in 1874 he was one of the fifteen members elected to the Westland Provincial Council, his colleague for Arahura district being Michael Houlahan, while A. R. Guinness, afterwards Speaker of the House of Representatives, was one of the members for Paroa. Later, when the Kumara gold rush occurred in 1876, Mr. Seddon and family moved to the new centre which offered wider opportunities, and in the same year, when the Provincial Council was abolished, Mr. Seddon was elected a member of the now-existing Westland County Council with which he was associated till 1891, when he resigned on becoming Minister of Public Works in the Ballance Government. In 1878 he was elected Mayor of Kumara, and went into Parliament the following year. Mr. Seddon was a member of several local bodies, embracing school committees, the Westland Education Board, and others. His intimate connection with local affairs was severed in 1891 when he removed to Wellington to fill the larger sphere awaiting him in the public life of the nation. Premier Ballance passed away in 1893, and on the 1st May of that year, Mr. Seddon entered into the office of Premier, which he held until his death in June, 1906.
“His political career was an intensely busy one. Mr. Seddon devoted his full time and all his talents to the duties ahead of him. His
