688 



OBITUARIES. 



upon the passage of the Reform Act, he was 

 elected to Parliament for the newly-created 

 borough of Lambeth, and sat for that borough 

 nntil 1847, when some dissatisfaction occurring 

 among the electors of Lambeth, relative to one 

 of their representatives holding office (he had 

 been appointed, in 1846, Under Secretary of 

 State for the Colonies), he was defeated, but 

 was elected in 1848 for the Government 

 borough of Kinsale. In 1851 he was transfer- 

 red to the "War Department ; and at the be- 

 ginning of the session of 1852 gave up his seat, 

 and turned his attention entirely to the duties 

 of his office. "While in Parliament he was one 

 of the most strenuous advocates of the repeal 

 of the corn laws, and exerted himself success- 

 fully in behalf of the penny postage scheme. 

 Through a motion of his, the Fine Arts' Com- 

 mission was appointed, and many other impor- 

 tant measures were carried. He was deeply 

 interested in scientific subjects generally : the 

 electric telegraph, the ventilation of public 

 buildings, and Babbage's calculating machine, 

 all received his advocacy. He was the author 

 of several political pamphlets, and the adoption 

 of the Armstrong gun was mainly due to his 

 influence. 



May 16. "WAKEFIELD, EDWARD GIBBOX, Esq., 

 an English writer on political and social science, 

 died at Wellington, New Zealand, aged 66 

 years. He was educated as a land-surveyor. 

 Being left, while still quite young, a widower 

 with a young family, he was induced to enter 

 into a plot for elopement with a young heiress 

 of fifteen whom he forcibly took to Gretna 

 Green and married ; but her relatives interfer- 

 ing, he was tried for abduction, and sentenced 

 to three years' imprisonment. A special act 

 of Parliament was subsequently passed, to make 

 void any pretence of marriage. A book which 

 he wrote upon his experiences in prison was 

 the first step toward those reforms of the 

 penal law which are due to him. From the 

 criminal at home, he extended his inquiries to 

 the convict in the Australian settlements, and 

 he became so familiar with every detail of the 

 subject, that reference is often made to his 

 " Letters from Sidney," as having been written 

 upon the spot. His book on "England and 

 America,' 1 published in 1833, was written to 

 illustrate the different sources of wealth which 

 the two countries commanded the one in its 

 wide-spread lands, and the other in its abun- 

 dant population and accumulated capital. The 

 views promulgated in this work, together with 

 previous efforts, led to the formation of an as- 

 sociation to found the colony of South Australia. 

 In 1837 he strongly urged the occupation of the 

 islands of New Zealand by the English, and 

 when the New Zealand Association was es- 

 tablished, became a director, and a valuable 

 colony was thus added to the British dominions. 

 His attention was next turned to the causes of 

 the many political troubles in Canada, and in 

 the results which followed the investigations 

 made by Lord Durham, in the establishment 



of a more responsible government, may be 

 traced the influence of his private secretary, 

 "Wakefield. Some years since he removed to 

 the south of France for the benefit of his health, 

 and subsequently to New Zealand, where he 

 died. 



May 17. PKOTET, Rear Admiral, AUGUSTE- 

 LEOPOLD, killed in action against the Taepings, 

 in China, aged 53 years. He was born at St. 

 Servan, France, and early showed a decided 

 taste for the naval profession. At sixteen 

 years of age he was admitted into the naval 

 school of Angouleme, and after passing through 

 the inferior ranks, at 38 years received the 

 commission of captain in the royal navy. At 

 this time the English and French Govern- 

 ments combined their efforts to put an end 

 to the slave trade on the African coast, and 

 Captain P. was employed in that service. After 

 cruising three years on the coast of Africa 

 he was appointed governor of Senegal, where 

 he remained from 1850 to 1855, during which 

 time he exerted himself to promote geographi- 

 cal explorations in that part of Africa. He 

 served during the war Avith China, and for his 

 services was promoted to the rank of rear-admi- 

 ral. He subsequently joined the expedition 

 against the Taepings, who threatened an attack 

 upon Shanghai, and during the engagement at 

 Nan-Jao lost his life. 



May 28. BUCKLE, HEXRY THOMAS. (See 

 BUCKLE.) 



May 29. SAX MIGUEL, EVAKISTO, Duke de. 

 (See SAN MIGUEL.) 



May 31. WILLSHIRE, Gen. Sir THOMAS. Bart., 

 G.C.B., died at Hill-house, Windsor Forest, 

 aged seventy-two years. He was born at Hali- 

 fax, North America, and while still a child was 

 enrolled on the list of officers of the 38th regi- 

 ment, of which his father was paymaster. He 

 received his early education at Lynn, in Nor- 

 folk, and subsequently attended a school at 

 Kensington. In 1802 he accompanied the 38th 

 regiment to the West Indies, where the corps 

 remained for three years, and was then ordered 

 to Buenos Ayres, to join the expedition of the 

 Rio de la Plata. The attack on Buenos Ayres 

 took place July, 1807, and the 38th, of which he 

 was now captain, bore a conspicuous part upon 

 that occasion. In 1808 he served with his regi- 

 ment in the Peninsula. In 1812 he returned 

 to Spain, where he served till the end of the 

 war. In 1818 he led his regiment to the wilds 

 of South Africa, where, during four years, he 

 held a responsible command on the frontiers of 

 Kaffir-land, opening roads through the jungle, 

 and constructing bridges over the rivers; he 

 likewise built a fort, which is called, in his 

 honor, Fort Willshire. He held Grahamstown 

 against a desperate attack by ten thousand 

 Kaffirs; repulsing them with great slaughter, 

 and following them into their own country, 

 would listen to no proposals of peace until the 

 abandonment by the Kaffirs of the territory 

 between the Keiskamma and Great Fish rivers. 

 In 1822 he proceeded to Bengal, and being pro- 



