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Field name | Value |
---|---|
Title | New Zealand Company, Miscellanea – Persons. Colonel Wakefield's Letter Book, 1839-1842 |
Author | Wakefield, William Hayward |
Date | 17 Aug 1839 - 24 Mar 1842 |
Document Type | Correspondence; Personal Account |
Reference | CO 208/307 |
Library / Archive | The National Archives |
Collection Name | New Zealand Company Original Correspondence, etc. |
Description | Part letter book, part journal of Colonel Wakefield's journey to New Zealand and events following his arrival. This is predominantly made up of dairy entries recording Wakefield's journey, the locations passed on the voyage and expeditions to investigate the terrain and geology of New Zealand upon their arrival. The general life of sailors and fellow expedition members is referred to within entries and offers a detailed first hand account of navigation at this time and first observations of New Zealand. His first encounters and impressions of Māori inhabitants are also noted here, along with their cultural and military history, traditional customs and ceremonies. |
Series Description | This series contains original correspondence and entry books of the New Zealand Company which were handed over to the Colonial Office after the surrender of the company's charters in 1850. Also included are minutes, accounts, registers of emigrants and land transfer records. |
Biographical Note / History | The New Zealand Company was a chartered company formed in 1839 and incorporated in 1841 with power to buy, sell, settle and cultivate land in New Zealand. It did not prove a satisfactory agency for colonising New Zealand and was induced to surrender its charters in 1850. It was finally dissolved in 1858. Wakefield led the first colonising expedition to New Zealand and became one of the founders of Wellington. |
Theme(s) | Colonisation Companies and Emigration Societies; Ships and Shipping Lines; Politics, Legislation and Governance |
Country (from) | Great Britain |
Country (to) | New Zealand |
Places | Cape of Good Hope, South Africa; Canary Islands; Brazil; Tasmania, Australia; Cloudy Bay, Wairoa, Cooks Strait, Otago, Cloudy Bay, New Zealand |
Ports | Plymouth, England; Wellington, New Zealand |
Nationality | English; European; Māori |
Ships | Cove; Cuba |
Keywords | New Zealand Company, shipping, navigation, journey conditions, expedition, trade, weather, geology, surveying, religion, Christianity, provisions, exploration, colonisation, colony, settlement, labour, sailors, timber, ship building, indigenous people, whaling, cargo, nature, natural resources, water, transport, climate, languages, chief, housing, food, agriculture, education, church, death, history, cannibalism |
Language | English |
Copyright | Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK |