On March 26 1856 former New Zealand Prime Minister William Massey was born. Massey was born in Limavady in Ireland. He moved to New Zealand in 1870 where he worked as a farmhand for some years before acquiring his own farm in Mangere, south Auckland, in 1876. Massey gradually became more prominent in his community. This was partly due to his civic involvement in the school board, the debating society, and farming associations. Because of his prominence in these circles, he became involved in political debate, working on behalf of rural conservatives against the Liberal Party government of John Ballance.

Massey won a seat in Parliament in 1894 representing Waitemata. In 1896 he stood in Franklin, an electorate he represented until he died in 1925. Massey was sworn in as Prime Minister on 10 July 1912. During World War 1 Massey entered a collation with Joseph Ward of the Liberal Party. Massey and Ward travelled to the United Kingdom several times, both during and after the war, to discuss military co-operation and peace settlements. During his first visit, Massey visited New Zealand troops, listening to their complaints sympathetically. The war reinforced Massey's strong belief in the British Empire and New Zealand's links with it. He attended the Peace Conference in 1919 and signed the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of New Zealand. Massey continued in his role as Prime Minister until his death in 1925.

This image here is of William Massey addressing New Zealand machine gunners at Bois-De-Warnimont, France. Photograph taken 30 June 1918.

Reference: ACGO 8398 IA76 7/13 H685 archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=24204021

This image is available from Archives New Zealand under the records number H685 and under the record code R24204021 This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information. Archives New Zealand does not allow free use of its copyrighted works. See Category:Images from Archives New Zealand.

The image was taken by the official New Zealand Expeditionary Force photographer Henry Armytage Sanders. Sanders was an Official NZEF Photographer (service number 37194) and was appointed by the New Zealand Government to document the New Zealand Division during World War One. It is part of a group of photos taken by Sanders which are often referred to as the 'H' series.

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