Edward Gibbon Wakefield

Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 1796 – 16 May 1862) was an English politician in colonial Canada and New Zealand. He is considered a key figure in the establishment in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s of British colonies in Australia and New Zealand (where he later served as a member of parliament). He also played a role in the history of Canada, being involved in the drafting of Lord Durham's Report and serving as a member of the Parliament of the Province of Canada for a short time. He was best known for his colonisation scheme, sometimes referred to as the Wakefield scheme or the Wakefield system, which aimed to populate the new colony of South Australia with a workable combination of labourers, tradespeople, artisans and capital. The scheme was to be financed by the sale of land to the capitalists who would thereby support the other classes of emigrants. Despite being found guilty and imprisoned in 1827 for kidnapping a fifteen-year-old girl, he enjoyed a lengthy career in colonial governments and colonial policy.