Ben Roberts (politician) explained

Benjamin Roberts (1880 – 17 November 1952) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party and a Cabinet Minister.

Biography

Roberts was born in 1880 in Liverpool. He started work as a farm labourer at 13. He brought his family to New Zealand in 1907 and settled in Carterton.^[1]

He was elected to Parliament in the Wairarapa electorate in 1935, and remained a member of parliament to 1946, when he retired.

He was both Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Marketing, from 1943 to 1946 in the First Labour Government under Peter Fraser.^[2]

Roberts died in 1952. His first wife, Mary Roberts, had died in 1936.^[3]

References

• Book: Gustafson, Barry . Barry Gustafson . . 1986 . Reed Methuen . Auckland . 0-474-00138-5.
• Book: Wilson, James Oakley . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 . 4th . 1913 . 1985 . V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer . Wellington . 154283103.

Notes and References

1. Book: Scholefield, G. H. . Who's Who in New Zealand . 5 . 1908 . 1951 . Reed . Wellington . 200 .
2. Web site: The Home Front Volume II - Chapter 24 — Victory at Last. Taylor . Nancy M. . 1986 . Historical Publications Branch . 1224 . 15 November 2012 . Wellington.
3. News: Obituary. 17 July 2015. The Evening Post. CXXII. 52. 29 August 1936. 11.