Elder R. Beauchamp's miraculous preservation from mob violence in Karori
Published October 5, 2026 at 2:01 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
During the year 1871 in Karori, New Zealand, Elder R. Beauchamp faced severe persecution from a mob determined to tar and feather him. The incident occurred following Beauchamp's efforts during 1870-1871 to reorganize the Karori branch of the Church with the assistance of schoolteacher Henry Allington. On a specific Sunday evening in 1871, members of the mob searched for Beauchamp at the homes of two local brethren, Brother Lewer and Brother Reading, yet they were unable to find him as he remained invisible to them. Frustrated by his disappearance, the mob turned their aggression against the residences of the Saints. They showered Brother Lewer’s home with rotten eggs to such an extent that he had to wash the interior and exterior of the house and repaper a room to remove the filth. At Brother Reading’s residence, the mob, having exhausted their supply of eggs, hurled large pebbles—some weighing two to three pounds—through the windows, shattering the glass. Despite the destructive intent of the mob, none of the Saints were physically harmed, an outcome attributed by the Saints to the protective care of their heavenly Father.
In Their Own Words
“Upon one occasion they took the trouble to carry with them some tar and feathers, a coating of which they had intended to apply to the person of brother Beauchamp; but thanks to our heavenly Father, they did not succeed, as upon that particular Sunday evening in the year of grace 1871, brother Beauchamp was invisible—to them at any rate. The mob visited the houses of two of the brethren, where they expected to find him, but he was not there. At one of the houses they left behind them so much rottenness, that brother Lewer had to wash a portion of his house both inside and outside, and to repaper a portion of one room in order to remove their works. At brother Reading’s, having, I suppose, exhausted their stock of eggs, they had recourse to pebbles, of from two to three pounds weight, several of which passed through the windows without doing further damage than breaking the glass. We realize that we have enjoyed the protecting care of our heavenly Father, or some of the Saints would most certainly have been hurt.”
— R. Beauchamp, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 34, No. 2
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 9 January 1872 (Vol. 34, No. 2). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1872-01-09_34_2 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Reid L. Neilson and Riley M. Moffat, eds., Tales from the World Tour: The 1895–1897 Travel Writings of Mormon Historian Andrew Jenson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 410–33. https://rsc.byu.edu/tales-world-tour/appendix-2 Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, 9 January 1872 (Vol. 34, No. 2), page 29 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1872-01-09_34_2
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