Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and United ministries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
c. 1906
Ward and his family, around 1905
The Seddon Ministry in 1900. Ward is second from the right in the bottom row.
A portrait of Ward by Sir William Orpen
New Zealand Liberal Party
The New Zealand Liberal Party was the first organised political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. The Liberal strategy was to create a large class of small land-owning farmers who supported Liberal ideals, by buying large tracts of Māori land and selling it to small farmers on credit. The Liberal Government also established the basis of the later welfare state, with old age pensions, developed a system for settling industrial disputes, which was accepted by both employers and trade unions. In 1893 it extended voting rights to women, making New Zealand the first country in the world to enact universal adult suffrage.
Richard Seddon
1910 calendar showing Liberal Party MPs
Image: John Ballance 1880
Image: Richard Seddon, 1906