1796-1862. British colonial administrator. He
was imprisoned 1826-29 for abducting an
heiress, and became manager of the South
Australian Association, which founded a
colony in 1836. He was an agent for the New
Zealand Land Company 1839-46, and emigrated
there in 1853. His son Edward Jerningham
Wakefield (1820-79) wrote Adventure in New
Zealand 1845.