FIRST NEW ZEALAND-BORN PRIME MINISTER
»ir,-in the course of the ZB, Quiz session on Friday, February 25, one of the questions asked was "Who was the first New Zealand-born Prime Minister ‘of New Zealand?" There was a good deal of guessing on the part of the team and finally the name of Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates was mentioned, and the questionmaster said "that was right, Mr. Coates was the first New Zealand-born Prime Minister of this country." At the time I said that I did not think the answer was correct, but did not think more of it until I was asked by a friend the
same question. I then consulted the Year Book and there I find that Hon. Sir Francis Bell was Prime Minister from May 14 to May 30, 1925. Mr. Downie Stewart in his book "Sir Francis Bell, His Life and Times," says Sir Ftancis Bell was born in Nelson at the residency of the New Zealand Company on March 31, 1851." So I think it is clear that Sir Francis, while he did not hold the office for long, was the first New Zealand-born Prime Minister of this country.
TOM
BLOODWORTH
(Auckland).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19490318.2.14.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 508, 18 March 1949, Page 5
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198FIRST NEW ZEALAND-BORN PRIME MINISTER New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 508, 18 March 1949, Page 5
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