Rowland John Beech

A carte-de-visite portrait of Rowland John Beech (1853-1919).

Born on 15 November 1853 and baptised on 10 December 1853, he was the eldest son of wealthy landowner James Beech and his wife Emily Charlotte née Madocks.

He appears on the 1861 census, aged 7, living with his family at Brandon Lodge in Warwickshire. Also present on the night of the census were a governess and sixteen servants, including a butler, two footmen, a coachman and a groom, with various gamekeepers and gardeners living nearby.

He attended Christchurch College, Oxford (matriculated 13 October 1879, aged 17).

He entered the Army in 1875 and eventually rose to the rank of Colonel, initially in the service of the 16th Lancers and then subsequently with the 2nd Life Guards. He was in later life a Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Warwickshire Yeomanry.

In 1885 he married Adelaide Frederica Capel-Cure, only daughter of Robert Capel-Cure of Blake Hall, Ongar. Their marriage produced four children.

In 1911 he, his wife and two daughters were living at 71 Cadogan Square, Chelsea. The household also comprised twelve servants, including a butler and two footmen.

Colonel Rowland John Beech died on 30 August 1919 at 7 Terlingham Gardens, Folkestone, leaving an estate valued at £206, 931.

‘The death has occurred at Folkestone of Colonel Rowland John Beech, of Brandon Hall, Coventry, and The Shawe, North Staffordshire. Colonel Beech was born in 1853, and was a son of the late Mr James Beech. He married the only daughter of the late Mr R. Capel-Cure, of Blake Hall, Essex. (Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 4 September 1919).

‘He was JP for Warwickshire, and Sheriff in 1890, and also JP for Staffordshire. He served in the 2nd Life Guards, and was in the Camel Corps in the Soudan from 1884-85. More recently he commanded the Warwickshire Yeomanry, which he assisted to train during the war, and in 1917 served with the 36th Brigade, RFA, in France, and was invalided home the following year. He leaves a widow, a son, and a daughter (Chelmsford Chronicle, 5 September 1919).

Photographed by Henry Peach Robinson of Leamington, Warwickshire.