Beman was born in January 1881 at Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, and died in 1958 in Devon. He spent the first decade of the 20th century in Islington, London, where he married and had a son, George. When he was called up in 1918 he was working as an electrical engineer. Refusing to comply with conscription, he was arrested, sentenced to 6 months hard labour and sent to Wormwood Scrubs. His convictions stood the test of time and even near the end of his life he tried to convince the younger members of his family to become pacifists.