Sir William Hall-Jones, KCMG (16 January 1851 - 19 June 1936) was Prime Minister of New Zealand from June 1906 until August 1906. He was the interim Prime Minister after the death of Richard Seddon and the return from overseas of Sir Joseph Ward.

[edit] Early years

Hall-Jones was born in Folkestone, Kent, England, landed at Dunedin in 1873 and became a carpenter and later a builder in Timaru.

[edit] Member of Parliament

In August 1890 he was elected to represent Timaru in the House of Representatives, a seat he held until his resignation in October 1908. He was an Independent but had moderate, progressive views that tended to align him with John Ballance, Sir George Grey and John McKenzie.

Hall-Jones became a cabinet minister in 1896, was acting Prime Minister during the absence from the country of Richard Seddon in 1906 and formed an administration immediately after Seddon's funeral.

However he announced that he would only hold power until Sir Joseph Ward's return from abroad. He accepted the Railways and Public Works portfolios in the subsequent Ward administration. He succeeded William Pember Reeves as High Commissioner for New Zealand in London in December 1908, returned to New Zealand at the end of his term in 1912, and was appointed to the Legislative Council by Massey.

Hall-Jones was a mild mannered man with a fully earned reputation as an outstanding administrator.

[edit] See also

• First Liberal Government of New Zealand

[edit] Further reading

• 'Hall-Jones, William 1851-1936'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 22 June 2007, http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/, retrieved 2008-05-22 

• Foster, Bernard J., 'HALL-JONES, Hon. Sir William', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 18-Sep-2007, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/1966/H/Hall-jonesHonSirWilliam/en, retrieved 2008-05-22 

• Hall-Jones, Frederick G. (1969), Sir William Hall-Jones, the last of the old liberals, Invercargill, [N.Z.]: Hall-Jones Family 

• Hamer, David A. (1988), The New Zealand Liberals: the years of power, 1891-1912, Auckland, [N.Z.]: Auckland University Press, ISBN 1-869-40014-3, OCLC 18420103 

The Bateman New Zealand Encyclopedia, 1988

[edit] External links

• Prime Ministers Office Biograqphy: William Hall-Jones

 

Premiers and Prime Ministers of New Zealand v • d • e
Preceded by: Richard Seddon	(1906)	Succeeded by: Joseph Ward
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