Despite abducting and marrying Ellen Turner, and being jailed for that,
Wakefield went on to enjoy a successful diplomatic career in New Zealand.
On his death a marble bust was presented to the Colonial Office, inscribed
"Edward Gibbon Wakefield / Born in London 20th March 1796 / Died in
Wellington (N.Z.) 16th May 1862 / Author of 'The Art of Colonisation' / To
Commemorate / His Statesman Like Qualities / For the Improvement / Of the
Empire / His Friends and Admirers / Have Presented this Bust / To The
Colonial Office". [111]
Notes for Ellen TURNER
She was infamously abducted from boarding school, aged 15, and taken to Gretna Green for illicit marriage by Edward Gibbon WAKEFIELD in a ludicrous plot to secure her wealth. [105],[111]
Sources
105.
Book, Bridget Franklin, 17 June 2016, The Gaskells of Ingersley Hall
