Francis Bell (New Zealand Prime Minister)
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| Rt. Hon. Sir Francis Bell | |
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20th Prime Minister of New Zealand
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| In office May 14, 1925 – 30 May 1925 |
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| Preceded by | William Massey |
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| Succeeded by | Gordon Coates |
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| Born | 1851 Nelson, New Zealand (First New Zealand born Prime Minister) |
| Died | 13 March 1936 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Constituency | Wellington City |
| Political party | Reform |
| Religion | Jewish (non-practising) |
- For the Australian/New Zealand actor see Francis Bell (actor)
Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell, GCMG, KC (1851 – 13 March 1936) was the first New Zealand-born Prime Minister.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Nelson, he attended Auckland Grammar School and Otago Boys' High School. At Otago Boy's he was the Dux for four years. His mother was Jewish.
After finishing high school he travelled to England where he attended St John's College, Cambridge, receiving a B.A. in 1872. On returning to New Zealand he began practising law in Wellington.
He served as Crown Solicitor in Wellington from 1878 to 1911. He was a prominent member of both the local and national Law society. He served as the latter's President from 1901 to 1918.
[edit] Political career
His political career began with being elected Mayor of Wellington in 1891, 1892 and 1897. In his first general election in 1890 he was defeated running as an independent for the seat of Wellington City. He was defeated again in a by-election. He finally entered parliament in the 1893 election, serving for one term.
In 1912, the Reform Party came to power and Bell was appointed to the Legislative Council and became Minister of Internal Affairs and Immigration. In 1915 he became the Minister of Immigration. In 1918 he became the Attorney-General, a position he would hold until 1926. From 1923 he would also serve as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He represented New Zealand at the League of Nations in 1922. He would also attend the allied conferences at Genoa and the Hague.
In 1923 he became a G.C.M.G. and was appointed to the Privy Council.
[edit] Prime Minister
On returning to New Zealand, Bell became acting-Prime Minister while William Massey was in London. Massey's health began to fail and Bell took over most control of the government. He officially became Prime Minister on May 14 after the death of Massey on May 10. He would serve as Prime Minister for the next 16 days. Bell declined the party's offer to become Prime Minister and was replaced by Gordon Coates.
After giving up his portfolios in 1926, he returned to the League of Nations with Coates.
He died in Wellington on 13 March 1936.
[edit] References
| Prime Minister of New Zealand |  |
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| Preceded by: William Massey | (1925) | Succeeded by: Gordon Coates | ||
| Sewell | Fox | Stafford | Domett | Whitaker | Weld | Waterhouse | Vogel | Pollen | Atkinson | Grey | Hall | Stout | Ballance | Seddon | Hall-Jones | Ward | Mackenzie | Massey | Bell | Coates | Forbes | Savage | Fraser | Holland | Nash | Holyoake | Marshall | Kirk | Rowling | Muldoon | Lange | Palmer | Moore | Bolger | Shipley | Clark | ||||
