Story: Memorials and monuments

Unveiling the Massey memorial, 1930 (4th of 7)

Unveiling the Massey memorial, 1930

William Ferguson Massey died in office in 1925 after being prime minister for almost 13 years. Soon after his death, land at Point Halswell on Wellington Harbour was set aside for his tomb. The public contributed £5,000 and the government £10,000 for a memorial. An existing gun pit was used for the tomb of Massey and his wife, Christina, and the memorial of Tākaka marble was designed by the Auckland firm of Gummer and Ford, working under consulting architect Samuel Hurst Seager. The opening of the memorial, shown here, was on 19 September 1930.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/1-000710-F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'Memorials and monuments - Civilian memorials, 1900–1945', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/32554/unveiling-the-massey-memorial-1930 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 20 Jun 2012, updated 26 Mar 2015