Family background
John ‘Bev’ Beveridge was born on 8 August 1848 at Windsor, New South Wales, the son of John Beveridge and Jean née Greig. Beveridge senior was originally from Kirkcaldy, Scotland and migrated to Australia in 1839 where he and his wife settled at Windsor, New South Wales. He worked as a confectioner and baker and died at his Windsor home in 1867, aged 49.
On 8 August 1871 John Beveridge junior married Priscilla Wright and the pair had seven children together. They lived in Balmain. He died at Kensington, Sydney, on 15 March 1916, aged 67, and was buried at Waverley Cemetery. His youngest son, Roy Stuart Beveridge (born 1893), was killed in action in November 1916 while serving in France with the Australian Imperial Force.
Occupation & interests
In 1867, at age 19, John Beveridge was employed by George Griffiths and Company and by 1880 was made a partner of the company, soon becoming its sole proprietor. The business specialised in wholesale grocery and general merchandise and was situated in Bridge Street, Sydney. By the 1880s, he operated a wholesale grocery store on Pitt Street, Redfern.
In 1889 an article titled ‘Leaders in Our Mercantile World’ in the Illustrated Sydney News described Beveridge as ‘one of the best-known business men of an essentially busy city’. He was a member of the committee of the Chamber of Commerce, director of the Mortgage, Guarantee and Mercantile Finance Corporation of NSW, the Sydney Real Estate Bank Ltd and the Australian Traders’ Fire Insurance Company Ltd. The article also described him as a ‘great lover of Shakespeare’ and an ‘artist’ with particular skill in pen and ink drawing. He sold George Griffiths and Company in late 1891.
By 1901 Beveridge had moved to Hay in the Riverina region of NSW, where he opened his own merchandise store.
Community activity
Beveridge was a keen cricketer, playing with the Albert (senior) Cricket Club, in some of their mid-week matches, while an alderman on Redfern Council. In 1890 he captained a team of aldermen and officers from the Redfern Council in a ‘friendly game’ against Dundas Council, played in the ‘fruit country’ of Dundas. He later played, and captained, the Surry United Club until he was about 50. On his death, Sydney’s Referee newspaper described him as the club’s ‘most consistent run-getter’ and an ‘exceptionally keen leader and fighter for his side’.
He was active in the free trade movement in the late 1880s and early 1890s, attending and chairing meetings and nominating as a free trade candidate for the Redfern electorate in the 1889 and 1891 colonial elections. He was also involved in the efforts to create a memorial to John Sutherland, who had served as a minister in the colonial government.
By 1896 Beveridge had taken up residence in Lithgow, where he stood for election (unsuccessfully) for Lithgow Council in 1896 and 1897. His passion for cricket continued in Lithgow, where he became president of the district cricket association.
Beveridge was appointed a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Redfern Sub-District Public School Board, and in 1899 as a Coroner for Lithgow and the colony at large. While living at Hay, NSW, he participated in the Hay Cricket Association and Chamber of Commerce.
Local government service
Beveridge was first elected an alderman for the Belmore Ward of Redfern Council on 20 September 1886 and was re-elected, unopposed, in February 1888, serving until May 1891. On 12 February 1891 he was elected mayor for the ensuing year but resigned both as mayor and as an alderman on 29 May 1891.
References
Additional research and information supplied by Andrew Beveridge.
‘Death of Mr John Beveridge’, Referee, 22 March 1916, p. 12, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/121178683
‘Cricket’, Daily Telegraph, 25 March 1890, p. 6, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/235721945
‘The Redfern Seat’, Evening News, 27 August 1888, p. 5, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107332100
‘Redfern Election’, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 September 1888, p. 12, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13695695
‘The Candidates’, Evening News, 26 January 1889, p. 5, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/108786583 ‘Redfern Election’, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 June 1889, p. 8, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28337835
‘The Sutherland Memorial Movement’, Australian Star, 3 July 1889, p. 7, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/227575380
‘Borough of Redfern’, NSW Government Gazette, 28 September 1886 (No.550), p. 6578, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222438175
‘Municipal Nominations’, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 February 1888, p. 7, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13672433
‘Resignation of the Mayor of Redfern’, Evening News, 30 May 1891, p. 6, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/113882008
NSW State Archives: NRS-13660-7-244-Series 4_74037: John Beveridge, Date of Death 15/03/1916, Granted on 26/05/1916