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Orpheus Beaumont

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Orpheus Maud Beaumont (née Newman, 14 September 1863 – 7 November 1951) was a British-born New Zealand woman who invented the Salvus life jacket.

Biography

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Beaumont was born on 14 September 1863 and baptised on 21 October 1863 according to her baptismal record. She was born in Jersey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom to Mary and William Newman.[1] Beaumont was ten when her father died. Her mother migrated to Dunedin, New Zealand, with her three youngest children.[2]

Beaumont's somewhat unusual first name is bound up with HMS Orpheus on which her teenage brother, Henry Newman, was a seaman. The Orpheus was carrying British soldiers on their way to New Zealand to fight in the Waikato Land Wars when the ship ran aground on the sandbar at the entrance to Auckland’s Manukau Harbour on 7 February 1863.[3] Of the 259 men on board, 189 drowned and Henry Newman was incorrectly presumed to be one of those who died. As was then current practice, there were no life preservers on board the Orpheus.[3] Henry's mother Mary was pregnant at the time of the shipwreck and after learning that her son had survived, she named her daughter Orpheus after the ship.[4]

Beaumont was listed as 2nd Stewardess on the SS Waihora in March or April 1889.[5] Norman Beaumont was Chief Officer on the Waihora in 1889.[6] The couple were married on 17 June 1890.[7] By that time Norman Beaumont had been promoted to be captain of the Union Steamship Company. They had two children, Llewelyn, born in 1892 in Suva, Fiji[8] and Constance.[9]

Beaumont and her daughter travelled to England in 1916 where they joined the Women's Legion. Beaumont was appointed as a supervisor at the Woolwich Arsenal canteen.[10] Between January 1918 and June 1919, she and her husband obtained patents for a new type of life jacket. In 1919 she opened a factory for production of the Salvus life jackets in Liverpool and London.[11]

Beaumont died on 7 November 1951 and is buried at Karitane Cemetery, Karitane, Otago, New Zealand.[12][9][13]

The Salvus life jacket

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Beaumont was allegedly motivated to develop a new type of life jacket following the shipwreck that almost claimed the life of her brother Henry Newman in 1863, the presumed death by drowning of her brother William Newman in 1912, and the sinking of the Titanic.[2] William Newman had actually died a few days after an "apoplectic fit" while out boating Otago in 1887. No inquest was held.[14][15] A newspaper reported Henry Newman's death from a "lung disease" as occurring in 1898.[16]

On 15 April 1912, the RMS Titanic sank with the loss of approximately 1,500 lives.[17] The Convention for the Saving of Life at Sea was adopted in 1914, in response to the Titanic disaster.[18] Article 51(1) states "A life-jacket of an approved type, or other appliance of equal buoyancy and capable of being fitted on the body, shall be carried for every person on board, and, in addition, a sufficient number of life-jackets, or other equivalent appliances, suitable for children."[19] Following the tragedy, the British Board of Trade held a competition calling for the invention of a better life jacket than the cork model currently in use at the time.[4][20]

The Beaumonts designed a cotton vest filled with kapok, a buoyant fibre harvested from the kapok tree; they were inspired to use kapok after observing the floatation qualities of its seedpods when they had travelled through the Pacific.[3] Kapok's hair-like follicles contain natural oils that repel water, trapping air and providing high buoyancy. These lifejackets offered a supporting force 3½ times stronger than cork. The body attachments featured buoyant cushions filled with seedless Java kapok and cork, with tubular hems for strings. If the upper strings were left loose, a space between the front cushion and the wearer could accommodate a baby or small child. A key feature was its ease of use in emergencies.[21]

The British Board of Trade introduced a new regulation to the effect that, before it could be approved, a life-jacket had to satisfy certain required conditions even if it were put on the wearer back to front, or upside down. By April 1919 only five types of life-jackets complied with the conditions, one of which was the New Zealand Salvus.[20]

The Salvus was eventually superseded by foam-filled life jackets at the beginning of World War II.[3]

Patents issued

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Patents were issued in several countries to the Beaumonts for the Salvus life jacket.

Country Filing no. Publication no. Inventor Filing date Publication date
New Zealand 39370[22] Beaumont, Norman 6 October 1917 29 January 1918
Australia 562217[23] Beaumont, Norman 30 October 1917 23 April 1918
Great Britain 853517[24] 113214 Beaumont, Orpheus 14 June 1917 14 February 1918
United States 21495318[25] 1270686 Beaumont, Orpheus 1 February 1918 25 June 1918
France 492844[26] Beaumont, Orpheus 10 August 1918 19 July 1919
Canada 189927[27] Beaumont, Orphius 1 February 1918 29 April 1919
Denmark 24646[28] Orpheus Beaumont, Norman Beaumont 14 June 1917 16 June 1919

Legacy

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In 2013, a documentary film The Drowning Country was released by Caroline Fitzgerald, Beaumont's great-granddaughter.[29][4]

In August 2024, Beaumont was one of eight women celebrated by Jersey Post in their "Jersey Women of Achievement" stamp collection. The collection is available until August 2026.[30][31]

References

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  1. ^ "Baptism Register of St Helier Town Church". Jersey Heritage. 21 October 1863.
  2. ^ a b "Orpheus and the sea". Stuff. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Dix, Kelly. "A short history of early lifejackets and the NZ design which saved countless lives". Kōtuia. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Orpheus Beaumont – Lifesaver". Radio New Zealand. 30 September 2014.
  5. ^ State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales; Kingswood, NSW, Australia; Inward passenger lists; Series: 13278; Roll: 490
  6. ^ "Inquest". Star (Christchurch). 19 June 1889. Retrieved 29 June 2025 – via Papers Past.
  7. ^ "Marriage". Otago Daily Times. No. 8860. 18 July 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  8. ^ "BEAUMONT, Llewellyn – WW1 2/389". Archives New Zealand. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Legacy of the HMS Orpheus: From disaster – hope". New Zealand Herald. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Personal". Evening Star. No. 16439. 1 June 1917. p. 4. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Personal". Evening Star. No. 17030. 29 April 1919. p. 4.
  12. ^ "Orpheus Maud Beaumont – BillionGraves". MyHeritage. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  13. ^ "Services to Croquet". Otago Daily Times. 13 April 1951.
  14. ^ "Monday, September 19, 1887". Otago Daily Times. No. 7980. 19 September 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  15. ^ "Deaths". Evening Star. No. 7320. 19 September 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 14 March 2025 – via Papers Past.
  16. ^ "The Week". Otago Witness. No. 2288. 6 January 1898. p. 29. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  17. ^ "R.M.S Titanic". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 31 May 1911. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  18. ^ "SOLAS". International Maritime Organisation. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  19. ^ Text of the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. 1914. OL 6566170M.
  20. ^ a b "Life Jackets: New Regulations". The Board of Trade Journal and Commercial Gazette. 102 (1168). Her Majesty's Stationery Office: 511. 17 April 1919. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  21. ^ "New Zealand "Salvus" Life Jacket". University of Otago Library. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  22. ^ "Life Saving Jacket". Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand. 29 January 1918. Case No. 39370. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  23. ^ [1], "A new or improved buoyant life saving jacket" 
  24. ^ [2], "A New or Improved Buoyant Life-saving Jacket." 
  25. ^ [3], "Life-saving jacket." 
  26. ^ [4], "Gilet de sauvetage" 
  27. ^ [5], "Life saving jacket" 
  28. ^ [6], "Redningvest" 
  29. ^ Benson, Nigel (21 October 2013). "Life jacket inventor celebrated in film". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  30. ^ "Meet the inspiring historical Jersey women... whose stories are being told in stamps". Bailiwick Express. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  31. ^ "Jersey Post Celebrate the past Achievements of Jersey Women". Jersey Stamps. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
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