by Christine Dann
If you had been given permission to explore Wellington’s Parliamentary Library on a weekday afternoon in 1907, you might have been very surprised to see – among the staff and other users in jackets and ties – a teenage girl settled comfortably in a corner, with a stack of books close to hand. If you came at closing time, you might even have overheard her father (a friend of the Chief Librarian, as well as Premier Richard John Seddon) say “Come on, Kathleen, it’s time to go home now.”
It was only because her father (the wealthy businessman Harold Beauchamp) was so well-connected that Kathleen had access to the library, but no one could complain that she did not make made good use of her precious after-school time there. According to the Parliamentary webpage on her activities there:
Anaru Mepham of Mau Whenua talks about the history and importance of Shelly Bay.
OPINION: In the early 1900s, citizens worked against property developers to secure ownership of Days Bay, a much-loved public space ever since. A syndicate of businessmen bought land there in 1905, and, within a month, advertised an auction of 66 building sites. This caused a major public protest. Harold Beauchamp, a Board member of the Bank of New Zealand and father of Katherine Mansfield, appealed to the government to proclaim it a National Park for all time ; but the auction went ahead.
Stuff
Just after 1900, Harold Beauchamp, father of Katherine Mansfield, tried to stop the sale of land for private homes at Days Bay.