Richmond Beetham

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

Early life 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. 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.

Life in New Zealand In 1862, he attained his first job as a public servant, working as a Receiver of Land Revenue in the Otago goldfields. 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.

Later life Beetham later moved to Masterton, where he died in 1912.

Art works The Roman Catholic Mission, Apia, Samoa in the collection of Alexander Turnbull Library