JOHN WICKSTEED

Taranaki Daily News, 12 November 1932, Page 13 (Supplement)

JOHN WICKSTEED

A RESOURCEFUL AGENT

(By

T.C.L.)

When the New Zealand Company’s was invalided Home the New Plymouth settlement was rather like a ship without a captain. The voice of '• the growler was loud in the land, ships that had been. expected did not arrive, the settlers’ resources were dwindling, and there was no one officially representing “the Company” to whom they could take their troubles or grievances.' News of the drift reached Captain' Wakefield at Wellington. He saw that action must be prompt lUit were to - be effective, and he had with him at Wellington bhe . man for the work. Captain Wakefield’s choice was Mr. John Tyl'ston Wicksteed. He had been one of' the sub-editors of the London Spectator, then under the control of Mr. R. S. Rintoul. The Spectator,_ then and now one of -the most influential of London reviews, had boldly espoused the emigration policy enunciated _by Edward ■ Gibbon Wakefield. Mr. Wicksteed was evidently a valued member of the. Spectator, for on the eve of his departure Air. Rintoul wrote: “It wopld 'be a great.injustice to yourself and me to allow you to leave England with t'he impression that I regard the close ot so long, so intimate, and to me so satisfactory an intercourse with anything like indifference. The very contrary is the real state of my feelings.” After a reference to the exacting demands made upon Mr. Wicksteed for the 'Spectator, (Mr. Rintoul proceeds: “However you may have sometimes fallen short of my ideal, you were often nearer it than I ever was myself, for to. .tell you the' truth I never -feel . satisfied with my own work. ■ With your untiring industry and zeal —and above all, the integrity with which you seconded my efforts to uphold - great principles against the world-—I was always most fully satisfied and could, not. be ’otherwise.’ And now at our finaT balaqce, I have no expectation of ever .'being so well served again.” It was therefore as no “failure” thaf Mr. Wicksteed came to Wellington in 1841 in charge of a ship-load of emigran'ts and- accompanied by his “wife and two young sons.

, -By the courtesy, of some df fiis grandchildren some of the family papers have been made available and will be referred to again in this column. . Mrs. 'Wicksteed Was a lady of culture and refinement, who has leftron iteiprd descriptions and drawings of pioneering days which'show- the high courage of the woman pioneers,- while her sketches show how natural beauty could be associated with'the-homes of the colonists.

. Two months after- Captain -Liardet left New Plymouth- Mr. Wicksteed was appointed -the. “Company’s ' Resident Agent” at New Plymouth. He was given a free hand. ■ Except in’ regard to. banking and the' submission, of reports, he received no instructions, '.:.Mr?'.Wicksteed’s control of'-the infant settlement 'was' no easy, billet. From the time of his appointment the Com: -pany.was ■ feeling the of 'shortage' of* funds. Few people with capital had come to New Plymouth,. the local labour market was overstocked, and ’the Government hindered, rather, than helped. Within two. months of the new Agent’s ‘arrival in New-Plymouth he has to report on trouble,, with the ■Maoris over the sale of’Tands. It arose from the return of Taranaki Maoris on their release from, the slavery "which, in pre-European days was one of the penalties of military defeat.. . Largely, it is said, through the influence of, the missionaries the Waikato tribes released their Taranaki, bondsmen, and these .on their return to their old holmes found that their lands . had been acquired by the European settlers. They demanded the return of their ancestral lands and threatened s-otae of the Bettiers on the outskirts of what is now .the 'Bell Block district. There was a scuffle or two, but nothing more serious, and then the Maoris waited in a body upon Mr. Wicksteed and stated -their grievances. He appears to have handled the matter with, tact and courage. He told the Maoris that if they were peaceable their claims would be investigated; if they were not, they would be arrested. Wicksteed’s boldness had the desired effect, -and for 'the time being the land dispute was shelved. .

Further demands were received from England for a reduction in ( expenses, and Mr. Wicksteed’s term of office was one long struggle to accommodate the work of -settlement to diminishing revenue. Evidently he succeeded fairly well, for. 15 months after-his arrival in New Plymouth the directors passed a resolution “expressing the senee entertained of the services of Mr. Wicksteed in having restored the settlement from ’a state of disorganisation to regularity and order, and in having by a course of a firm, upright -and judicious conduct conciliated the goodwill and respect of the inhabitants at the same time that he .promoted the interests of the Company with fidelity and zeal.” Gradually company control gave way to government by the State, and the time came when, a “Resident Agent” was no longer required. Mr. Wicksteed had taken.up .land at/Oinata, and when his official appointment. ended his old profession of journalism made its appeal. Quite early in his New Plymouth days lie had deplored the absence of a local, paper so that, when one was founded in New Plymouth it is not surprising that he became its editor. He writes with a chuckle to his friends of ‘‘riding in from his farm once a week, picking up whatever news there was floating about, scanning any papers available, and then writing an article and in -other ways supplying copy.” A contemporary says: “Some •of Wicksteed’s leaders- were very clever and ably written; others were very funny. Much depended upon the humour the worthy editor was in at the time of writing! But at all times and under all circumstances Wicketepd was invariably the courteous, polite, cultured English gentleman.” After 11 years in Taranaki Wicksteed moved bo Kai Iwi, near Wanganui, where again he combined journalism with farming, and his influence in Wanganui is said to have been quite' remarkable. He died at Kai Iwi in 186'5, but members of bis family are still. residents of the province to which he devoted some strenuous, exacting, -and -exasperating years.... Wicksteed as Resident Agent represented a system which was but a passing phase of colonisation. It was crumbling when he was appointed, but considering the limitations this entails ed he did good work,, and deserve©. .a place on the roll of those who added (Taranaki to the'British realm.