagacity of a mere mail of the world, however, complete. The feeling thus experienced it would be difficult accurately to describe; but it had its source in a certain sort of moral sway —the highest kind of power—operating quite apart from his station and adventitious claims, and indicating a strong, innate admiration for all that is great, beautiful and true; though perhaps debarred of its full development and effect by the prudential necessities of this saturnine world of ours.” This and other tributes were written under the sway of emotion, but truth has suffered little, for the grief of Nelson settlers at losing their leader was universal. That he stood so high in their esteem in circumstances anything i but fortuitous is sufficient testimony to his worth as a coloniser. Had he lived he would have added still further to the illustrious name of Wakefield in the sphere of colonisation.