He saw New Zealand as a potential 'Britain of the South Seas', strong both in agriculture and in industry, and inhabited by a large and flourishing population.

[4] In 1863 James Grant was charged with criminal libel against Vogel in an election pamphlet but was found not guilty by a jury.

[8][9] It is unclear why Vogel stood in Waikouaiti as two days earlier, he had been returned unopposed at the nomination for the Goldfields electorate.

The Fox ministry having been forced to resign, Vogel carried a vote of no confidence in their successors, and in October 1872, returned to power as leader in the Lower House, colonial treasurer and postmaster-general.

[12] He was named on 15 November 1887 by the Speaker of the House Maurice O'Rorke for saying that his fellow Member Robert Thompson was 'want of manners' in a debate about Vogel's use of constabulary for household purposes – a charge he denied.

After Vogel, as colonial treasurer, proposed borrowing the massive sum of 10 million pounds, New Zealand developed a significant infrastructure of roads, railways and communication, all administered by central government.

[14] Benjamin Disraeli, of Jewish descent but Anglican, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom contemporaneously to Vogel's premiership.

New Zealand went on to become the first country to give women the vote, and, from 1997 to 2008, continuously had a female Prime Minister, while for a short period (2005–2006) women simultaneously held all five highest government positions (Monarch, Governor-General, Prime Minister, Speaker of the House and Chief Justice).

[citation needed] In honour of this book, the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for New Zealand speculative fiction take their name from him.