Sir Louis Bernhardt George Stephen Beale

Beale was born in Sussex in 1879. His family was involved in building much of the housing in Tunbridge Wells, a fashionable town southeast of London.  Beale’s wife May was born in Yorkshire in 1881 and married Louis at St. Pancras, London, in April 1902. They lived in Sussex for a few years, and he then began his career in the British diplomatic commercial corps, serving as a trade commissioner in Canada, Shanghai, British Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S.

Beale was awarded an O.B.E. in 1925 and a life peerage in 1937, giving him the title of Sir. In 1939, he was in charge of the British exhibit at the New York World’s Fair, and there was a photo of him in Life Magazine, in his top hat, sleeping while the Soviet ambassador lauded the glories of the Soviet Union. After retiring in 1943, he served on the British Trade Commission and the boards of various companies and agencies.

He and Lady May retired to the Seattle area, where their son Philip lived, and in 1966, they moved to Rose Villa. In an interview with The Oregonian soon after he moved in, Beale said, “I’ve lived in all parts of the globe and circled the world more than 30 times. I chose Oregon because to my mind it is similar to England, only on a very large scale. Life in Oregon is lived naturally; I’m struck, too, by the courtesy of Oregonians … by the natural beauty and the way of life.”

Sir Louis died in 1971, and May lived on until 1976. Apparently, the couple was not particularly involved in activities while they were residents.