Arthur Beauchamp (1827 – 28 April 1910) was a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
from New Zealand. He is remembered as the father of
Harold Beauchamp, who rose to fame as chairman of the
Bank of New Zealand and was the father of writer
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...
.
Biography
Beauchamp came to
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
from Australia on the ''
Lalla Rookh
''Lalla Rookh'' is an Oriental romance by Irish poet Thomas Moore, published in 1817. The title is taken from the name of the heroine of the frame tale, the (fictional) daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The work consi ...
'', arriving on 23 February 1861.
He lived much of his life in a number of locations around the top of the
South Island, also Whanganui when Harold was 11 for seven years and then to the capital (Wellington). Then south to Christchurch and finally Picton and the Sounds. He had business failures and was bankrupted twice, in 1879 and 1884. He married Mary Stanley on the Victorian goldfields in 1854; Arthur and Mary lived in 18 locations over half a century, and are buried in Picton. Six of their ten children born between 1855 and 1893 died, including the first two sons born before Harold.
Beauchamp represented the
Picton electorate from 1866 to 1867, when he resigned. He had the energy and sociability required for politics, but not the private income then required to be a parliamentarian. He supported the working man and the subdivision of big estates, opposed the confiscation of Māori land and was later recognised as a founding
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
, the party that Harold supported and was a "fixer" for. Yska calls their life ''an extended chronicle of rootlessness, business failure and almost ceaseless family tragedy'' and Harold called his father ''a rolling stone by instinct.''
Arthur also served on the council of
Marlborough Province
:''(For the current top-level subdivision of Nelson in New Zealand, see Marlborough region)''
The Marlborough Province operated as a province of New Zealand from 1 November 1859, when it split away from Nelson Province, until the abolition of pr ...
and is best-remembered for a 10-hour speech to that body when an attempt was made to relocate the capital from
Picton to
Blenheim.
In 1866 he attempted to sue the
Speaker of the House,
David Monro
Sir David Monro (27 March 1813 – 15 February 1877) was a New Zealand politician. He served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1861 to 1870.
Early life
Monro was born in Edinburgh. His father was Alexander Monro, ...
. At the time the extent of privilege held by Members of Parliament was unclear; a
select committee ruled that the case could proceed, but with a stay until after the parliamentary session.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauchamp, Arthur
1827 births
1910 deaths
New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
People from the Marlborough Region
Local politicians in New Zealand
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Australian emigrants to New Zealand
19th-century New Zealand politicians