1839: The New Zealand Company arrives in Wellington

1839: The New Zealand Company arrives in Wellington

William Hayward Wakefield (1803-1848) was an important figure in the early Thorndon. He arrived in New Zealand in 1839 as the chief representative of the New Zealand Company, an organisation formed in 1838 to establish British settlements in New Zealand.

William's brother Edward Gibbon Wakefield was the driving force behind the New Zealand Company. Investors bought shares in the Company, giving the Company funds to buy land in New Zealand. Edward Gibbon Wakefield decided that prices should be set at a level that would not only finance immigration and development but would also prevent some immigrants from immediately buy land; this would provide the new colony with a workforce. As part of the Company's scheme, one tenth of the land in any settlement would be reserved in Māori ownership.

In 1839 it was becoming obvious that the British government would soon annex New Zealand and move to control the sale of land by Māori. The Company hurriedly dispatched William Wakefield to New Zealand to buy land. He was closely followed by ships packed with colonists.

Wakefield arrived in Port Nicholson (as Wellington was then known) in September 1839. Within days Wakefield believed he had bought all the land surrounding the harbour. But he failed to ensure that Te Āti Awa (the local iwi) were in agreement and fully understood the transaction. Later investigations revealed that leaders at Pipitea and other settlements had never agreed to sell their land.

In March 1840, after an attempt to establish themselves at Petone, the New Zealand Company colonists chose Lambton Harbour as the site for a settlement. Pipitea and the surrounding area was renamed Thorndon (after the country estate of one of the Company's directors) and became the official end of town. William Wakefield is responsible for the location of Parliament; he chose this site for his house and reserved the surrounding land.

This sketch, the only known image of William Wakefield, was made in 1826 when he and his brother were convicted of the kidnapping of a 16 year-old heiress, Ellen Turner. Edward Gibbon Wakefield duped her into marriage in the hope of gaining her fortune. The marriage was annulled and the brothers imprisoned. It was during his time in prison that Edward began to see organised emigration as a solution to the problems of crime and poverty England faced, and he rejoined society as a passionate supporter of emigration.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield biography – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

You can read more about the European settlement of Wellington on Te Ara, the online Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

European arrival in Wellington – Te Ara website

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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