Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 58.djvu/457

 won for him the character of a practical philanthropist. He was a strong advocate of the educational theories of [q. v.], and was on terms of intimacy with (1773–1836) [q. v.] and (1771–1854) [q. v.] Wakefield is best known as the author of ‘Ireland, Statistical and Political,’ published in 1812, a work which, in spite of many inaccuracies, is, from the candour and tolerance it displays, a very valuable account of Ireland in the early years of the nineteenth century. The book was undertaken in 1808 at the suggestion of (afterwards Lord Oriel) [q. v.], formerly chancellor of the Irish exchequer, and Wakefield devoted four years to the task. Mackintosh in the ‘Edinburgh Review,’ while noting its defects in matters of detail, said of this work that ‘few books have stronger marks of the candour and probity of the writer;’ and McCulloch called it ‘the best and most complete work on Ireland since Arthur Young's tour.’ Wakefield was a warm admirer of Pitt, by whom he is said to have been consulted in regard to Ireland, and was also confidentially employed by Lord Melville [see ]. Wakefield died at Knightsbridge on 18 May 1854. His appearance in later life is described as that of ‘a beautiful old man of lofty stature.’ Wakefield married, first, on 3 Oct. 1791, Susanna Crash (d. 1816) of Felstead, Essex, by whom he was the father of Edward Gibbon Wakefield [q. v.], of [q. v.], and of Arthur and Felix Wakefield [see under ]. Wakefield married, secondly, in 1822, Frances, daughter of David Davies, headmaster of Macclesfield grammar school.



WAKEFIELD, EDWARD GIBBON (1796–1862), colonial statesman, born in London on 20 March 1796, was the eldest son of [q. v.], by his wife Susanna Crash, daughter of a farmer at Felstead, Essex. [q. v.] was his uncle, and [q. v.] his grandmother. He was named after his great-grandmother, Isabella Gibbon, a distant relative of the historian. He was admitted to Westminster school on 13 Jan. 1808. He did not like the school, and, refusing to return in September 1810, was removed to Edinburgh high school. There also he showed signs of an intractable disposition, finally leaving in January 1812. In 1814 he entered the employment of William Hill, envoy to the court of Turin [see, third ]. In 1816 he made a runaway match with an heiress and ward in chancery, Eliza Susan Pattle, the orphan daughter of a Canton merchant. He afterwards returned to Turin as secretary to the under-secretary of the legation, and after his wife's death on 5 July 1820 he became connected with the Paris legation.

In 1826, urged on by the persuasions of his friends in Paris, he made a foolhardy attempt to improve his prospects by a second marriage. On 7 March by a false message he beguiled from school Ellen Turner, the daughter of William Turner of Shrigley, a wealthy Cheshire manufacturer, inducing her, by representing that her father's fortune depended on her compliance, to go through a ceremony of marriage at Gretna Green. He took the lady with him to Calais, but forbore to consummate the marriage; at Calais he was overtaken by his bride's enraged relatives, who induced her to leave him. Wakefield returned to England to share the fate of his accomplice, his brother William, who had already been arrested. They were both sentenced to three years' imprisonment. The question of the legality of the marriage was involved in so much doubt that it was cancelled by special act of parliament.

Some two years after his release he published the result of his prison experience and reflections, ‘Facts relating to the Punishment of Death in the Metropolis’ (London, 1831, 8vo), a book remarkable alike for its insight and for its extraordinary power of portrayal. To his clear demonstration that punishment is deterrent according to its certainty, not according to its severity, the amelioration of English criminal law was largely due. The book reached a second edition in 1832.

The term of Wakefield's imprisonment, however, was more important as the period when, perhaps, deeming it desirable that he should quit the country for good, he began a careful study of colonial affairs. He studied exhaustively the subject of colonisation. He was surprised by the absence of any attempt to direct colonial enterprise on scientific principles. The depressed condition of the Australian colonies was chiefly due to the scarcity of labourers, which prevented the development of the country's resources, although plenty of capital was available on easy terms. Land could be acquired so easily