Background
Edward was the eldest son of Edward Wakefield (1750–1826) and Priscilla Bell, and was born in 1774.
farmer land agent philanthropist statistician
Edward was the eldest son of Edward Wakefield (1750–1826) and Priscilla Bell, and was born in 1774.
Wakefield commenced adult life as a farmer near Romford in Essex, and was subsequently employed under the naval arsenal. In 1814 he established himself as a land agent at 42 Pall Mall. He was a strong advocate of the educational theories of Joseph Lancaster, and was on terms of intimacy with James Mill and Francis Place.
Wakefield married, first, on 3 October
1791, Susanna Crash (d 1816) of Felstead, Essex, by whom he was the father of ten children, including five particularly notable ones: Edward Gibbon Wakefield Daniel Bell Wakefield William Hayward Wakefield Arthur Wakefield Felix Wakefield She was the daughter of David Davies, headmaster of Macclesfield grammar school. Wakefield died at Knightsbridge on 18 May 1854.
His appearance in later life is described as that of "a beautiful old man of lofty stature".
Wakefield is best known as the author of Ireland, Statistical and Political, published in 1812, a work which, in spite of many inaccuracies, is, from the candour and tolerance it displays, a very valuable account of Ireland in the early years of the nineteenth century. Mackintosh in the Edinburgh Review, while noting its defects in matters of detail, said of this work that "few books have stronger marks of the candour and probity of the writer;" and McCulloch called it "the best and most complete work on Ireland since Arthur Young"s tour".