Mary Ursula Bethell

Peter Whiteford (Victoria University of Wellington)

Ed. by Jennifer Lawn, Massey University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Newman University), Louise McDonald (Newman University)

Dates

Born 6 Oct 1874
Died 15 Jan 1945
Activity 1894-1945

Places

Born in England
Active in England; New Zealand

Activities

Primary

Letter-writer/ Diarist
Poet

Resources

Born in Surrey, England, in 1874, Ursula Bethell achieved some local prominence as a poet in the 1930s, and is now acknowledged, with R. A. K. Mason, as one of the most important founding voices in modern poetry in New Zealand. Bethell’s output, like that of Mason, was relatively slight in quantitative terms, and in some respects her voice was considerably more traditional than his, but there is nevertheless some validity to the oft-repeated claim of D’Arcy Cresswell that New Zealand “wasn’t truly discovered” until she paused from her gardening to raise her eyes to the imposing mountains beyond.

Most of Bethell’s childhood was spent in New Zealand, her parents having returned there in 1876. Initially, the family …

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1490 words

Citation: Whiteford, Peter. "Mary Ursula Bethell". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 July 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=400, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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