September, 1864

I find that I have a few hours free, and want to conclude the information about my trip to Stoke by Nayland.
I realise that I have done little to describe the town itself. I did get a chance to see most of it as we walked to and from church, and then later in the evening after tea, Frances took me on a tour of the rest.

She told me that the population was estimated to be just over 5,000 but that of course would include farm families. There were two public houses: the Crown, and the Angel Inn. and Frances told me that Miss Pittock’s brother, William was the publican there and Miss Pittock had asked her to convey a message to him. So we went inside.

It was quite dark but the huge fireplace dominated the room. There were oak beams everywhere and it looked to be a comfortable sort of place. Mr. Pittock called to us from out in the back, so we went out to a very different sort of view. The Inn is on a corner site, and looks quite ordinary on the outside, built of brick. But in the back courtyard, ivy covered the walls, and the flowers were in abundanceand it was like being in a different world. We delivered the message and went on our way.

There was a collection of small shops - several butchers, two grocers - one which was also a draper, a baker, and a blacksmith, an earthenware dealer, and a beer retailer.

Frances said that the Angel was considered to be more important of the pubs, as it was from there that the carriers left for Colchester or Ipswich.
 
She pointed out the other church in the area - the Roman Catholic, under the care of Reverend Matthew Lane. It seemed as if relations between the churches were quite friendly. 

She pointed out where the shoe shop cum post office was, where my new friends the Winnys live. I was surprised by the size and elegance of this building. It had three huge bay windows, and the building itself was very tall - with the centre section going to a high peak. I imagined it to be a very light and pretty house, although you could not see except the shoes on display by peering through the windows which had nets up behind the display. Altogether it is a lovely little town, reminding me much more of Disley than Altricham.

After our walk, we went back to the vicarage and I had supper with the family, which was a very simple meal after the huge dinner.

I asked after their sons, as I had read that they had emigrated to New Zealand.

“Oh, Charles has written quite recently that he is now in real estate and sheep importing, with a friend of his, Harry Matson. He commented that a gentleman in England might find it strang. In the colonies the sort of employement which one does and is perfectly acceptable might be considered beyond the pale at home.”

After tea, I went to an early bed, as I had an early start in the morning for my return journey which was quite straight forward.

But back to what I read from Teddy’s and Edward’s letters.

When Edward had recovered sufficiently, he began a tour of Britain at a relaxed pace. He felt his recovery was due to the intervention of his friend Charlton Allom, at whose home he was nursed when he was first taken ill, preventing the doctors from continuing to bleed him. So he carried a card around with him saying, “Don’t bleed me.” just in case he should again succumb to a stroke.

Edward took Dr. Wilson’s Water cure at Malvern that autumn of 1847, and it was there that he determined to have another plan of colonizing New Zealand, this time in the Canterbury area. He wanted it to be a Church of England settlement, and he invited John Godley, an Anglo-Irishman, to join him.

In 1848 he went to France, and although he was still frail, he managed to work several hours each day on the writing of his book The Art of Colonisation.

Regarding this book, Teddy wrote, “He is maligned when accused by Marx and others of wishing to reproduce the aristocratic society of England in the colonies. He wants his labourers to become landowners in due course.”

While I was reading the letters, Rev. Torlesse came in and we sat and chatted for a few minutes. He is also in the process of writing a book - although his will be about the village of Stoke by Nayland. He said he felt that his brother-in-law, Edward Gibbon Wakefield had been one of the ablest, the most enterprising, and noblest men of their generation. As far as his faults, he said, that he had a great love of power and more than once he had sacrificed principle for power's sake. But, despite his faults, he felt that Edward Gibbon had left a deeper mark on the history of the colonies than any other man.

After he left, I went back to my reading about Edward’s life after his stroke.

His doctor had told him to lead a quiet life, but he couldn’t make himself do it. He spent time with his younger brother Felix who had returned from Tasmania after sixteen years. He was alone with his children, having been separated from his wife, was penniless, and Edward gave him hospitality.

In 1848 Edward Gibbon Wakefield, with John Robert Godley set up the Canterbury Association supported by a number of members of parliament and English peers, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, to finalise their plan of a Church of England colony in New Zealand.

Land for the settlement was obtained from the Ngāi Tahu under the deal known as Kemp’s Deed.
This was signed at Akaroa on 12 June 1848 by sixteen Ngāi Tahu chiefs. They sold the greater part of their land for £2,000, but kept their settlements and food-gathering places. They were to be given back larger reserves of land once the surveying had been done.

However, when Walter Mantell mapped the land, he deliberately cut down the promised reserves, allowing less than four acres per head instead of the promised ten. He also kept back from Ngāi Tahu some of their cultivated land and food-gathering places (mahinga kai).
 
The capital city of the new colony was to be called Christ Church, after the Oxford College John Robert Godley attended. The agricultural settlement planned was to be made up of selected Anglican families, with the land sold to the settlers to raise money for the building of schools, roads, and churches. The Canterbury Association bought the land from the New Zealand Company. The rural sections were sold in lots of no less than 50 acres for 3 an acre. The land in the city (1,000 acres) was divided into quarter acre sections, and balloted out to the new settlers. The Association hoped to establish a colony of 15,000 people, with a bishop (and a cathedral), 21 clergy, and 20 schoolmasters. Twelve shiploads of settlers were planned.

His brother William (the one who had helped him in the abduction) in September, 1848 suffered an apoplectic stroke, and died four days later. He was held in high esteem for the work he did in developing New Zealand in the Wellington area. Catharine told me that his daughter, Emily, who was born during his imprisonment all those years before, married Edward Stafford who moved to New Zealand in 1844, but she, Emily, died young and childless, in 1857.

I have many more notes, but I cannot find the time to put them just now.


My wedding day approaches, and I have so much to do to get ready for it. I have told Mr. Balshaw that I will continue working over the Christmas period, as it tends to be very busy. Mr. Jackson and I will be married on December 27th.

Here is the last but two in Edward Gibbon’s letters to my father.

“December 1842
Montreal, Canada

Dear Daniel,

While I am still active with the New Zealand Company, I have maintained my interest in Canadian affairs and I have got involved with the North American Colonial Association of Ireland, NACAI. Through me, the NACAI are trying to purchase a large estate just outside Montreal where we hope to establish another Colonial settlement, this time for Irish people. The government does not object in principle but they strenuously objected to me having any part of it. Will my soiled reputation of twenty years past never leave me?

The NACAI sent me back to Canada as their representative; and I arrived in Montreal in January and have been here all year, Canada is still coming to terms with the union of Upper and Lower Canada. There are serious differences between the French and English Canadians. I have skillfully manipulated these differences; and as a result it was fairly easy for me to get the support of the French Canadians.

In November I was elected to the Canadian Parliament for the county of Beauharnois, however, I fear I will never take up the seat as I am intending on returning soon to England.

All the best for 1842 to you my friend from

Edward Gibbon.”