Richard Seddon, known as "King Dick", was born in England, and arrived in Hokitika in 1866, via Australia, to work the goldfields.

L.L.D / Represented Westland in Parliament 1879–1906 / Prime Minister of New Zealand 1893–1906Wreaths were laid on the thirtieth anniversary of Seddon's death.

[1] The statue was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I item in June 1990, with registration number 4995.

[1] There are around six monuments erected to Seddon throughout New Zealand, but only two of them, this one, and the one by Sir Thomas Brock outside Parliament House, Wellington, resemble the man himself.

According to the Historic Places Trust, the Hokitika statue is "a fine example of the realistic style of sculpture developed in Victorian times".