Personal details
Full Name:
- Richard John Seddon
Lifetime:
- 22 Jun 1845–10 Jun 1906
Premier:
1 May 1893–10 Jun 1906
Age on becoming Premier:
47
Electorate:
Westland
Political Party:
Liberal
Richard Seddon
Richard Seddon’s nickname, ‘King Dick’, says it all. Our longest-serving and most famous leader not only led the government, he was it, many argued. For 13 years he completely dominated politics.
Read more...Events In History
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10 June 1906Death of Richard SeddonKnown as 'King Dick', Seddon had dominated New Zealand politics since the early 1890s. His Liberal government established the tradition of state-supported welfare in this country. Read more...
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30 May 1901NZ says no to federation with AustraliaA 10-man Royal Commission reported unanimously that New Zealand should not become a state of the new Commonwealth of Australia. Read more...
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9 December 1899NZ troops fire first shots during South African WarHaving answered the Empire's call to arms against the breakaway Boer states in South Africa, New Zealand troops fired their first shots in anger in northern Cape Colony. Read more...
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28 September 1899NZ answers Empire's call to arms in South AfricaPremier R.J. Seddon asked Parliament to approve an offer to the British government of a contingent of mounted riflemen. Amid emotional scenes, the motion was overwhelmingly endorsed - only five members voted against it. Read more...
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1 November 1898Old-age Pensions Act becomes lawA world first, the Act gave a small means-tested pension to destitute older people who were 'of good moral character'; Chinese were specifically excluded. It was one of the major achievements of Richard Seddon's Liberal government. Read more...
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31 August 1894Arbitration Act becomes lawThe brainchild of Liberal Minister of Labour William Pember Reeves, the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act made New Zealand the first country in the world to outlaw strikes and introduce compulsory arbitration. Read more...
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28 July 1893Women's suffrage petition presentedThis massive suffrage petition − signed by more 25,000 women, about a fifth of the entire adult European female population − helped pave the way for the passage of New Zealand's world-leading Electoral Act in September 1893. Read more...
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1 May 1893Richard Seddon becomes premierRichard Seddon became the Liberal Party's second premier following the death in office of John Ballance. Immortalised as ‘King Dick’, Seddon would dominate the New Zealand political landscape for the next 13 years. Read more...
Articles
Seddonville
The West Coast coalmining settlement of Seddonville, 50 kms north of Westport, was named in honour of the Liberal Premier Richard Seddon. It was also the site of an early experiment in state socialism – New Zealand's first state coal mine opened there in 1903.
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Page 2 – Coal is discovered
After John Rochfort discovered fragments of bituminous coal in a river north of Westport in 1859, the search was on for accessible coal seams that could be mined.
Housing the Prime Minister
Almost 150 years after the government purchased the first official premier's residence on Tinakori Road, Wellington, the address of Premier House remains the same. But in the intervening years the building has been extended, renamed, abandoned and refurbished.
- Page 2 - The first premier houseOur first premiers had to find their own digs. That changed in 1865, when the government bought the premier a simple 22-year-old wooden cottage in Thorndon’s Tinakori
Flags of New Zealand
The New Zealand flag hasn't always been our official flag. It was adopted in 1902, replacing the Union Jack. Between 1834 and 1840, the flag of the United Tribes was recognised as our first 'national' flag. Waitangi Day 2010 saw the first official recognition of the national Māori flag.
- Page 4 - The NZ flagThe maritime origins of the New Zealand flag from 1865 to 1902
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Main image: Federated Australia elephant
Premiers of Australian states try to persuade New Zealand to join them atop the white elephant of "Federated Australia".
