Arthur Beauchamp was a 19th century Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 from New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Arriving from Australia on 15 November 1858, he lived much of his life in a number of locations around the top of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

. His son Harold Beauchamp

Harold Beauchamp

Harold Beauchamp was New Zealand banker.Born in Ararat, Victoria, Australia to 15 November 1858 Arthur Beauchamp and Mary Elizabeth Stanley, the family moved to Nelson in 1961 and then Picton...

 rose to fame as chairman of the Bank of New Zealand

Bank of New Zealand

Bank of New Zealand is one of New Zealand’s largest banks and has been operating continuously in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in December 1861...

 and the father of writer Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield

Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and...

.

Beauchamp represented the Picton

Picton (New Zealand electorate)

Picton was a parliamentary electorate in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand, from 1861 to 1887.-Population centres:This electorate is based on the town of Picton.-History:...

 electorate from 1866 to 1867, when he resigned. He is best-remembered for a 10-hour speech.

In 1866 he attempted to sue the speaker of the house, David Monro

David Monro

Sir David Monro was a New Zealand politician. He served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1861 to 1870.-Early life:...

. At the time the extent of privilege held by Members of Parliament was unclear; a select committee

Select committee

A select committee is a special subcommittee of a legislature or assembly governed under a committee system, like Robert's Rules of Order. They are often investigative in nature, collecting data or evidence for a law or problem, and will dissolve immediately after they report their findings to...

ruled that the suite could proceed, but with a stay until after the parliamentary session.