Sir David Richard Beamish, (born 20 August 1952) is a British public servant who was the Clerk of the Parliaments, the chief clerk in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, between 16 April 2011 and 15 April 2017.

Personal life

Beamish was born on 20 August 1952 in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. In 1988, he was the winner of the BBC TV series Mastermind, with Nancy Astor as his special subject.

Career

Beamish became a clerk with the House of Lords in 1974 and was promoted to Senior Clerk in 1979. He was seconded to the Cabinet Office to serve as Private Secretary (jointly) to the Leader of the House of Lords and Government Chief Whip in the Lords (1983–86). In 1987, he was appointed Chief Clerk, serving until being appointed Principal Clerk in 1993. He served as Clerk of the Journals from 1993 to 1995. He then served as Clerk of Committees and Clerk of the Overseas Office from 1995 to 2002, until returning to the Journals role, in which he served until 2005. He served as Reading Clerk from 2005 to 2007, when he was appointed Clerk Assistant (the second-ranking clerk in the Lords). He was promoted to Clerk of the Parliaments on 16 April 2011. On 1 December 2016, Beamish announced that he would retire from the role of Clerk of the Parliaments on 15 April 2017. On 23 December 2016 it was announced that

Edward Ollard Sir Edward Christopher Ollard is a British public servant and former Clerk of the Parliaments. Ollard was appointed as Clerk of the Parliaments with the effect from 16 April 2017 for a term of three years. In April 2020, he was re-appointed for ...

would succeed Beamish in his office.

Honours

In the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Beamish was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) for parliamentary service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beamish, David 1952 births Living people People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Clerks of the Parliaments