Editing Richard Seddon (section)

===Seddon memorial===
Following Seddon's death plans were put in place to erect a suitable memorial which would also incorporate a Seddon family mausoleum. It was quickly agreed that the existing Colonial Time Service Observatory on top of Observatory Hill (today part of [[Bolton Street Memorial Park]]) should be torn down to make way for it.<ref name=A1>{{cite web |last1= Biswell |first1= Shelly Farr |last2= Nester |first2= Richard |title= Time |url= https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/time/|website= New Zealand geographic |accessdate= 24 June 2024}}</ref> A new observatory was later constructed on the site of the former Garden coast defence battery at the top of the Botanic Gardens.

The memorial was designed by government architect [[John Campbell (architect)| John Campbell]] and constructed by Edwards and Son of Wellington with the above ground portion consisting of reinforced concrete faced with Coromandel granite.<ref name=Moor>{{Citation |last= Moor |first= Christopher |title= Wellington's Tributes to Seddon |journal= New Zealand Memories |issue= 166 |pages= 57–58 |date= February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Seddon Memorial |url= https://mch.govt.nz/nz-identity-heritage/national-monuments-war-graves/seddon-memorial |website= mch.govt.nz |publisher= Ministry for Culture and Heritage |access-date= 1 January 2020}}</ref> It cost £2,746.<ref name=Moor/> Constructed between 1908 and 1910<ref name=SRA>{{cite web |title= Seddon Memorial |url= https://www.salmondreed.co.nz/projects/seddon-memorial |website= Salmond Reed Architects |accessdate= 28 June 2024}}</ref> the memorial is topped by a bronze female figure approximately {{convert|8|ft|m}} in height and weighing {{convert|2|LT|kg}} symbolising the “Zealandia”, the country mourning its dead.<ref>{{cite news |title= A Seddon Memorial for Observatory Hill |newspaper= Evening Post |location= Wellington |date= 31 May 1910|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19100531.2.10 |access-date= 3 July 2024}}</ref> Costing approximately £500, the figure was designed at the London studio of sculptor [[Henry Poole (sculptor)| Henry Poole]] and cast by Alexander Parlanti.<ref>{{cite news |title= Seddon Monument: Arrival of Bronze Figure |newspaper= Dominion |location= Wellington |date= 14 June 1910 |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19100614.2.75 |access-date= 3 July 2024}}</ref><ref name=Moor/> The concrete crypt underneath contains the body of Seddon, his wife Louisa, their daughter Mary Stuart Hay and memorial to their son Captain Richard Spotswood Seddon, who was killed in 1918 while serving in France.<ref name=Moor/>

The family remains were temporally removed when between 2021 and December 2022 when the memorial was restored and seismically strengthened by the installation of a structural steel frame in the crypt and central void, combined with the installation of 17 post-tension tie rods.<ref name=SRA/>