Fifth to die in office
(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, September 1. Mr Kirk, at 51, was the fifth and youngest New Zealand Prime Minister to die while still in office, and the fourth this century. The first was New Zealand’s 14th leader — then called Premier — 54-year-old John Ballance, who died on May 1, 1893. He had been Prime Minister for 27 months.
The country’s longest serving Prime Minister and the first to use the title Prime Minister, Richard John Seddon, died on board the ship Oswestry Grange on June 21, 1906, on his way home from official talks in Australia. He took over from Ballance as Prime Minister.
Six years later, William Massey died while still Prime Minister, at the age of 69. His term of office was from July 10, 1912 to May 14, 1925. The fourth to die in office was Michael Joseph Savage, who died while the country was at war. He died on April 1, 1940, at the age of 68. He had been Prime Minister since December 6, 1935.
One other Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, died a month after he had retired in 1930.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33628, 2 September 1974, Page 2
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190Fifth to die in office Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33628, 2 September 1974, Page 2
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