Seddon is situated between the early town surveys of Footscray (1848) and Yarraville (1859). The railway line (1859) opened a station at Seddon in 1906. Only a few shops were built near the station, the local shopping area being in Victoria & Charles Street, south of the Middle Footscray railway station.

Originally known as Belgravia, Seddon was officially declared a suburb in 1906. Named after Richard Seddon, the Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1893 to 1906, a Seddon resident who had been an employee at the Newport Railway workshops & a corporal in the Williamstown artillery before he moved to Bendigo and later to New Zealand. He died in office after returning from Australia for discussions on reciprocal trade interests.

Seddon was, on occasion, considered part of neighbouring Footscray. The original State Bank of Victoria in Charles Street, Seddon used to stamp its Bank Account passbooks as Footscray South Vic. Not unusual, considering Seddon is south of Footscray. However, while central Footscray is one of the main shopping and transport hubs for Melbourne's western suburbs, Seddon, in contrast, is quiet, leafy and residential.

The main streets of Victoria, Charles and Gamon used to accommodate a tram line that ran through the middle of the Seddon Village. It has since been replaced with central garden beds and tree plantings in the middle of the streets.

Seddon street names were named for monarchs. Reading from west to east, Charles intersects with Alfred, Edward, Henry, James, William, Victoria (which runs parallel to Windsor) and terminates at Albert.

Seddon Post Office opened on 29 September 1908 and closed in 1976. Seddon West Post Office opened in 1924 and has since been renamed to the Seddon Post Office after its relocation further south on Victoria Street. Seddon shares its postcode with neighbouring Footscray – 3011.