Rosetta Baume
{{Short description|New Zealand teacher and community leader (1871–1934)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rosetta Baume
| image = Rosetta Baume, 1919 (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Baume in 1919
| birth_name = Rosetta Lulah Leavy
| birth_date = July 1871
| birth_place = San Francisco, United States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|02|22|1871|07||df=yes}}
| death_place = Wellington, New Zealand
| nationality =
| other_names = Rosetta Kane
| occupation = {{Cslist|Teacher|community leader}}
| known_for = Women's rights advocacy
| spouses = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Frederick Baume|1899|1910|end=d.}}
- {{marriage|Edward William Kane|1921|1934}}
}}
| children = 4
}}
Rosetta Lulah Baume (née Leavy, also known as Rosetta Kane; July 1871 – 22 February 1934) was an American-born New Zealand teacher, feminist and community leader. She sat on a number of educational boards and in 1919 was one of the first three female candidates for Parliament in New Zealand.
Early life and family
Baume was born in San Francisco, California, United States, in July 1871. Her father was a civil service commissioner for the state of California.{{DNZB|title=Rosetta Lulah Baume|first= Janet|last= McCallum|id=3b18|accessdate=23 April 2017|author-link=Janet McCallum (writer)}} She earned a Bachelor of Philosophy from the University of California in 1891, and became one of the first female high school teachers in the United States. On 21 June 1899 she married Frederick Baume, a barrister from New Zealand, in San Francisco. They moved to New Zealand shortly after their marriage where Frederick became a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party. Baume found New Zealand life "provincial" and stood out for being an American university-educated woman. She and her husband had four sons together, one of whom died at 8 months old.{{DNZB|last=Rogers|first=Frank|id=2b11|title=Frederick Ehrenfried Baume|accessdate=23 April 2017}}{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19021122.2.50 |access-date=15 March 2021 |work=Auckland Star |date=22 November 1902 |page=5}}
Community and political work
Baume's husband died in Germany in 1910, and the family were left in difficult financial circumstances. She returned to San Francisco with her sons from 1911 to 1913, then returned to New Zealand where she became involved in educational and community work. She was the first woman to be appointed to the Auckland Education Board and the Auckland Grammar School Board, and also sat on the boards of the Elam School of Art and the Auckland Technical School, as well as being a member of various other women's, children's and educational associations. She was the first honorary secretary of the Auckland Women's Patriotic League and a founder and committee member of the Auckland Women's Club. From 1918 to 1920 she was a vice-president of the revived National Council of Women of New Zealand.
In 1913, together with Ellen Melville and Emily Maguire, she helped found the Auckland Civic League, a women's organisation which aimed to encourage women to run for public office. Baume became one of the first three women candidates for Parliament in New Zealand (alongside Melville and Aileen Cooke),{{cite web |title=Women can stand for Parliament |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/women-can-stand-parliament |website=New Zealand History |access-date=14 March 2021}} standing for the Liberal Party for the seat of Parnell in {{NZ election link year|1919}}.{{cite book |first1=J. |last1=Hislop |title=The General Election, 1919 |url= http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1921-I-II.2.3.2.45 |publisher=National Library |accessdate=6 December 2014 |pages=1–6 | year=1921}} All three women were unsuccessful, with Baume coming third in her electorate, and a political cartoon at the time showed two women standing outside a house labelled "Woman's Kingdom", with Baume saying to Melville: "After all, dear, there's no place like home for a woman. We can always get elected to this house without opposition."{{cite news |last1=Brookes |first1=Barbara |title=On Suffrage Day, the long road from a house to the House |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96851290/barbara-brookes-on-suffrage-day-the-long-road-from-a-house-to-the-house |access-date=14 March 2021 |work=Stuff.co.nz |date=19 September 2017}}
Later years and death
In 1921 she remarried Edward William Kane, a clerk of the House of Representatives. Her new home in Wellington became a venue for politicians and other leading members of society to gather. She joined the board of governors of Wellington College and Wellington Girls' College, and rose to the position of vice-chair. She became a member of the Wellington branch of the League of Nations Union of New Zealand and the Women's Service Guild, and was a founding member and committee member of the Wellington Women's Club. In 1931 she became a justice of the peace, and stated her intention of standing for Parliament again in the next election.
In February 1926, the family experienced a scandal when one of Baume's sons, Sidney Baume, aged 20, was convicted of cheque fraud against the Wellington Post Office and sentenced to up to three years' imprisonment in a Borstal institute.{{cite news |title=Savings Bank Swindle |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19260211.2.49 |access-date=15 March 2021 |work=NZ Truth |date=11 February 1926 |page=7}} He was released in October 1926 on the condition that he move to Sydney and not return to Wellington; Baume escorted him on the ship to Sydney.{{cite news |title=Sensational Charge Made |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KCC19261009.2.33 |access-date=15 March 2021 |work=King Country Chronicle |date=9 October 1926 |page=5}}{{cite news |title=S.E. Baume Released from Prison: Considerable Comment |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDT19261008.2.23 |access-date=15 March 2021 |work=Wairarapa Daily Times |date=8 October 1926 |page=5}}
Baume died in Wellington on 22 February 1934.{{cite news |title=Obituary: Mrs Rosetta L Kane |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19340223.2.177 |access-date=15 March 2021 |work=New Zealand Herald |date=23 February 1934 |page=12}} Her funeral was attended by the Prime Minister, George Forbes, the Chief Justice and many other leading political figures.{{cite news |title=Mrs. Kane's Funeral |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19340224.2.138.12 |access-date=15 March 2021 |work=Auckland Star |date=24 February 1934 |page=14}} Her second husband died a few months later in July 1934.{{cite news |title=Obituary |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG19340718.2.47 |access-date=15 March 2021 |work=Ashburton Guardian |date=18 July 1934 |page=6}} One of her sons from her first marriage, Eric Baume, later became well known in Australia as a journalist, broadcaster and novelist. Her son Sidney Baume, after his move to Australia, became a radio station manager and later an advertising agent. Sidney's son Peter Baume, and another grandson Michael Baume, became Australian senators.{{cite web |last1=Beauchamp |first1=Clive |title=BAUME, PETER ERNE (1935– ) |url=https://biography.senate.gov.au/baume-peter-erne/ |website=The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate: Online Edition |publisher=Department of the Senate |access-date=15 March 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Kitay |first1=Jim |title=BAUME, MICHAEL EHRENFRIED (1930– ) |url=http://biography.senate.gov.au/baume-michael-ehrenfried/ |website=The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate: Online Edition |publisher=Department of the Senate |access-date=15 March 2021}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://natlib.govt.nz/records/32745779 Political cartoon by an unknown cartoonist], featuring Melville and Baume, 1919
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baume, Rosetta}}
Category:20th-century New Zealand educators
Category:New Zealand feminists
Category:People from San Francisco
Category:New Zealand Liberal Party politicians
Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1919 New Zealand general election
Category:19th-century American educators
Category:20th-century New Zealand women politicians
Category:20th-century New Zealand politicians
Category:American emigrants to New Zealand
Category:New Zealand justices of the peace