Wakefield, Edward Gibbon
Wakefield, Edward Gibbon (1796–1862). Wakefield, whose father and uncle were authors, was a wild youth who demanded to be removed from Westminster School, disliked Edinburgh High School, and made a runaway marriage with a ward of Chancery. Released from that scrape by the death of his wife, he attempted a second runaway match with a schoolgirl and was sent to gaol for three years. On his release he took up the cause of colonization, urging emigration to Australia and pointing out that the policy of granting free lands produced an acute shortage of labour. In 1838 Wakefield accompanied Lord Durham on his mission to Canada and had considerable influence on the final report. He then transferred his interest to New Zealand, organizing a company to send out settlers and contributing to the formal annexation of that country in 1840. In 1852 he left for New Zealand but suffered a final breakdown a year after his arrival. Wakefield's achievement was to encourage a more systematic and coherent attitude towards colonial development.
J. A. Cannon
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Wakefield, Edward Gibbon
