Arthur Wakefield

Captain Arthur Wakefield (19 November 1799 – 17 June 1843) served with the Royal Navy, before joining his brother, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in founding the new settlement at Nelson, New Zealand. Early life Arthur Wakefield was born in Essex, a son of Edward Wakefield (1774–1854), a distinguished surveyor and land agent, and Susanna Crash (1767–1816). His grandmother, Priscilla Wakefield (1751–1832), was a popular author for the young, and one of the introducers of savings banks. He was the brother of Catherine Gurney Wakefield (1793-1873), Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796–1862), Daniel Bell Wakefield (1798–1858), William Hayward Wakefield (1801–1848), John Howard Wakefield (1803–1862), Felix Wakefield (1807–1875), Priscilla Susannah Wakefield (1809–1887), Percy Wakefield (1810–1832), and an unnamed child born in 1813. Royal Navy He joined the Royal Navy at age eleven. He saw action in the Dutch East Indies, and was part of the force that captured and burnt Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812. He took part in the bombardment of Algiers. In the post-Napoleonic period he was stationed off South America, involved in diplomatic duties during the various wars of independence. He then spent several years off the coast of West Africa as part of the flotilla engaged in the suppression of the slave trade. He also saw duty in the North Atlantic, the West Indies and the Mediterranean Sea. He was eventually given command of his own ship, the steam frigate . However, in 1837 he was passed over for promotion, so, recognising that his career was going nowhere, he resigned from the Navy in 1841. New Zealand Company Immediately after Arthur Wakefield left the Navy in 1841, his brother, Edward Gibbon Wakefield recruited him to join the New Zealand Company, tasking him to select settlers for a new settlement to be named Nelson, escort the party to New Zealand, and supervise the growth of the new town. Arthur Wakefield sailed from London on the Whitby in April 1841 and reached Wellington in September 1841. The first immigrant ships arrived in Nelson in February 1842.