Memorial to Peter Fraser, Karori Cemetery Peter Fraser was the 24th Prime Minister of New Zealand, serving from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949.
Considered by historians as a major figure in the history of New Zealand Labour Party, he was in office longer than any other New Zealand Labour Prime Minister and is to date the fourth longest serving Prime Minister.
Fraser died exactly one year after losing the 1949 election, on 13 December 1950. He was buried at Karori Cemetery with his wife who had died in 1945. It took four years before a decision was made to erect a suitable memorial at the site, and a further three years before it was completed, at a total cost of just over £4,000. The memorial was designed by the Public Works Department – and is modest in scale, design and materials.
William Ferguson MASSEY,19th Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1912 to 1925, founder of the Reform Party, and second-longest serving leader[1], has a large memorial. Built of pale Tākaka marble, resting on a base of dark grey Coromandel granite, it is located on a peninsula commanding fantastic views of Wellington harbour (though trees all round obscure it somewhat these days).
Shortly after Massey's death in 1925, the Massey Burial Ground Act was passed allocating land at Point Halswell to be set aside as a burial ground for him and his widow. Public subscriptions raised funds totalling £5,000 and the government contributed £10,000. The Memorial was completed in July 1930 and was unveiled by His Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, on 19 September 1930.
The contrast between the two memorials is marked. Who decides which Prime Minister gets what sort of memorial, and are there particular criteria for size, scale, materials, location? Or was Massey just lucky, and Fraser just modest?
[1] Richard “King Dick” Seddon served 6 months longer, between 1893 and 1906.
Considered by historians as a major figure in the history of New Zealand Labour Party, he was in office longer than any other New Zealand Labour Prime Minister and is to date the fourth longest serving Prime Minister.
Fraser died exactly one year after losing the 1949 election, on 13 December 1950. He was buried at Karori Cemetery with his wife who had died in 1945. It took four years before a decision was made to erect a suitable memorial at the site, and a further three years before it was completed, at a total cost of just over £4,000. The memorial was designed by the Public Works Department – and is modest in scale, design and materials.
William Ferguson MASSEY,19th Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1912 to 1925, founder of the Reform Party, and second-longest serving leader[1], has a large memorial. Built of pale Tākaka marble, resting on a base of dark grey Coromandel granite, it is located on a peninsula commanding fantastic views of Wellington harbour (though trees all round obscure it somewhat these days).
Shortly after Massey's death in 1925, the Massey Burial Ground Act was passed allocating land at Point Halswell to be set aside as a burial ground for him and his widow. Public subscriptions raised funds totalling £5,000 and the government contributed £10,000. The Memorial was completed in July 1930 and was unveiled by His Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, on 19 September 1930.
The contrast between the two memorials is marked. Who decides which Prime Minister gets what sort of memorial, and are there particular criteria for size, scale, materials, location? Or was Massey just lucky, and Fraser just modest?
[1] Richard “King Dick” Seddon served 6 months longer, between 1893 and 1906.
