Hewitt Pearson Montague Beames (9 May 1875 – 5 March 1948) was

Chief Mechanical Engineer Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...

of the London and North Western Railway from 1920 to 1922.

Biography

Beames was born in Corfe, near Taunton, Somerset in 1875, son of Indian Army Officer Pearson Thomas Beames (1839-1899), and nephew of

John Beames John Beames (21 June 1837 – 24 May 1902) was a civil servant and author in British India. He served in the Punjab from March 1859 to late 1861, and in Bengal from December 1861 until the conclusion of his service in 1893. He was also a schola ...

. Beames was educated at Corrig School, Kingstown, County Dublin, (now

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

), at

Dover College , motto_translation = I cannot refuse the task , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , headmaster = Simon Fisher , r_head_label = , r_head ...

, and Crawley's Military Academy. He then became an apprentice under, and pupil of, Francis William Webb at the Crewe works of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). A keen

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player, Beames played for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

on several occasions, and was invited to tour Canada with the

Irish national rugby union team The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Champi ...

, but was unable to go. Between January 1900 and May 1901, Beames served in the cavalry in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. He then resumed work at Crewe. Between January 1902 and 1909, Beames was "Assistant to the Outdoor Superintendent, Crewe" who dealt with pumping, dredging and other dock machinery. From 1909 until the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, Beames was personal assistant to the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) Charles Bowen Cooke. On the outbreak of war, Beames joined the Royal Engineers' Railway Company with the British Expeditionary Force until he was recalled to Crewe to become "Chief Assistant and Works Manager, Crewe Works". Beames became Deputy CME in June 1919 and CME in November 1920. Beames only produced one new locomotive, the LNWR 380 Class 0-8-4T for use in South Wales. He also reboilered the LNWR Claughton Class locomotives. The LNWR merged with the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

(L&YR) in 1922 and the latter's CME, George Hughes was made CME of the now expanded LNWR, with Beames as "Divisional Mechanical Engineer, Western Division". The LNWR was then grouped in 1923 into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and Beames became "Mechanical Engineer, Crewe". Beames was overlooked in favour of the elderly Hughes for the top position of CME. In December 1930 Beames was made Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer, under Ernest Lemon headquartered at

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

. Lemon was quickly promoted and a new man

William Stanier Sir William Arthur Stanier, (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was a British railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Biography Sir William Stanier was born in Swindon, where h ...

brought in. Beames retired from the railway on 30 September 1934. He was then active in local politics and was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

in the 1946 New Years Honours List for his services as Chairman of the Emergency Committee, County of Cheshire.

References

External links

Bowen Cooke, Whale & Beames
at www.steamindex.com

at Gracesguide.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Beames, Hewitt Pearson Montague 1875 births 1948 deaths Locomotive builders and designers London and North Western Railway people British railway mechanical engineers British mechanical engineers People educated at Dover College Irish rugby union players British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Commanders of the Order of the British Empire