Editing Richard Seddon (section)

==Death==
[[File:Funeral of Richard 'King Dick' Seddon, 21 June 1906.jpg|alt=Funeral of Richard 'King Dick' Seddon, 21 June 1906|thumb|Funeral of Richard 'King Dick' Seddon, 21 June 1906<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://coololdphotos.com/funeral-for-new-zealands-king-dick-in-1906/|title=Funeral for New Zealand's "King Dick" in 1906|last=Tom|date=2018-07-02|website=Cool Old Photos|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref>]]
Seddon remained Prime Minister for 13 years, but gradually, calls for him to retire became more frequent. Various attempts to replace him with [[Joseph Ward]] met with failure.

In June 1906, while returning from a trip to Australia on the ship ''Oswestry Grange'', he was sitting with his wife in his cabin waiting to be called to dinner when he suddenly placed his head on his wife's shoulder, and said, "Oh, mother," before expiring of a massive heart attack at 6.20 pm on 10 June.<ref name= Colonist>{{cite news |title= Death of the Premier |newspaper= Colonist |location= Nelson |date= 2 July 1906|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC19060702.2.24.2 |access-date= 10 July 2024}}</ref> Immediately following his death the ship, which was {{convert|110|mi|km}} from Sydney Heads, turned back to port, its flag at half-mast.<ref name= Colonist/> He died 12 days before his 61st birthday, .{{sfn|Brooking|2014|p=261}} On the eve of his departure, he had sent a number of telegrams, among whom was one to the premier of Victoria, [[Thomas Bent]], which contained the words, “Just leaving for God's own country”.<ref name= Colonist/>

News of his death provoked numerous public gestures of grief, which included black-bordered displays in shop windows and several public monuments, including a memorial lamp post outside the [[St Helens Hospitals, New Zealand| St Helens Hospital]] in Pitt Street Auckland.

Seddon’s funeral was held on 21 June 1906 and he was buried in [[Wellington]]'s Bolton Street Cemetery, now [[Bolton Street Memorial Park]].<ref name= EP1>{{cite news |title= The Final Scene: Funeral of the Late Premier |newspaper= Evening Post |location= Wellington |date= 21 June 1906|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19060621.2.27|access-date= 30 June 2024}}</ref>

Joseph Ward was away in London at the time of Seddon's death. He succeeded Seddon as Prime Minister nearly two months later, on 6 August 1906.<ref>{{DNZB|Bassett|Michael|2W9|Ward, Joseph George|26 November 2011||Michael Bassett}}</ref>