William Ferguson Massey

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Ferguson Massey

William Ferguson Massey (born March 26, 1856 in Limavady , County Londonderry , Ireland ; † May 10, 1925 in Wellington , New Zealand ) was the founder of the Reform Party and from 1912 to 1925 Prime Minister of New Zealand , with the second longest term after Richard Seddon .

Early years

William Ferguson Massey was born on March 26, 1856, the eldest son of the John Massey family and his wife Mary Anne Ferguson in Limavady , County Londonderry .

In 1862, Williams ' parents immigrated to New Zealand with two of his siblings in a group of non-Anglican settlers. He himself stayed behind at the age of 6 and attended a private school for eight more years. In 1870 he followed his parents to New Zealand and reached the country on December 10th on the City of Auckland .

New Zealand

When he arrived in New Zealand, he learned the trade of a farmer up to the age of 17 with his father and then on a farm in Longbeach , Canterbury , rented 100  acres of land in Mangere in 1877 and bought a threshing machine with which he earned his living as a contractor. In 1882 he married his wife Christina Allen Paul , the daughter of a neighboring farmer.

In 1890, Massey bought a 220  acre farm in Mangere , 450  acres of swampy land in the Waiuku District, and expanded its grain threshing facility. At that time he was briefly interested in the ideas of the Knights of Labor politically . In 1890 he became the chairman of the Manager Farmers Club , in which he had previously been involved. 1891 followed the presidency in the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association and in 1893 he became president of the New Zealand National Association , a conservative political organization.

Political career

William Massey about 1920. Portrait study by James Guthrie for Statesmen of World War I .

On November 28, 1893, Massey ran for a seat in parliament for the Franklin constituency , but lost to his Liberal rival candidate. Then a few months later, he ran in a by-election for the electoral district of Waitemata , in which the seat was vacated and won the election on April 9, 1894. In the General Election in 1896, he ran again on December 4 for the District of Franklin , could but this time prevail. Massey held this seat until his death.

With his engagement in Parliament he quickly took over the position of Whip ("whip") of the opposition and on September 9, 1903 elected the leadership. To exist with little success with his opposition to the ruling Liberal Party , Massey founded the Reform Party in February 1909 , whereby he based the naming of the party on the Political Reform League .

In 1911 Massey was known nationwide and the signals were of political change. The Liberals were beaten with a loss of 16 seats and the Reform Party became the strongest faction with a total of 36 seats, but did not win a majority. What followed was ruthless political maneuvering, nasty intrigues, accusations of bribery and counter-accusations in which Massey was a major player. After two motions of no confidence in the Liberal government in 1912, Massey was finally there and was sworn in as the 19th Prime Minister of New Zealand on July 10, 1912, leading a minority government. The beginning of the First World War diverted the public's attention from the local political events in New Zealand, and so Massey could not establish a government majority despite winning votes. Public pressure, a so-called Wartime Coalition to form (wartime coalition), brought Massey finally to the Liberals and the Labor Party into a coalition to invite and to one. In 1914, Massey was appointed to Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council .

Under Massey and opposition leader and former Prime Minister Joseph Ward to New Zealand participated in the First World War on the side of Britain . After the war placed the epidemic of Spanish influenza , which claimed the lives in New Zealand around 8500 people, the government Massey of renewed challenges. Massey's wife, Christina Allen Paul , who was particularly committed to charity during this time, was honored with the CBE ( Commander ) in 1918 and the GBE ( Dame Grand Cross ) in 1926 for her services .

The General Election, which was held on December 17, 1919, then brought Massey with 45 seats won for the first time the longed-for and now comfortable government majority. After New Zealand slipped into economic recession from 1920, Massey tried to strengthen the meat and dairy industry through centralization. He froze salaries, fired civil servants, cut government spending and tried to revive the economy with tax cuts. For the parliamentary elections in 1922, his party received the receipt and lost the government majority. Nevertheless, Massey was able to form a minority government again and thus secure his office as prime minister.

Sick of cancer in 1924, Massey had an unsuccessful operation on March 30, 1925 and died on May 10, 1925 in his home in Wellington. He was buried on May 14th at Point Halswell at the entrance to Wellington Harbor .

Honors

  • 1914 - Member of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council , London
  • 1917 - Doctor of Law , Edinburgh
  • 19 ?? - Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor , France
  • 19 ?? - Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown , Belgium

literature

Web links

Commons : William Massey  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Barry Gustafson : Massey, William Ferguson . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , November 13, 2013, accessed August 7, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b c Massey, William Ferguson . In: GH Scholefield (Ed.): A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Volume 2 , 1940 (English).
  3. ^ Massey, William Ferguson . In: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . Auckland Provincial District - Volume II . Cyclopedia Company Ltd , Christchurch 1902 (English).
  4. ^ William James Gardner : Massey, William Ferguson . In: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , November 11, 2011, accessed September 7, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Guy Scholefield, Emil Schwabe : Massey, William Ferguson . In: Who's Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific . 1st edition. Gordon & Gotch , Wellington 1908 (English).
  6. ^ William James Gardner : Reform Party . In: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , March 22, 2009, accessed September 7, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Kate Newmann : Massey, William Ferguson 1856-1925 . In: Who was Who 1916-1928 . Institute of Irish Studies , Belfast 1929 ( online [accessed September 7, 2015]).
  8. ↑ Massey, Rt. Hon. William Ferguson . In: Dictionary of Ulster Biography . Adam & Charles Black , London 1993 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Massey, William Ferguson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Massey, William; Massey, Bill
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prime Minister of New Zealand (1912-1925)
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Limavady
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1925
Place of death Wellington