Daniel Wakefield (judge)

Daniel Bell Wakefield was the third child and second son of Edward Wakefield (1774–1854), a distinguished surveyor and land agent, and Susanna Crush{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QK9JAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA969|title=Marriages and Deaths of Considerable Persons|year=1791|pages=969}} (1767–1816). His grandmother, Priscilla Wakefield (1751–1832), was a popular author for the young, and one of the introducers of savings banks.*{{EB1911|wstitle=Wakefield, Edward Gibbon|volume=28|pages=248|first=Richard|last=Garnett|authorlink=Richard Garnett (writer)}}

He was the brother of Catherine Gurney Wakefield (1793–1873), the mother of Charles Torlesse (1825–1866); Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796–1862); Arthur Wakefield (1799–1843); William Hayward Wakefield (1801–1848); John Howard Wakefield (1803–1862); Felix Wakefield (1807–1875);{{cite DNB|wstitle=Wakefield, Edward (1774-1854)|display=Wakefield, Edward (1774–1854)|first =Cæsar Litton |last =Falkiner|authorlink = Cæsar Litton Falkiner|volume = 59|quote=sources: [Allibone's Dict. of Engl. Lit.; Edinburgh Review, xx. 346; Russell's Memoirs of Thomas Moore, iv. 129; Webb's Compendium of Irish Biography; Place MSS. Brit. Mus.; Edward Gibbon Wakefield, by Dr. R. Garnett, 1898.]}} Priscilla Susannah Wakefield (1809–1887); Percy Wakefield (1810–1832); and an unnamed child born in 1813.

In 1824, Daniel Wakefield eloped with and married Selina Elizabeth de Burgh. They had a son, Charles Wakefield. His son Charles and wife Selina Elizabeth both died in 1828. In 1835 Wakefield married Angela Attwood, daughter of Thomas Attwood. They had three children: Selina in 1837, Charles Marcus in 1838, and Alice Mary who was born in New Zealand on 9 October 1849.{{cite web |last1=Wakefield |first1=Alice Mary |title=New Zealand Birth Deaths and Marriages |url=https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/search?path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Dbirths |website=Birth Deaths & Marriages Online |accessdate=25 May 2019}}

After obtaining his law degree, Wakefield practised in London as a member of Lincoln's Inn. He drafted a Bill for the formation of a Colony in South Australia that was accepted by the Secretary of State for the Colonies with some provisos. The Adelaide Street Naming Committee rewarded his efforts by naming Wakefield Street in his honour.{{Cite book|title=City of Adelaide municipal year book|last=Corporation|first=Adelaide|publisher=Adelaide : The Council|year=1938|location=State Library of South Australia|pages=337|language=English}}

Daniel Wakefield immigrated alone under a false name 'Bowler' to New Zealand in 1842,{{Cite book|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/wakefield-daniel|title=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand|last=Wakefield|first=Daniel|publisher=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand|year=1966}} living first in New Plymouth and later moving to Wellington. In 1844, he was elected as head of a committee charged with forming the local militia. In 1847 he was named attorney general for New Munster Province, a post he held until 1853. He served as temporary judge in the Supreme Court in 1855–56.

He died in Wellington on 8 January 1858.{{cite book |title=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand |origyear=First published in 1966 |publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga |url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/wakefield-daniel/1 | editor-first=A. H. |editor-last=McLintock |editor-link=Alexander Hare McLintock |accessdate= 3 June 2018 |chapter=Wakefield, Daniel}}

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Daniel

Category:Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council (1841–1853)