Letters to Joseph Palmer Abbott from Lord Beauchamp, 1900

MLMSS 9802

fonds

29 March and 28 May 1900

1000769

0.01 meters (1 folder) - manuscript

Despite having been mayor of Worcester at 23 and a member of the London School Board for two years, the offer of governorship of the Colony of New South Wales came as a surprise to Beauchamp. He 'scarcely knew where was the colony & certainly nothing about it … The offer was very nearly forthwith refused, so ridiculous did it appear to me'.

However, Beauchamp was quick to get off on the wrong foot with the colonists, making such remarks as adapting Kipling: 'Greeting! your birthstain have you turned to good'. In September 1899, he offended French colonists by condemning the Dreyfus trial and expressing pride in being an Englishman. Cartoonists made predictable Beecham's Pills jokes.

Beauchamp was neither powerful nor purely ornamental. He exercised limited prerogatives and influence in an increasingly radical and nationalist environment. His own behaviour—such as punctiliously climbing into carriages ahead of his lady companions—stimulated further criticism from those ill-disposed to colonial symbols.

After he had left Australia, Beauchamp admitted that the governor's duties 'do not take much time—sport cannot absorb one's whole attention & other interests are necessary'. Tracing missing children and spouses, selecting a doctor for Fiji, arranging London University external examinations, were routine gubernatorial activities. Some of his other achievements included overseeing contract negotiations for the Pacific Cable, displaying admirable equanimity during the outbreak of bubonic plague of March-October 1900, and discreetly stimulate commercial and political resistance to the proposed extension of the contract time for sea mail deliveries.

Reference: Australian Dictionary of Biography

Letter 1
One hand-written note in white envelope sent from Beauchamp to Sir Joseph.

Letter 2
One hand-written letter discussing the challenges he faces as governor, and seeking advise from his friend.

Copyright status:: In copyright
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