When New Zealand’s longest-serving prime minister, Richard John Seddon, suddenly took ill and died during his voyage home from a diplomatic trip to Australia, the country went into mourning. A national hero, Seddon had presided over New Zealand’s decision not to join the Australian Federation in 1901, was responsible for the institution of old-age pensions, and was a champion of miners and the native Maori people. Thousands lined the streets of Wellington for his funeral cortège on 21 June 1906. Led by a brass band playing a specially composed funeral march, the horse-drawn carriage was followed by Seddon’s family, along with various dignitaries and government officials, as it made its way through the capital to St. Paul’s Cathedral.
