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Warning

This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

The First Premier

Here it may be noted, on the side, that James Edward FitzGerald, who joined a still non-responsible Executive Council in 1854, cannot be called, as he sometimes is, New Zealand's first premier. That distinction must be reserved for the leader of the first executive responsible to the elected house of legislature – Henry Sewell, who took office briefly in 1856.

Co-creator
William Hosking Oliver, M.A.(N.Z.), D.PHIL.(OXON.), Professor of History, Massey University of Manawatu.Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.