Richmond Beetham (1832–1912) was a British-born painter and magistrate.[1] He spent most of his life living in New Zealand.

Richmond Beetham
Born1832
Horncastle, England
Died1912(1912-00-00) (aged 79–80)
Known forOil paintings
Spouses
(m. 1863; died 1910)
Helen Hampton
(m. 1910⁠–⁠1912)

Early life

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Richmond Beetham was born in 1832 in Horncastle, England. He was the eldest son of Mary Beetham (née Brosley) and the portrait painter William Beetham.[2] He attended the Elizabethan Foundation School. In the mid-1850s, he moved to Victoria, before moving to Wellington, New Zealand in 1859, where his parents had also moved.[1][3]

Life in New Zealand

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In 1862, he attained his first job as a public servant, working as a Receiver of Land Revenue in the Otago goldfields.[3] In 1863 he married Lucelle Frances Swainson, the daughter of naturalist and artist William John Swainson.[3] That same year, he was appointed as a stipendiary magistrate in Queenstown, and later Napier and Timaru.[2] Eventually, he was moved to Christchurch in 1881, where he continued to work until his retirement in May 1903.[3]

Artist

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Like his father, Beetham was a painter. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, he exhibited his works in New Zealand and abroad – including at the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, and the 1889–90 New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition in Dunedin.[2][4][5] He also exhibited his works at the Canterbury Society of Arts from 1881 to 1893, where he also served on the committee and as President.[1]

Later life

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Beetham later moved to Masterton, where he died in 1912.[2]

Art works

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Platts, U. (1980). Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook. Christchurch, New Zealand: Avon Fine Prints. p. 39.
  2. ^ a b c d "Beetham, Richmond, 1836-1912". National Library of New Zealand. n.d. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Vol. 3. Christchurch, New Zealand: The Cyclopedia Company, Ltd. 1903. p. 243.
  4. ^ "Beetham, Richmond 1836-1912 :The Roman Catholic Mission, Apia, Samoa [1882?]". National Library of New Zealand. n.d. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  5. ^ Official Record of the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition; held at Dunedin, 1889–90 (PDF). Wellington, New Zealand: George Didsbury, Government Printer. 1891. p. 259.