The small New Zealand community of Wakefield is situated some 25 km south west of Nelson

Nelson, New Zealand

Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....

 at the top of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

.

First settled in about 1843, it was originally called Pitfure. However the name was soon changed to Wakefield. This name was after the town of Wakefield

Wakefield

Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....

 in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, and not, as many assume, after Captain Arthur Wakefield

Arthur Wakefield

Captain Arthur Wakefield served with the Royal Navy, before joining his brother, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in founding the new settlement at Nelson, New Zealand.-Royal Navy:...

 who led the expedition that first established Nelson City and Province.

Wakefield is notable for Wakefield Primary School, the oldest school in continuous usage in New Zealand. It was set up in 1843 by Mary Ann Baigent, the wife of Edward Baigent

Edward Baigent

Edward Baigent was a 19th century Member of Parliament from Nelson, New Zealand. He was one of the most successful saw-millers of the region, and his company existed for well over 100 years.-Family:...

.

Wakefield comes under the responsibility of the Tasman District Council, which has its offices in the nearby town of Richmond

Richmond, New Zealand

Richmond, the seat of the Tasman District Council, lies 13 km south of Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the southern extremity of Tasman Bay...

. It is part of the West-Coast Tasman General Electorate.

There is a small paper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

called the Wakefield Village News published monthly and distributed to the community.