Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/293

 grandfather at Barrownook Farm, Bickerstaffe, and then at fourteen was apprenticed to the firm of Daglish & Co., engineers and ironfounders, of St. Helens. After five years at St. Helens he entered the Vauxhall Iron Foundry at Liverpool, and obtained his board of trade engineer's certificate. Dissatisfied with his prospects in England he worked his way out to Victoria in the Star of England in 1863, and made for the goldfields of Bendigo. There his efforts were unsuccessful. From 1864 he was employed as a journeyman fitter in the railway workshops of the Victoria government at Williamstown. But in 1866 he was persuaded by an uncle, who had settled on the west coast of New Zealand, to try his luck anew at the old Six Mile diggings at Waimea. He joined several mates in washing a claim on the Waimea Creek without result. His knowledge of engineering however proved useful, and through his uncle's influence he did some work for the Band of Hope water race. He pressed for the construction of water races to bring water from higher levels to sluice the claims, and zealously pushed the miners' interests against sluggish or hostile authorities. Abandoning the diggings, he : soon opened a store at Big Dam, and it prospered. In 1869 he was made chairman of the Arahura road board, where he showed himself a strong administrator. He unsuccessfully contested a seat for the Westland county council ; but the affairs of his road board brought him to Stafford ; town, where he became a member of the school committee.

In 1874 Seddon moved his store to the new goldfields at Kimiara, and there he at once played a prominent part in local affairs. At his persuasion the goldfields warden laid the place out as a township under the Mining Act ; the citizens named one of their streets after him and elected him the first mayor. A member of the board of education, he supported the secular against the denominational system. As member for Arahura on the Westland provincial ; council, he was appointed chairman of committees. From 1876, when Westland became a county, he was chairman of the county council until 1891. From 1869 Seddon combined management of his store with practice as miners' advocate in the goldfields warden's court, for which his fighting instincts, cheery, voluble power of speech, and legal ability well fitted him. His public influence grew steadily. Although in 1876 he failed to win the parliamentary constituency of Hokitika as a supporter of Sir George Grey, he was in 1879 returned as second member. In 1881 he was elected for Kumara (which was renamed Westland in 1890). That constituency he represented till death.

When Seddon entered parliament the conservative party was in power on sufferance under Sir John Hall [q. v. Suppl. II]. The liberal opposition was split into two sections, the smaller of which followed the late prime minister, Sir George Grey, and the larger was without a leader. Seddon joined the latter section, known as the Young New Zealand reform party. The conservative government could retain office only by introducing liberal bills. Seddon carefully studied parliamentary procedure, and his readiness of speech enabled him to practise obstruction on a formidable scale. From 1884, when a liberal government was formed under Sir Robert Stout, Seddon introduced many private bills which he succeeded in passing at a later period. The most important of these were his bill for licensing auctioneers and regulating sales and one to abolish the gold duty, a tax which pressed heavily on the miners, whose interests he always furthered. In 1888, during the period of economic disturbance and labour unrest which attended Atkinson's conservative administration (1889-90), Seddon with his liberal colleagues accepted John Ballance [q. v. Suppl. I] as their party's leader, and a policy of social reform was adopted. In 1890 Seddon succeeded in reducing the audit office vote. la the course of the same year he spoke in support of the great shipping strike, and advocated principles of state ownership and state interference, urging the government to end the strike by taking over the steamships. At the general election in December 1890 the liberal party secured a large majority, and in January 1891 Seddon joined Ballance's cabinet as minister for mines, public works, and defence.

In office Seddon at once distinguished himself. He stopped the sub-letting of government contracts, and introduced a system of letting government work in small sections to co-operative parties of workmen, a system which proved successful and was adopted in other colonies. In the country he strengthened his position by constant speaking in different places.

The ministry meanwhile was busy with land legislation of great importance and with its programme of social reform. Economic conditions were improving, and general confidence in the government was strong. On 6 Sept. 1891 Ballance fell