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Beethams of Brancepeth

New Zealand’s immigrant stories over the past 200 years tell of people escaping a difficult past, or of being lured by promises of a better future.

Aratoi’s new exhibition, William’s Legacy: The Beetham Portraits, is a unique look at one of the oldest immigrant families in Wairarapa and their story.

Fifteen years after the signing of the Tiriti o Waitangi, in the years that followed the industrial and agricultural revolutions in Britain, William Beetham emigrated with his large family to Wellington from England.

At the time New Zealand must have been seen by many Europeans to be the most remote country on earth. But inspired by concerns for his children’s prospects, Beetham, with his wife and 10 children, took this long and dangerous journey to New Zealand.

They arrived in 1855 and over the next few decades the family established the most extensive pastoral station in Wairarapa, known as Brancepeth.

The family exhibited the true pioneering spirit in establishing their settlement in remote Wairarapa.

In the early years, Beetham’s sons Richmond, Henry, and George, would walk their supplies and stock around the wild southern coast of the North Island to establish the holding.

Before making the decision to leave England, Beetham was already established as a professional portrait artist with many exhibitions across the world.

In New Zealand, he quickly became a significant figure as a colonist, pastoralist and portrait artist.

Beetham had a society clientele and received commissions to paint portraits of aristocrats and national leaders, including important Māori Rangatira.

He was the first professional portrait artist in New Zealand decades before Gottfried Lindauer and Charles Goldie.

Mont, Jo, and Ed Beetham in front of the portraits of their ancestors. PHOTO/ARATOI/LYNDA FERINGA

In addition, Beetham was the founder and chairman of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, while his children also went on to have illustrious careers.

Aratoi is delighted to showcase selected portraits from the family, including some that have never been seen in a public exhibition before.

Most of these portraits are still owned by descendants of William and Mary Beetham.

• William’s Legacy: The

Beetham Portraits, is on show at Aratoi until

June 12.

INTERNATIONALLY SPEAKING Global co-operation – it’s for the birds

As the speaker at the March 31 meeting of the Institute of International Affairs in Masterton will explain, migratory birds don’t need passports but their travels do result in complications when stopover sites are lost to reclamation projects. However, there are also heartening levels of international co-operation.

Keith Woodley, of the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre, is an expert on the migration routes of birds, for example, the bar-tailed godwits, which fly every year an astonishing 12,000km from Alaska to the Firth of Thames

Keith Woodley. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

without stopping.

Woodley marvels at the way these birds link us to other countries and cultures.

“They link us with habitats in East Asia around the Yellow Sea where they stop to refuel during their northern migration, and they link us with the coastal mudflats of Alaska and the tundra where they breed,” he said. “All these birds require habitats in three different parts of the planet, and all of those parts are equally important. If one of those parts was to disappear, the whole migration system would fall down.”

Since 1994, the Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists’ Trust (PMNT) has been directly engaged in shorebird research and advocacy work along the East Asian Australasian Flyway.

As Woodley said: “Much of our work has centred on China, especially the Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve near the border with North Korea.”

Since 2015, the Miranda Trust has completed five years of shorebird surveys on the west coast of North Korea, documenting at least 10 migratory stopover sites of international importance. This work has quietly continued despite the bellicose postering on the international political scene.

“For a small NGO based on the Firth of Thames it has been a most interesting journey,” said Woodley. “Until 2011 when the New Zealand government joined the East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership, PMNT was the sole NZ partner.”

• The meeting will be at

Rosewood, 417 Queen

St, Masterton at 8pm on Thursday, March 31.

Vaccine passes, masks and social distancing required. • All are welcome.

Non-members: $5 door charge. For more information contact secretary Aileen

Weston, phone: (06) 372-5741, email: aileen. weston@orcon.net.nz

NIBBLE AWAY AT YOUR DOG REGO

Dog registration fees are due at the end of June, but there’s an easy way to take the pain away from payments. For as little as $5 a week, you can cover the cost of registration in instalments – and avoid late fees. Contact Masterton District Council’s Animal Services team to set up an automatic payment for dog registration fees. Phone 06 370 6300 or email animalservices@mstn.govt.nz, and don’t forget to update your contact details if they have changed.