His father John Massey and his mother Marianne (or Mary Anne, née Ferguson) were tenant farmers who also owned a small property.

His family arrived in New Zealand on 21 October 1862 on board the Indian Empire[1] as Nonconformist settlers,[2] although Massey remained in Ireland for a further eight years to complete his education.

Because of his prominence in these circles, he became involved in political debate, working on behalf of rural conservatives against the Liberal Party government of John Ballance.

[citation needed] Massey was a member of the Orange Order, Oddfellows, and Freemasons,[6] and espoused British Israelite ideas.

[8] Massey joined the ranks of the (mostly conservative) independent MPs opposing the Liberal Party, led by Richard Seddon.

Massey's political career survived the period: despite a challenge by William Herries, he remained the most prominent opponent to the Liberal Party.

In particular, Massey made gains by claiming that alleged corruption and cronyism within the civil service was ignored or abetted by the Liberal government.

His conservative politics also benefited him when voters grew concerned about militant unionism and the supposed threat of socialism.

The Liberals, relying on support from independents who had not joined Reform, were able to stay in power until the following year, when they lost a vote of confidence.

Two days later it was reported in the press on 12 July that he had accepted the appointment of Honorary Commandant of the Auckland District of the Legion of Frontiersmen.

The use of force to deal with the strikers made Massey an object of hatred for the emerging left-wing, but conservatives (many of whom believed that the unions were controlled by the far left) generally supported him, saying that his methods were necessary.

The 1914 election left Massey and his political opponents stalemated in parliament, with neither side possessing enough support to govern effectively.

[15] Partly because of the difficulty in obtaining consensus to implement meaningful policies, the coalition government had grown increasingly unpopular by the end of the war.

He dissolved the coalition in 1919, and fought both the Liberals and Labour on a platform of patriotism, stability, support for farmers, and a public works program.

Prime Minister William Massey asserted that the act was "the result of a deep seated sentiment on the part of a huge majority of the people of this country that this Dominion shall be what is often called a 'white' New Zealand.

He regarded the Red Terror (1919–20) in the Soviet Union, which followed the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, as proof of the "inherently oppressive orientation" of socialism.

His son Frank George Massey (1887–1975) enlisted in World War I, and transferred to the British Expeditionary Force where he commanded a battalion as a Major.