The forgotten Prime MInister

There have been 42 New Zealand Prime Ministers and a great number have names we would remember.
Seddon, Muldoon, Vogel, Grey, Stout, Ward, Savage, Holyoake and Kirk would all be names that most of us could call to mind.
But there are a few whose names mean nothing to us even though they led the country and there are a bunch of odd stats to go with it.
There were no political parties before 1890 and before 1899 they were called the Premier rather than Prime Minister.
Nine have served more than one term, the youngest was Edward Stafford and the oldest was Watker Nash who was 78 when he left office.
Richard Seddon was the longest serving prime minister and the shortest was Henry Sewell with 14 days (although Harry Atkinson had seven days although in fairness he was really considered acting prime minister.)
The first New Zealand-born Prime Minister was Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell in 1925.
One would be hard pressed to remember the name of Daniel Pollen who first got a government position in 1952 and rose through the ranks.
He was born in Ringsend, Dublin on June 2, 1813 to his dockmaster father Hugh and wife Elizabeth.
He claimed to have a doctor’s degree although where it came from no one knew. He travelled first to New South Wales then came to Auckland by 1840.
Pollen was a witness to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and established himself as a doctor and coroner in Auckland.
In May 1846 he married Jane Henderson and they moved to Kawau Island.
In 1861 after dabbling in politics he was appointed to the Legislative Council (our Parliament now) where he served, on and off for several years.
He also held four positions – Receiver of Land Revenue, Commissioner of Confiscated Lands, Commissioner under the Native Land Act of 1870, and Immigration Officer.
When Juluis Vogel’s government recalled him to the Legislative Council in 1873 and he held several roles before becoming Premier in 1875 where he served for nearly a year.
Pollen was considered a cultured, genial, outspoken and vigorous man. He worked for the enfranchisement of women, a champion of Maori and was known to have a biting sarcasm.
He died on May 18, 1896 and is buried in the George Maxwell Memorial Cemetery in
Avondale, Auckland.​