Acknowledgments

Particular thanks go to Rose Beauchamp for the transcript of her interview with Miss Beeson and to Katrina Hatherly for helping to track down a photo through the Alexander Turnbull Library. Thanks also to those people who talked about their memories of Miss Beeson. (Not all of them had their teacups read). They include Katrina Hatherley, Kae Allen, Vicki Farslow, Vicki Mathison, Kamala Patel, Nada Mills, Sarah Te One, Jane Cherry, Frances Cherry, and Antony Skipper.

1. Dalrymple, Laurel. For centuries, people have searched for answers in the bottom of a teacup. American National Public Radio. 1 September 2015. (Accessed 25/6/21). 

2. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp in 1984/1985, Paekakariki, New Zealand with assistance from Robin Nathan, p. 1. 

3. Rose’s interview with Miss Beeson is recorded in both print and on tape cassette lodged at the Alexander Turnbull Library. (Miss Ursula Beeson, An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp in 1984/1985, Paekakariki, New Zealand with assistance from Robin Nathan). Rose kindly sent me a printed copy of the transcript. 

4. Wellington Cosmo, Regional Roundup, Wellington: Newrick Associates December 1984. (later Wellington City magazine) https://wellington.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/5232 (accessed 29/6/21). 

5. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, p. 10. 

6. A 1984 article described Miss Beeson as sitting ‘in her nightdress and jersey on a cold winter’s morning, [where] she easily assumes the part of a fortune teller: her voice is low and melodious, and her face constantly changes expression.’ (Wellington Cosmo magazine, refer endnote 3). 

7. Miss Beeson’s parents met in America. Her father was from rich Mersey shipbuilding stock, while her Scottish mother ‘with a beautiful face but hopeless body’ had gone to America with her illegitimate son, possibly to escape social opprobrium. Sadly, this young son, Ursula’s stepbrother, was adopted out when her parents married, and Ursula never met him. 

8. Sloane Maternity Hospital, NYC. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(King1893NYC)_pg485_SLOANE_MATERNITY_HOSPITAL,_TENTH_AVENUE_AND_WEST_59TH_STREET.jpg (accessed 20/6/21). 

9. Derbyshire, David. The psychology of spiritualism: science and seances. The Guardian, 20 October 2013.
   
   https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/20/seances-and-science (accessed 29/6/21). 

10. Window on abolition, women's rights, other progressive 19th century movements. University of Rochester Online Archive. 12 September 2012 https://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=4372 (accessed 27/6/21). 

11. Cep, Casey. Why Did So Many Victorians Try to Speak with the Dead? The New Yorker, 24 May, 2021.
    
    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/why-did-so-many-victorians-try-to-speak-with-the-dead (accessed 29/6/21). 

12. Derbyshire, David, refer endnote 7. 

13. New York City History. The Bowery Boys. Supernatural Stories of New York: spooky seances, violent Jazz Age ghosts and an island of despair https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2010/10/supernatural-stories-of-new-york-spooky.html (accessed 29/6/21). 

14. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, p. 13. 

15. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, p. 31. 

16. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, p. 41. 

17. Cep, Casey. Refer endnote 9. 

18. Dalrymple, Laurel. Refer endnote 1. 

19. Dalrymple, Laurel. Refer endnote 1. 

20. Tea Association of the USA. Gypsy’s secret. The Tea Reading Tasseography. http://www.teausa.com/14531/reading-tea-leaves (accessed 29/7/21). 

21. Tea Leaf reading, collection by Ida Mollett. https://www.pinterest.nz/idamae70/tea-leaf-reading
    
    (accessed 27/6/21). 

22. Wellington Cosmo, refer endnote 3, p. 10. 

23. Taylor, Rupert. A history of New York’s psychic tea rooms. Exemplore. 30 Jan. 2020
    
    https://exemplore.com/paranormal/New-Yorks-Psychic-Tea-Rooms (accessed 25/7/21). 

24. Whitaker, Jan. Reading the tea leaves. Restaurant-ing Through History, 5 September 2017. https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2017/09/05/reading-the-tea-leaves/ (accessed 25/7/21). 

25. Taylor, Rupert, refer endnote 21. 

26. The Gypsy Tea Kettle. The Lost City. 20 Feb 2010. http://lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com/2010/02/gypsy-tea-kettle.html (accessed 1/7/21). 

27. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, refer endnote 2, p. 44. 

28. Wellington Cosmo, refer endnote 3, p. 10. 

29. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, refer endnote 2, p. 44. 

30. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, refer endnote 2, p. 43 

31. 1935 sheet music - fortune telling gypsy cover art. https://picclick.com/Vintage-In-A-Little-Gypsy-Tea-Room-Sheet-302409178523.html 

32. Crisp, Quentin. (1968). The Naked Civil Servant. UK: Jonathon Cape. 

33. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, refer endnote 2, p. 20. 

34. Miscellaneous Features – A matter of style—Quentin Crisp with Davina Whitehouse, 1979. Nga Taonga https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=415074 (accessed 25/7/21). 

35. Miss Ursula Beeson. An oral history recorded by Rose Beauchamp, refer endnote 2, p. 22. 

36. Wellington Cosmo, refer endnote 3. 

37. Cherry, Frances. Gate crasher & other stories. 2006. Paekakariki: Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, pp. 70-71. 

38. Conversation with Rose Beauchamp, 13 April 2021.