Historic Graves and Monuments

The Seddon Memorial

Richard John Seddon's Memorial is located on the original site of Wellington's first Time Service Observatory at the Kinross Street entrance to the Bolton Street Cemetery. Located under the memorial is the Seddon family tomb. It contains the remains of Rt Hon Richard Seddon (1845-1906, Prime Minister 1893-1906) and Mrs Louisa Seddon (1851- 1931), Mary Stuart Hay, a daughter, Richard John Spotswood Seddon, a son, who was killed in France in 1918, and other family members.

The Memorial was designed by Government Architect, John Campbell, and built by Edwards and Son of Waring Taylor St. The design is a reinforced concrete column faced with Coromandel granite, mounted over the tomb on a square concrete base. The bronze figure at the top of the column was modelled at the London studio of Henry Poole, a young British sculptor, and cast in London by Alessandro Parlanti. The statue represents the State in mourning for its dead. In the left hand is a wreath of mourning leaves and in the right a scroll of State, with the seals dependent. The right foot rests on two books, possibly legal, and a small twig breaks the hardness of the column.

Location

Further reading

Unquiet Earth; A History of the Bolton Street Cemetery by Margaret H. Alington (Wellington City Council and Ministry of Works and Development, 1978)

 

HISTORIC GRAVES AND MONUMENTS

• Introduction
• Historic Graves and Monuments
  • Katikara Memorial
  • Tangiwai Memorial
  • Seddon Memorial
  • Savage Memorial
  • Massey Memorial
  • Mahupuku Memorial
  • Atatürk Memorial
  • Wakefield Family Grave
• NZ and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• Other Monuments and Sites