26. The Kiwi Founding Father Who Kidnapped a 15-Year-Old
Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 – 1862) was a British politician who is deemed by many to have been the founder of New Zealand. Before that, however, he spent years in prison for abducting and marrying a 15-year-old heiress. His victim was Ellen Turner, the only daughter of a wealthy businessman.
Wakefield wanted her father’s money to bankroll his political career, but he realized that Ellen’s dad would never consent. So he sent a carriage to her boarding school, with a message that Ellen’s mother was dying, and wished to see her daughter immediately. She was then taken to a hotel, where Wakefield tricked her into marrying him.