List of Beale serial numbers and date of manufacture
The Beale piano factory was established by Octavius Beale, an Irish born (1850) multi faceted personality. He married in 1875 to produce thirteen children. He was an accomplished linguist, a great traveller and a fellow of the London Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Arts. He was also president of the New South Wales Chamber of Commerce and a trustee of the Australian Museum and the Bank of New South Wales (Westpac). In 1906 he conducted a Royal Commission into Patent and Proprietory Medicines (at his own expense). At eighty years of age, he died in a motoring accident.
Beale started his business career as an importer of German upright pianos. A few of these imported instruments survive, and are named 'Hapsburg Beale'. The Beale piano factory was established at 47 Trafalgar St Annandale, and grew to become the largest piano factory in the southern hemisphere in the early 1900's.
Should anyone have additional information on the Beale piano factory and the family (Octavius and his son Rupert), we would be pleased to incorporate it on this page. Please contact us at: Overs Pianos Webmaster .
PHOTOGALLERY OF THE FORMER BEALE PIANO FACTORY
Originally located at 47 Trafalgar St., Annandale.
These images were scanned from 35 mm transparencies, which were taken from early prints of the Beale factory. The transparencies were provided by Ray Green, a former worker at the Beale factory and currently librarian for the NSW branch of the APTTA.
Please 'click' on any thumbnail image to see the full size image in a new browser window.
