John Charles Hetherington Beaumont
1868 - 1931
DR. BEAUMONT RETIRES; DEAN OF SEA DOCTORS
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Crossed the Atlantic 1,002 Times, a Record Exceeded Only by One Man
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The news of the retirement of Dr. J. C. H. Beaumont, senior surgeon of
the White Star liner Majestic, cabled from London on Saturday, was
received with surprise in shipping circles yesterday, because it was
unexpected. Dr. Beaumont was thirty-one years in the employ of the White
Star Line, and prior to that was with the Atlantic Transport Line for
several years and in the Australian, China and Indian steamship
services.
Captain Frank Claret of the Minnewaska declares that when he was a boy
of 5 his mother took him to see Dr. Beaumont, who was then practicing in
Highgate, near London. This is denied by the veteran medico of the
Atlantic, but he admitted on his last voyage to New York that he was 69
years old. He was senior surgeon of the Olympic in October, 1914, when
the liner went to the assistance of the British battleship Audacious
after she had been torpedoed, and was the only member of the crew who
was allowed to land in Ireland with Charles M. Schwab, head of the
Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
The doctor denied all knowledge of the sinking of the battleship when he
came to New York two weeks later in the Baltic, and was known as
Audacious Beaumont until after the end of the war, when he admitted the
fact and said he had felt it his duty to "lie like a gentleman."
His record of 1,002 crossings of the Atlantic is known to have been
beaten only by one man, the late Thomas Kinsey, who in sixty years as
purser made 1,148 trips.
Dr. Beaumont lives with his family in Southampton, where his eldest eon
was married recently. The doctor is a Scot and took his medical degree
in Edinburgh.
The New York Times, 10 November 1931
DR. J. C. S. BEAUMONT
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Ship's Surgeon, Who Crossed Atlantic 1,001 Times, Dies in England
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Wireless to THE NEW YORK TIMES
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LONDON, Nov. 9---Dr. J. C. S. Beaumont, recently retired senior surgeon
of the White Star liner Majestic, died in a hospital at Southampton
today. He had crossed the North Atlantic exactly 1,001 times. His first
voyage was in the old City of Newcastle, from Calcutta to London. The
ship was becalmed for twenty-one days and consumed 152 days altogether.
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Dr. Beaumont retired in July, after having spent more than thirty-one
years with the White Star Line. During that time he became a familiar
figure to habitual voyagers. He was considered an authority on sea
sickness. He was an author of note. One of his works, "Ships---and
People," was published by the Frederick A. Stokes Company here in 1927.
Shortly after the World War he told of his experiences during the war
period in an article for THE NEW YORK TIMES Magazine called "Braving the
Submarine for 52 Months."
Person TypeIndividual
