Octavius Beale

Octavius Charles Beale (23 February 1850 – 16 December 1930) was an Irish-born Australian piano manufacturer and a philanthropist.

Beale formed a company to import sewing machines and pianos in 1879, after which he established Australia's first piano factory in Annandale, 1893. The factory ceased production in 1975.

He served as president of the New South Wales Chamber of Commerce and a trustee of the Australian Museum, and the Bank of New South Wales (Westpac).

In 1903, Beale was appointed one of twelve members of a Royal Commission into the decline of the birth rate in New South Wales. He later conducted, at his own expense, a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Secret Drugs, 1905-1910. The two-volume report records the criminal unscrupulousness of manufacturers and advertisers.

Marriage and family

Beale married Elizabeth (Lilly) Baily (1856 – 1901) at the Congregational Church, Woollahra, New South Wales, and they had twelve children. After Lily's death he married her sister Katherine on 4 March 1903. The children from the first marriage were:

On his death in a motor vehicle accident in Stroud, New South Wales, Beale was survived by his second wife and ten of his 12 children.

References

  1. ↑ Hicks, Neville; Lea-Scarlett, E. J. (1979). "Octavius Charles Beale (1850–1930)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 7. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  2. ↑ Irish in Australia
  3. ↑ Robert Palmieri; Margaret W. Palmieri (2003). The Piano: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-415-93796-2. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  4. ↑ Michael Atherton (December 1990). Australian made, Australian played: handcrafted musical instruments from didjeridu to synthesiser. New South Wales University Press. p. 42. ISBN 9780868403236. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Family Free
  6. ↑ Barnes, Geoffrey (1993). "Alexander Petrie Campbell (1881–1963)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 13. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  7. ↑ Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) pp11
  8. ↑ "DEATHS OF OTHER CITIZENS". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 30, 755. New South Wales, Australia. 29 July 1936. p. 10. Retrieved 18 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ AWM Octavius Cyril Beale Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  10. ↑ Australian Doctors on the Western Front Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "Weddings". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 26, 890. New South Wales, Australia. 12 March 1924. p. 8. Retrieved 1 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "MR. O. C. BEALE". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). NSW: National Library of Australia. 17 December 1930. p. 13. Retrieved 26 January 2015.

See also