Item VI/vi/22 - The New British Province of South Australia; or, A Description of the Country, illustrated by Charts and Views . .

WAKEFIELD, EDWARD GIBBON, eldest son of Edward Wakefield, Pall Mall, London, land agent, author of Ireland, Statistical and Political, and his first wife Susanna Crash, Felsted, Essex; b. 20 Mar 1796; adm. 13 Jan 1808; left 1810; at Edinburgh High Sch. Sep 1810 – Jan 1812; adm. Gray’s Inn 5 Oct 1813; attaché, British Embassies at Turin and Paris; made a runaway marriage with Eliza Ann Pattle, an heiress and ward in Chancery, but she died in Jul 1820; in 1826 induced Ellen Turner, a schoolgirl, to go through a ceremony of marriage with him at Gretna Green; sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for abducting her; advocated reforms to the administration of the Australian colonies 1829-49; the South Australian Association was formed in 1834 with a view to founding a colony based on Wakefield’s principles; the originator of emigration by group settlement, and successfully carried through the settlements of Adelaide, Wellington, Dunedin and Canterbury; adviser to Earl of Durham, Governor-Gen. of Canada 1838; had a large share in drafting the famous Durham report on the affairs of British North America; London Agent for New Zealand Land Co. 1839-46; emigrated to New Zealand 1852; author, Facts relating to the Punishment of Death in the Metropolis, 1831, and other works; m. 1st, 16 Aug 1816 at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London, after a previous marriage in Scotland, Eliza Anne, only child of Thomas Charles Pattle, EICS Canton; m. 2nd, 8 Mar 1826 (annulled by Act of Parliament 14 Jun 1827) Ellen, only dau. of William Turner, Shrigley, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, manufacturer; d. at Wellington, New Zealand 16 May 1862. DNB.