Which British prime minister was the first to be born in a colony?

Andrew Bonar Law was the first British prime minister to be born in a colony. He was born in 1858 in Kingston, New Brunswick, which was then a separate British colony and did not become part of Canada until Confederation in 1867.

Law was the son of a Scottish Presbyterian minister and spent his early years in New Brunswick before moving to Scotland in 1870. He left school at 16, entered the iron business and became wealthy before entering Parliament. His business background was unusual for a future prime minister, and he did not reach the House of Commons until the age of 42.

A Conservative politician, Law became party leader in 1911 and prime minister in October 1922 after the fall of David Lloyd George’s coalition. His premiership lasted only about seven months because serious illness forced him to resign in May 1923. He died later that year.

The wording matters: New Brunswick was a colony at the time of his birth, not yet a Canadian province. Later prime ministers born outside the United Kingdom included John Turner, born in Canada, but Bonar Law holds the earlier historical distinction.