THE LATE RICHARD WAKELIN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6492, 17 December 1881, Page 3

THE LATE RICHARD WAKELIN.

The following biographical notice of (he late Mr H. Wakclin was supplied to the N. Z, Tinm hi hi# brother, i.ow residing in the Wairarapa s Mr ttiobard Wakelin, the subject of this sketch, was born in Warwickshire, at the family residence, Barnacle Hall. After completing his education, he engaged In several occupations hut little congenial to his nature, when he decided with his elder brother, at the ago of 17, to start for America, with the intention of purchasing land in Upper Canada —then the most favoured Colony of the British Crown. Finding farming neither so profitable nor so idensant at had been represented, he sold hit implements, and started to walk through the Slates, to study their inhabitants and institutions. To those he became greatly attached, the free and easy ■manner of the Americans, with their libeml institutions, contrasting most favourably, to him, with the down-trodden state of the poor in England and the petty tyranny of the ruling classes. During this tour ho Kvo lectures upon civil and religious liberty, om this time ho became‘a thorough Democrat. After staving in America for a short time ho returned to England, where ho commenced his first literary production in some papers entitled the " Rorainiseonoei of a Wanderer," Ihese articles, though written at the ago of eighteen, showed remarkable signs of literary talent ; and, at evidence of his predeliction for the subject, he afterwards made the study of hit life—via, the government of the people. I may mention the fact that at this time ho wrote on essay, the fundamental principle of which was, what ought to constitute a model or perfect Government. The principal point was that the land should inalienably belong to the people. After staying a few years in England ho returned to America, whore his first child was born j but, the country becoming depressed, he returned to England again, and, noticing the degrading influence of the drinking habits of the people, ho joined the temperance movement;, and contributed a number of articles and sketches to the Temperance Gazette, a paper published in Birmingham for the promotion of the temperance cause. Hie cardinal doctrine ho advocated in regard to the temperance movement was that the people should be reformed by customs and not by law, by mechanics' institutes and rational amusements. Those articles attracted so much attention that ho was invited U) take charge of that paper, which he did until Mr Kannck, the proprietor, died. About this time the ( hartisfc movement was being agitated, and into this ho entered with all his soul, and became acquainted with the famous Fergus O'Connor and Bronte O’Brien. At this time be started a new paper, called The Came of the People, published at the lelo of Man. The Isle of Man at that time possessed special privileges, one of which was that there were no stomp duties; this fact was taken advantage of by the Chartist leaders to publish some very extreme radical politic 1 doctrines, which alarmed the Government so much that a Bill was 1 brought into the House of Commons, and passed through all its stages in one night, to put the Isle of Man on the same level with England. Thus was swept away in one day a lot of newspapers, and amongst them The Came of the People, which had bid fair to make its proprietor a wealthy man. Be ever spoke, however, of his life at the Isle of Man as tbehappiest period of his existence. Shortly after this, in 1851, he came to JNow Zealand. On arriving at Wellington he looked about for a means of obtaining a living, and thought of starting a school. With this object in view be wrote a series of letters on the education question, which attracted the attention of Mr M‘Kenzio, the proprietor of the Independent\ and he was forthwith engaged to report the proceedings of the Legislative Council, which was then sitting. He soon became editor of the Independent. About this time he became acquainted with Sir George Grey, the then Governor of the Oolony,-Dr Featherston, Mr (now Sir William) Fitzherbert, and many other nota lo Colonial men, whose friendship, we believe, he retained until his death. Be had never ceased from the time of hie first connection with the Independent until his death, a journalistic career, and was continually employed on political writings, and this character of his writing was combined with an earnestness of purpose, a detestation of all tyranny and oppression, and a thorough knowledge of political subjects. Of literary men he most admired Carlyle, regarding him as a giant amongst men, and him he endeavoured to imitate, not with any servile imitation, but from a similarity of views and disposition. Political men, as a rule, are perhaps the most inconsistent of men; they will write for anyone, or upon any subject that pays them best; but not so Mr Wakelin. He ooald not, and would not, defend a cause he believed to be wrong. For any further information, we must refer our readers to his published work —“ History and Politics.”