Captain Joseph Wakefield, soldier and penal administrator, of the 39th Regiment

39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot

The 39th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1719 and amalgamated into The Dorsetshire Regiment in 1881.The regiment was raised by Colonel Richard Coote in Ireland in August 1702...

 was the acting commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...

, from November 1828 to 29 June 1829.

By this time there were about 200 convict

Convict

A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...

s on the island, Several buildings had been constructed of locally produced timber, stone, shingles and lime, including a prisoners' barracks, three-storey barracks for troops, quarters for civil officers and a military hospital. The remains of some of these buildings can still be seen at Kingston

Kingston, Norfolk Island

Kingston is the capital of the Australian South Pacific Territory of Norfolk Island. The vice-regal, legislative, administrative and judicial offices are all located in Kingston...

.

Wakefield was soon replaced by the man who had sought the commandant's position since 1825, James Morisset.