{"id":"francis-bell","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/francis-bell","language":"en","name":"Francis Bell","name_en":"Francis Bell","name_ne":null,"description":"New Zealand politician (1851-1936)","headline":"New Zealand politician (1851-1936)","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell was a New Zealand lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of New Zealand from 14 to 30 May 1925. He was the first New Zealand-born prime minister, holding office in a caretaker capacity following the death of William Massey.","summary_more":[],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"31 March 1851","date":"1851-03-31"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Nelson","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206687"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"13 March 1936","date":"1936-03-13"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P570"}},{"key":"deathplace","label":"Place of death","values":[{"text":"Wellington","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23661"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P20"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"New Zealand","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q664"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"politician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82955"},{"text":"cricketer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12299841"},{"text":"diplomat","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193391"},{"text":"lawyer","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q40348"},{"text":"barrister","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q808967"},{"text":"judge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16533"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P106"}},{"key":"party","label":"Political party","values":[{"text":"New Zealand Reform Party","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1132236"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P102"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"Auckland Grammar School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37819"},{"text":"St John's College","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q691283"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P69"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"Prime Minister of New Zealand (14 May 1925 – 30 May 1925)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1071117","start":"1925-05-14","end":"1925-05-30"},{"text":"Minister of Foreign Affairs (7 June 1923 – 18 January 1926)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6866148","start":"1923-06-07","end":"1926-01-18"},{"text":"Minister of Justice (13 January 1923 – 27 June 1923)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6866227","start":"1923-01-13","end":"1923-06-27"},{"text":"Minister of Internal Affairs (17 January 1920 – 14 May 1920)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65088927","start":"1920-01-17","end":"1920-05-14"},{"text":"Minister of Education of New Zealand (4 September 1919 – 3 April 1920)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6866108","start":"1919-09-04","end":"1920-04-03"},{"text":"Minister of Health (4 September 1919 – 3 April 1920)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6866167","start":"1919-09-04","end":"1920-04-03"},{"text":"Attorney-General of New Zealand (4 February 1918 – 18 January 1926)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4818600","start":"1918-02-04","end":"1926-01-18"},{"text":"Minister of Internal Affairs (10 July 1912 – 12 August 1915)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65088927","start":"1912-07-10","end":"1915-08-12"},{"text":"Mayor of Wellington (1897–1897)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q52988199","start":"1897","end":"1897"},{"text":"Mayor of Wellington (1892–1893)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q52988199","start":"1892","end":"1893"},{"text":"Member of the New Zealand Parliament","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18145518"},{"text":"ambassador","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q121998"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P39"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12177423"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508#P166"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bell_(New_Zealand_politician)","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Francis Bell born?","a":"Francis Bell was born on 31 March 1851 in Nelson."},{"q":"What positions has Francis Bell held?","a":"Positions held by Francis Bell include: Prime Minister of New Zealand (1925–1925); Minister of Foreign Affairs (1923–1926); Minister of Justice (1923–1923); Minister of Internal Affairs (1920–1920); Minister of Education of New Zealand (1919–1920)."},{"q":"Where did Francis Bell study?","a":"Francis Bell was educated at Auckland Grammar School, St John's College."}],"related":[{"name":"John Hall","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/john-hall"},{"name":"David Lange","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/david-lange"},{"name":"William Hall-Jones","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/william-hall-jones"},{"name":"Mike Moore","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/mike-moore"},{"name":"Richard Seddon","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/richard-seddon"},{"name":"Keith Holyoake","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/keith-holyoake"},{"name":"Walter Nash","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/walter-nash"},{"name":"Gordon Coates","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/gordon-coates"},{"name":"George Forbes","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/george-forbes"},{"name":"Henry Sewell","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/henry-sewell"},{"name":"Geoffrey Palmer","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/geoffrey-palmer-q1385100"},{"name":"Jack Marshall","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/jack-marshall"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/francis-bell-2a27a74513.jpg","width":500,"height":688,"license":"Public domain","credit":"National Library NZ on The Commons","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Francis_Henry_Dillon_Bell,_ca_1924.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Francis Bell","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bell_(New_Zealand_politician)","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q742508","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742508","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell, ca 1924.jpg by National Library NZ on The Commons (Public domain)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Francis_Henry_Dillon_Bell,_ca_1924.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Francis Bell, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell, ca 1924.jpg — National Library NZ on The Commons, Public domain.","cite":"\"Francis Bell\". DigiNepal. Last updated 2 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/francis-bell. Retrieved 6 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-11-02T09:02:14Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-05","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/francis-bell","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/francis-bell","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/francis-bell?lang=ne"}}