Seddon
RICHARD JOHN, a New Zealand public official, born at Eccleston, England, in 1845. He went to Australia as a mechanical engineer in 1863, and thereafter removed to New Zealand, where he took an active part in politics.
He entered the colonial parliament in 1879, and was Minister of Mines from 1891' to 1893. In the latter year he was appointed Premier. He retained that office until his death, in 1906. He was a strong advocate of the policy of state socialism.
SEDGE (Carex; natural order, Cyperacex), an extensive genus of grasslike plants containing thousands of species, mostly inhabiting the N. and temperate parts of the globe. The greater portion of the species are marsh plants.
They furnish coarse fodder, which is rejected by most of the domestic quadrupeds. a SEDGEMOOR, marshy tract in Somersetshire, England, about 5 miles S. E. of Bridgewater. In 1685 it was the scene of the battle in which the Duke of Monmouth was defeated by the troops of James II.