Not many detailed accounts have been written about the foundation of a colony, and none is more likely to be instructive than that of the foundation of Canterbury, New Zealand. This settlement is outstanding in imperial history because it came as the climax of twenty years of colonial reform, and because the settlers were carefully selected: it is thus important as the most successful example of systematic colonisation in English imperial history. The man who inspired and planned and led and established Canterbury, New Zealand, was John Robert Godley, a close friend of Gladstone, who also gave his powerful aid to the scheme. Apart from the foundation of Canterbury, Godley was an eminent Victorian who wrestled with the Irish problem and took part in the reform of the War Office after the Crimean War.