John Richard Beaman (born 5 October 1951) was formerly one of the ten

States of Alderney Member The ten states of Alderney Members make up the legislature (the '' States of Alderney'') of the island of Alderney. Half of the ten States Members are elected every two years for a four-year mandate. They are organised into three main committe ...

s, and he became the Chairman of the influential Policy and Finance Committee in January 2011. Prior to this, he was the Island’s Representative for Tourism. As well as chairman of the Policy and Finance Committee, Beaman was a member of the committees on Employment Legislation, and General Services, and the representative for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, open areas,

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

, and the island of

Burhou Burhou (pronounced ''ber-ROO'') is a small island about northwest of Alderney that is part of the Channel Islands. It has no permanent residents, and is a bird sanctuary, so landing there is banned from March 15 to August 1. The island's wildli ...

. Beaman's term of office ended in 2013.

Early life

Born in

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

, Beaman was educated at

The King's School, Pontefract The King's School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of the four oldest schools in Yorkshire, dating from 1139 and was refounded by King Edward VI in 1548. Histor ...

. He attended the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

, before moving to Madeley in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

to train as a mathematics teacher. From 1976 to 1985, Beaman worked as a teacher, first in schools, and later with children in care. From 1985 to 2005, Beaman worked for

and then for

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

in the Looked-after-children (LAC) department.

Political career

Beaman was elected as a member of the

States of Alderney The States of Alderney (French: ''États d'Aurigny'') is the parliament/council and the legislature of Alderney, part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The origin of the States is unknown, but has operated from the medieval period. The States of A ...

in December 2008 after a controversial election in which he gained the same number of votes (294) as Don Oakden, who was not elected. This was the first tie in the island’s electoral history, and was resolved by the returning officer picking Beaman’s name from a ballot box, which led to his selection as the fifth member. Beaman was announced as States Representative for Tourism on 18 February 2009. In his acceptance interview he declared an awareness of the island’s shortcomings as a tourist destination and pledged to work with local groups to improve the island’s standing. He also drew attention for his refusal to vote for an increase in pay for States Members and for being the only States Member to vote against the setting-up of a housing association. On January 12, 2011, Beaman was elected as the chairman of the island's Policy and Finance (P&F) committee, the States' main decision-making body. He polled five votes, narrowly beating fellow states member Ian Tugby. In his post-election speech, Beaman said that he intended to involve all states members in the island's decision-making process, announcing "Each member has got something to offer and I want to include everybody".

Personal life

In 1976 John married Anne, a schoolteacher, and they have a son named Robert. They both work in their spare time at the

Alderney Lighthouse The Alderney Lighthouse (also known as Mannez Lighthouse) is a stone lighthouse built on the North-East coast of the island of Alderney. It was constructed in 1912 to protect shipping from the dangerous waters of the Alderney Race and the numer ...

as tour guides.The Alderney Journal- ‘Alderney Lighthouse’
/ref> He is a keen fan of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

supporting

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

, and was head coach of

Derby City RLFC Derby City RLFC are an amateur rugby league club based in Derby, England. They were founded in 1990 and currently compete in the Midlands Rugby League Premier Division. They have been ground sharing with Ilkeston RUFC at The Stute since 2014. ...

from 2000 until 2001. He has also written a guide book, ''Eight Walks on Alderney'', which has been translated into

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Notes and references

External links

States of Alderney Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaman, John States of Alderney Members 1951 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bradford English atheists People from Castleford People from Madeley, Staffordshire