TRIBUTE TO WAKEFIELD’S MEMORY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 May 1941, Page 5

TRIBUTE TO WAKEFIELD’S MEMORY

FOUNDER OF NEW ZEALAND COMPANY CEREMONY AT RESTORED GRAVE TUnited Press Association] Wellington, This Day. Warm autumn sunshine fell softly through the trees in the north-eastern corner of the old Sydney Street cemetery, Wellington, yesterday morning, when, on the anniversary of his death, tribute was paid to the memory of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the founder of the New Zealand Company, which introduced organised white settlement in the Wellington district away back in 1840. Up till a few years ago this part of the cemetery was sadly neglected, but, with the construction of the western access short-cut, combined with sentiment induced by the centennial of the country, it has been tidied up. This work was done by the Wellington City Council in association with the Wellington Beautifying Society, while the grave of the Wakefields has been restored, the fence painted, and the marble slabs reingraved through the generosity of Lord Bledisloe and the enthusiasm of the Early Settlers’ and Historical Association. Among those present yesterday were the Acting-Prime Minister. Mr Nash, Mr J. W. Heenan, Under-Secretary for Internal Affairs, Mr F. P. Wilson, president of the Early Settlers’ Association, Mr W. Toomath, secretary and Mrs Carter, a prominent worker for the association. The city council was represented by Mr E. P. Norman, town clerk, the Wellington Beautifying Society by Captain S. Holm, and the National Broadcasting Service by Mr A. Mulgan. The Wakefield family, in the absence of Miss Irma O’Connor, Auckland (a grand-daughter), was represented by Mrs Venables. In laying a wreath on the grave of Wakefield, the Acting-Prime Minister said they were there to honour one of the great men of New Zealand. Those who had studied the history of New Zealand hnd placed Edward Gibbon W >■ ffiold in he f rst rank of *h ■ i founders cf this country. The ceremony had been made possible by two other men who had taken an interest in colonisation. Lord Bledisloe had sent, through Lord Willingdon, the sum of £IOO to help keep the memory of Edward Gibbon Wakefield green. He did no think that such a ceremony was necessary to remind people of what Wakefield had done—Wellington city would do that. Another memorial to his genius was the provision made in the plans of the city for the Town Belt, which had been marked off for the benefit of the citizens in perpetuity. Mr Nash, speaking of Wakefield’s talents as an economist, said that his appraisal of Britain’s needs as a growing industrial country was the best that could have been made at the time. He had realised how the Empire would grow, and foresaw what the colonies would mean to her in the future. Mr Nash added that it was fitting that he should place the wreath on the grave as he represented in Parliament the Mutt district, which Wakefield himself had represented in the Wellington Provincial Council and the General Assembly.