Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue

Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796-1862), Colonial statesman

Colonial statesman; diplomatic official, 1814-6, 1820-6; imprisoned, 1826-9, for abducting an heiress; wrote influentially on penal reform, and later on colonial economics and administration; promoted foundation of South Australia and New Zealand colonies; worked tirelessly as adviser in Canada, and in London for the New Zealand Company.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Ormond, Early Victorian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1973, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.