"Jim" Reginald James Haswell BEAMENT
Born 11 September 1900 in Broadstone, Dorset, England [16]
Son of iron foundry core maker James Haswell BEAMENT and Annie Maria CLARK [20] [21]
Baptised on 14 November 1900 at Saint John the Baptist Chapel in Canford, Dorset, England [443]
He was one of four children by his parents with an elder brother William and younger siblings Florence and Arthur [20]
During year or two of his life his family appear to have relocated from Dorset to Taunton, Somerset, England [20]
In 1901 he was living with his parents and brother William at 31 George Street in Taunton [20]
His mother passed away at the age of 34 years in 1906 and in 1909 his father married Eva Eliza DALLEY [21]
Following his father's remarriage the family expanded with his two younger half-sisters, Mabel and Eva [20]
In 1911 he was living with his father, stepmother and siblings at 13 Gladstone Street in Taunton [20]
After leaving school he worked in Taunton as an Apprentice Armature Winder at the same engineering firm as his father [20]
In 1921 and 1923 he was living with his father, stepmother and younger siblings at 18 Cyril Street in Taunton [20]
Immigrated to Western Australia at the age of 22 years, departing from London on the steamship Balranald on 12 April 1923 [203]
After a voyage of five and a half weeks he arrived on the Balranald in Fremantle, Western Australia on 21 May 1923 [338]
On departing England he gave his occupation as Apprentice, however, on his arrival in Australia he said Farming [203] [338]
Farmer in Gunyidi, Western Australia 1931-1953 [19] [50]
In 1932 his farm was 2,479 acres in size and consisted of Victoria Locations 3980, 7352, 8423 and 8794 [3]
Married (1) Jeannie Anne COX nee MORRISON in Perth in 1933 [15]
His wife had divorced her first husband, with whom she had children Iris, Petra, Dolores, Leicester, and Charlie [39: 6-Mar-1935]
Jeannie died at the age of 40 years during childbirth at their homestead in Gunyidi in March 1934 [5: 16-Mar-1934]
The child, a son named James Reginald, died in Gunyidi at the age of 30 minutes [15]
Married (2) his first wife's sister "Nellie" Maria Helen LIPP nee MORRISON in Perth in 1941 [15]
His second wife had divorced her first husband on the grounds of desertion in 1938 [39: 23-Dec-1938]
Private W72073 in Coorow's Australian Army Volunteer Defence Corps during the Second World War [16]
In September 1939 the Carnamah District Road Board declined his request to close the road into Meelyah Reserve [5: 13-Oct-1949]
Poultry Farmer on North Beach Road in Osborne Park 1954-1972 [50]
Later resided in the Perth suburb of Tuart Hill [2]
Father of Reginald [15], Barry and Kaye [166]
Died 21 July 1976; ashes interred at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (EC Section, Garden of Remembrance, 13, 269) [2]
From The Midlands Advocate newspaper, Friday 23 March 1934:
A Bush Tragedy - Pathetic Case at Gunyidi
"A fortnight ago a tragedy overtook a family 13 mile 9 East of Gunyidi. It serves to illustrate the fact that many men and women are enduring hardships in isolation which are equal to those of the first settlers of this country had to endure. Mr Beament and his wife were settled on a partly developed farm 37 miles from Dalwallinu and 47 miles from Moora. Arrangements had been made for Mrs Beament to proceed to a maternity home in Perth at the end of March, but acting upon the advice of a neighbour they set out to reach the nearest hospital which is situated at Dalwallinu. A short distance from the home the mother gave birth to a child. Husband and wife returned to the homestead and dispatched a messenger to the doctor at Dalwallinu. Within half an hour of her return to the homestead Mrs Beament died of heart failure. The doctor arrived some hours later, and advised burial at once. Neighbours gathered around, and a grave was made, and the burial service read, the younger children taken into homes at Gunyidi, and the husband had to face his work again of clearing the land. The Rev. F. W. Gunning paid a visit to this lonely homestead on Wednesday last in company with Mr. A. Martin and Mr. O'Hern, when a service of consecration of the grave was held. Much practical sympathy was shown to Mr. (Beament by his neighbours and all that could be done was done for him by them. There is no doubt that they will rally round him in a time when life is difficult for all, but made doubly so by such tragedies as this. It is pathetic and is incidental to the life on isolated farms today."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Reginald James Haswell Beament' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 19 July 2026 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/reginald-james-haswell-beament [reference list] |
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