George Marsden Waterhouse (1824-1906)

Prime Minister of New Zealand. Born in England, he and his family emigrated to Hobart in 1839 then moved on to Adelaide four years later. He entered the South Australian Parliament in 1851, and over the next decade he went through a cycle of being elected then resigning. Then in 1860 he was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council and the next year assumed the premiership. His two years were dogged with claims of financial mismanagement and other issues, and he resigned in 1864 and returned to England. In 1869 however he emigrated to New Zealand, and one year later was elected to the NZ Legislative Council. In October 1872 he became the Prime Minister without portfolio, but over the next five months he found it hard to lead his government from the upper house so he resigned but stayed on in the Legislative Council till 1880. In 1889 he retired and returned to England.

Bio by: Tim Reynolds