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Story: Te tango whenua – Māori land alienation

William Wakefield

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William Wakefield

William Wakefield was responsible for a number of pre-Treaty purchases by the New Zealand Company which were drawn up at Port Nicholson (Wellington Harbour). This sketch shows him at his 1826 trial for assisting his brother Edward Gibbon Wakefield in the abduction of a young woman.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: NON-ATL-0001

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Richard Boast, Te tango whenua – Māori land alienation – Pre-treaty transactions, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/19513/william-wakefield (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Richard Boast, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 July 2015.