Ethel Birch
Ethel Birch (née Lydia Etheldreda Larden, 1853 – 23 February 1927) was a British born New Zealand settler and the first European woman to climb Mount Ruapehu. She donated watercolours by her mother Lydia Larden to the Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui.
Biography
[edit | edit source]Birch was the youngest daughter of Lydia Larden (née Bucknill) and Rev George Edge Larden of Arkel Rectory, Shropshire.[1] She married her cousin William John Birch in Oxford, England, on 16 December 1875.[1][2] Birch had emigrated to New Zealand in 1860[3] and with his brother Azim established a large sheep station on the Oruamatua-Kaimanawa Block near Moawhango, in the Inland Patea area between Napier and Taihape.[4] The block was later called Erewhon.[4] After their marriage, the couple travelled to New Zealand and settled at Erewhon. In 1877 or 1878 they built a house Stoneycroft in Hastings where they spent summers and ran a stud.[4] From 1887 they lived at and managed Erewhon.[4] In 1899 they moved to Thorseby Farm, Marton, where they lived for the rest of their lives.[4]
The Birchs did not have any children[1] but adopted William and Azim's nephew William Caccia in the early 1890s; Caccia changed his name by deed poll to William Charles Caccia Birch.[4]
On 9 March 1881 Birch climbed Mount Ruapehu with her husband and George Beetham, becoming the first European woman to do so.[4][5][6] She penned a letter to the Hawkes Bay Herald in 1886 regarding her observations of steam and clouds around Ruapehu.[7]
In 1922 Birch donated watercolours by her mother Lydia Larden to the Sarjeant Gallery.[1]
Birch died at Thorseby Farm on 23 February 1927 and her funeral took place at Old St Paul's in Wellington.[8]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c d e f g Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Birch Homestead Heritage New Zealand. House built by William and Azim Birch, Taihape-Napier Rd, Moawhango.
- Inland Pātea in Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
- Map of Inland Pātea in Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).