The history of the British & Irish Lions is filled with incredible stories that echo through the pantheon of rugby - from massive tours that included cricket and AFL games, to the likes of the Springboks, Wallabies and Los Pumas playing their first ever matches against them.
However, few stories are as incredible - and tragic - as the story of the Lions' first ever captain, Robert Seddon.
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Ahead of the Wallabies' Test match against Fiji, members of both the Lions touring party and Rugby Australia, including chief executive Phil Waugh, will gather in Maitland to pay tribute to the Lions' first captain - and the event looms as a significant one for Maitland Blacks' president, Pat Howard.
Having been involved at the club since his arrival in the area in 1999, Howard has served as the club's president since 2018, and has had many challenges collating the Blacks' 148-year history, with the infamous 1955 Maitland Flood seeing many documents of the past lost.
"The history of Maitland Rugby is, a lot of the time, passed down through generations rather than being documented," Howard explained to Rugby.com.au.
"We've got a vault of history. A big part of that is being in a flood city where every time it floods, we lose all our records. Now, with everything being cloud based, the floods can't affect it, so we've been compiling it as we go along."
Much of Seddon's story, fortunately, had been recorded by the Lions' official historian, Rob Cole - with Howard frequently in contact with him in the lead up to the 2025 series.
The Lions' first ever tour in 1888 saw the side travel around Australia and New Zealand, playing 35 rugby games, 16 AFL games and even a cricket match. The tour was a huge success, with Seddon being recognised as one of the key figures during its tenure.
"Robert played in the Manchester area over in England," Howard explained.
"He was proficient at all sports: a good rower, good swimmer, a good cricketer, good rugby player. He had a lot of strings to his bow.
"By all reports, he was also a man that held a room better than most. He was able to join a room and people gravitated towards him. He was an iconic figure."
In addition to being a prolific figure, Seddon also served as the unofficial tour journalist, reporting back to his family in letters and to the press in England at the time.
After playing their 20th match in Bathurst and travelling to Maitland, the side stayed at the Royal Hotel in Morpeth - with August 15th serving as a day off from the tour, with several activities planned.
Seddon decided to partake in sculling on the Hunter River that day - a decision that would cost him his life.
"He was writing back to his family at home, saying how, they've got some boats out there and they might go for a row and a bit of a swim and whatever else," Howard explained.
"That morning he literally wrote the letter. It was on his bedside table."
A few hours after taking his boat out on the river alone, fellow Lions teammates Jack Anderton and Andrew Stoddart found him dead, his boat capsized, the 28-year-old drowning from the unfortunate accident.
"He was in his Lions jumper at the time, a old school heavy cotton jumper. Heavy," Howard added.
"The story goes that he was actually thrown from the vessel as it capsized and then just drowned. An accidental death. The community really got around it."
At the time, Maitland's population numbered no more than a few thousand - and with such a significant loss, the community were quick to rally around the touring Lions' side.
"The administration of Maitland organised for him to have a service at St Paul's Anglican Church down in South Maitland," Howard added.
"There was 160-odd delegates that went to the actual service - but then they had a three-mile procession from St Paul's through to Campbell Hill Cemetery where he was laid at rest.
"There's reports of 2-3,000 people lining the streets. The shops were shut. It was a big deal. This was the day after he was found drowned. It was a big deal that the British and Irish Lions were coming to Maitland.
"I mean, essentially we're a farm town. We get excited now. We're super excited that they're coming to see us again. Now we're a town of 80,000 people. That hasn't changed either."
The captaincy passed on to Andrew Stoddart for the rest of the tour - with the side playing the Queensland Reds just three days later in Brisbane - the team leaving a gap in their official photograph where Seddon sat, a match ball in his place.
However, Seddon's memory stayed within the Maitland community - with the Lions returning several times in subsequent years.
"They came in 1899 on a tour. We've got a photo which has surfaced this year," Howard revealed.
"We believe that they did not play an official match, but an exhibition match or training in uniform. The photo has the old Maitland Rugby Club in their gold and black hoops and the British and Irish Lions in blue and red.
"It's quite good because the ball out the front, it's got 'The Ashes' inscribed on it, like handwritten."
More recently, the Lions returned in 2013, with Sam Warburton and Manu Tuilagi laying a wreath in honour of the side's first captain.
Ever since that fateful August day nearly 150 years ago, preserving the memory and grave site has been a responsibility passed down through generations of Maitland Blacks' players and staff.
"For that piece of history to now come into our history at Maitland Rugby, it's quite humbling and something we look quite proudly upon," Howard admitted.
"Similar to the history of Maitland Rugby, it's something that just gets passed down through generations. The story gets passed down, members of the club take it upon themselves to keep that history alive.
"Whether it be someone who just goes and mows around the graveside, cleans up the headstone... there's nothing in our bylaws or constitution, there's no specific role. It's just how Maitland history works: that we share it between each other."
These traditions have continued into 2025 - with the Barry, Emmett and Heath families all lending a hand at looking after the grave site ahead of the wreath laying ceremony on July 6th - the same day as the Wallabies' Test against Fiji in Newcastle.
Even Maitland's current first grade hooker, Sam Parkinson, a painter by trade, added a fresh coat of paint to Seddon's grave free of charge.
"It's how we operate at Maitland," Howard added.
"It's a real community strategy behind it more than anything else.
"I think it's a big part [of rugby history] because it was the Lions' first official tour - that's integral in their piece of history.
"The Wallabies were originally formed to play the British and Irish Lions. If that doesn't give an exclamation mark in the history of Australian rugby, then I don't know what does."
In tandem with the Wallabies' first Test of the year down the road in Newcastle, the chance to welcome so many members of the Lions and Australian rugby communities to commemorate a slice of rugby history in his own backyard is something Howard certainly isn't taking for granted.
"It's probably the biggest honour I'll have as the president of the club; to be able to be in this position at this time," Howard conceded.
"We're making a big deal of it. We're inviting all the key members of the community, past presidents, life members, because it is such a big part of our history.
"But personally, excited is probably not the right word. Proud, honoured, spine tingling, you know?"
Even more so, with the Test match in Newcastle expected to be the most attended rugby game the city has ever had, with it comes an opportunity to not only showcase the rich past rugby union has had in the region, but a potentially bountiful future.
"It's a very exciting time in Hunter rugby," Howard admitted when asked about the timing of the Wallabies match.
"Having a side in the Shute Shield for the last few years as well, providing a pathway for all of our local players… but we've also found that we're getting a lot of players from country New South Wales moving to Newcastle because it's not the big city.
"Don't get me wrong, we've got our own challenges; teething problems and everything that goes with the change. Rugby is very tribal and strong within our community as well.
"I think there's a real platform that we can explore for Hunter rugby to keep punching above its weight.
"We've got the great facility of McDonald Jones Stadium when these bigger events come as well. It's all accessible, the whole area is growing population wise. Rugby needs to really stand up, listen and capture what's happening up here. It's a real strong rugby area.
"Rugby Australia is doing a good thing with this Fiji test, playing it on a Sunday as well is very important; because now all of the rugby community can get behind it.
"It would be great to keep listening, keep building, keep working with us and we'll come through with the goods if we're provided the right opportunities."
