The Highland-born Prime Minister who led New Zealand through the Second World War and helped found the United Nations.
Peter Fraser was born at Fearn in Ross-shire, in the Scottish Highlands, on 28 August 1884, the son of a crofter and shoemaker. Largely self-educated through the local library and his own reading, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1910 and entered its politics through the trade-union and labour movement, becoming a founding figure of the New Zealand Labour Party.
He served as Minister of Education and of Health in the first Labour government, where he built much of the country's modern public health and education provision. On the death of Michael Joseph Savage in 1940 he became Prime Minister of New Zealand, an office he held until 1949.
He led New Zealand through the whole of the Second World War, directing its war effort and the deployment of its forces overseas while maintaining the broad consent of the country. He took a close personal interest in the conduct and welfare of the New Zealand Division.
At the San Francisco conference of 1945 he was one of the most influential of the smaller-power statesmen in the founding of the United Nations, arguing forcefully for the rights of small nations and for the trusteeship system that committed the organisation to the advancement of dependent peoples.
The Fraser name, of Norman origin and long bound in heraldry to the strawberry flower, the fraise, is among the great surnames of the Scottish Highlands. Peter Fraser carried it from a Ross-shire croft to the leadership of a nation on the far side of the world.
Achievements
·Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1940 to 1949
·Led New Zealand through the Second World War
·Built much of New Zealand's public health and education system as a minister
·A leading small-power architect of the United Nations at San Francisco, 1945
·A founding figure of the New Zealand Labour Party
Frequently asked
What is Peter Fraser famous for?
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The Highland-born Prime Minister who led New Zealand through the Second World War and helped found the United Nations. Peter Fraser was born at Fearn in Ross-shire, in the Scottish Highlands, on 28 August 1884, the son of a crofter and shoemaker.
When was Peter Fraser born?
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Peter Fraser was born in 1884 in Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland. The full biographical record sits on the dedicated page on Clan Rising, set alongside the wider history of the Fraser family.
When did Peter Fraser die?
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Peter Fraser died in 1950. That gave a lifespan of about 66 years.
How long did Peter Fraser live?
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Peter Fraser lived for around 66 years, from in 1884 to in 1950. The page records the substantive years in full, with the achievements and the geography that frame the life.
Where was Peter Fraser born?
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Peter Fraser was born in Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland, in Scotland. The atlas links the birthplace to its tile page so the surrounding geography and other families of the area can be explored from the same record.
What is Peter Fraser's connection to the Fraser family?
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Peter Fraser is recorded on Clan Rising as a Fraser Clan Champion, a figure whose life is inseparable from the surname. The Clan Fraser family page sets the wider context for the name and links through to every other notable bearer.
What did Peter Fraser achieve?
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Headline achievements recorded for Peter Fraser include Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1940 to 1949, Led New Zealand through the Second World War, Built much of New Zealand's public health and education system as a minister and A leading small-power architect of the United Nations at San Francisco, 1945. The full list and the surrounding biographical record sit on the dedicated champion page.
Was Peter Fraser a Fraser?
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Yes. Peter Fraser is filed on Clan Rising under the Fraser family. The naming convention follows the surname a diaspora reader would search for today; titles, particles and pen names sort under that same canonical surname.