some of the BEETHAM soldiers found to have served in WWI:


Albert Mayo BEETHAM (1897-1960)
- son of Attila Harry BEETHAM & Estella Eugenia INNES
- had a brother Montague Innes Beetham & sister Montrose Attila Beetham
- Albert married Agnes Mary Hindmarsh BOLTON in 1904
SERIAL NUMBER - 24/687
FIRST KNOWN RANK - Rifleman
NEXT OF KIN - Estella BENNETT (mother), Anderson's Bay Rd, Dunedin
ENLISTMENT ADDRESS - Anderson's Bay, next Bay View Hotel, Dunedin
BODY ON EMBARKATON - 2nd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade
EMBARKATION UNIT - Battalion Signallers
EMBARKATION DATE - 9 October 1915 from Wellington
DESTINATION - Suez, Egypt


Harold Richmond Wardell Beetham
- son of Norman BEETHAM & Alice Mary WARDELL
- brother Norman Trevor Beaumont Wardell Beetham married Ethel Sophia Hindmarsh BOLTON in 1912
- Harold married Muriel Edith Hindmarsh BOLTON in 1911
SERIAL NUMBER - 57896
FIRST KNOWN RANK - Sergeant
NEXT OF KIN - Mrs H. Beetham (wife), c/o Norman Beetham, Masterton
OCCUPATION - Farmer -
BODY ON EMBARKATON - NZEF
EMBARKATION UNIT - 43rd Reinforcements New Zealand Field Artillery
EMBARKATION DATE - 3 October 1918 from Wellington
DESTINATION - London, England


Orengard Horsley Beetham (1886-1939)
- son of Hugh Horsley BEETHAM & Ruth BIDWILL
- brother RalphFitz Roger Bidwell Beetham (below)
- sisters, Wena Beatrice Richmond Beetham who married Charles William Rene NICHOLLS-BROGLIE & Thyra Talvase Beetham who married Marinduke BETHELL in 1904
SERIAL NUMBER - 57667
FIRST KNOWN RANK - Sergeant
NEXT OF KIN - Hugh Horsley Beetham (father), Brancepeth, Masterton,
OCCUPATION - Station Manager
BODY ON EMBARKATON - New Zealand Expeditionary Force
EMBARKATION UNIT - 38th Reinforcements New Zealand Field Artillery
EMBARKATION DATE - 2 May 1918 from Wellington
VESSEL - Balmoral Castle


Ralph FitzRoger Bidwill Beetham (1880-1957)
- son of Hugh Horsley BEETHAM & Ruth BIDWELL
- brother Orengard Horsley Beetham (above)
SERIAL NUMBER - 11/203
FIRST KNOWN RANK - Trooper
NEXT OF KIN - Hugh Horsley Beetham (father), *Brancepeth, Masterton
ENLISTMENT ADDRESS - Brancepeth, Masterton,
BODY ON EMBARKATON - Main Body
EMBARKATION UNIT - Wellington Mounted Rifles
EMBARKATION DATE - 16 October 1914
DESTINATION - Suez, Egypt
- Ralph received the Military Cross


Richmond Beetham
- married Hilda Margrette HAMPTON in 1911
SERIAL NUMBER - 50343
FIRST KNOWN RANK - Rifleman
NEXT OF KIN - M. Beetham (father), 9 Bennett Thorpe, Doncaster, England
OCCUPATION - Station Cadet
BODY ON EMBARKATON - NZEF
EMBARKATION UNIT - 27th Reinforcements G Company
EMBARKATION DATE - 15 July 1917 from Wellington
DESTINATION - Liverpool, England


*Brancepeth, Masterton ... In 1856 Jack Hutton and four Beetham brothers drove 500 sheep to the remote Wainuioru Valley near Masterton to start breaking in their 4,000 hectare leasehold. Although much of the land remained heavily forested, the heart of what was to become Brancepeth had been cleared by fairly recent Maori fires in preparation for seasonal cultivation. During the first years the brothers constructed a whare, storehouse, and a woolshed, and began building up their flock. In 1858, a partnership between the Beethams and Thomas Coldham Williams provided capital to purchase substantial tracts of land and develop the run. By the late 1890s threats to the Station, such as wild dogs, rabbits, and wild pigs, had been overcome. Under the management of Hugh Beetham, Brancepeth Station became the largest sheep-station in the Wairarapa, with approximately 24,000 hectares (59,000 acres). It employed hundreds of workers and had taken on the appearance of a small village