Young Insurance Magnate's Chequered Career

NZ Truth, Issue 997, 3 January 1925, Page 12

Young Insurance Magnate's Chequered Career

Billy Beckett Amasses a Fortune, But Women and Motor Cars Lead Him To Poverty Abrupt Ending To Remarkable Romance (From "Truth's" Sydney Rep.) Don Juan by this time is dead— or he ought to be— but hFs disciples will live for ever. . er) ce we find that m every clime man will persist m emu-' lating the heart-winning - deeds of the young reprobate. Perhaps, no one has ever set such a bad example. Certainly there are thousands who would willingly follow him anywhereeven down to the sulphurous regions; where there is no water, and where beer, like saints, is strictly barred.

It was a remarkable career that ended m the appearance m the Sydney Bankruptcy Court of William John Beckett, a young Queenslander, whom adversity has hit hard, everywhere, from the solar plexus up to the chin. \ Beckett's doings- are remarkable m more ways than one. In 33 years he has been married onee — that much could ..be expected, anyway— and has loved, and lived with another, contrary to the code, laid down by the conventions: But further - than that, m between whiles, he made a fortune that the fickle Dame, right at the zenith of his career, snatched away from him as easily as he made it. Yes, that v«as not Beckett's fault. He merely suffered from a -bad attack of bad luck, from which he has almost had to take the full count, with no smelling salts,; or buckets of ice-water tD revive him. He was born at Serat m Queensland, and at the age of 21 married a young lady named Laura Jensen m Brisbane. , . ■-. -MATRIMONIAL, SHIPWRECK. Apparently for a couple of years they were blessed with tons of love, tons of happiness, and m due course a couple ' of little Becketts came along to light the way to further love. But then the devil of friction, unforeseen, and perhaps unwanted, lifted its ugly head in' their household, and smashed a, rift m the lute that has not yet been repaired, and n ybe never will. As Shakespeare said: Friendship is constant m. all things, Save m the office and affairs of love. When C,upid flew out of the <yindow, Beckett came to Sydney, the El Dorado of his future, and set about making a fortune, but not without entering into arrangement^ for the future welfare of Mrs. Beckett and her children. Eight years ago, he met and fell m love with a single miss, Violet Helmridge, who, agreed to eschew the teachings of the moral code, and enter upon a life m which they were, not bound to each other by the matrimonial ties. The effect of this illicit union was that three children were born, but hbt to take his name. / For a living,, he sold insurance for the Life Insurance Company of Australia, and .did exceptionally, well at 'that; so well, m fact, \|hat what he doesn't know about insurance isn't worth knowing. ~ GIDDY AFFLUENCE. : The consequence was t'~at the ardor of his fiery ambition increased, and with the experience won on the road when-'t working for the Life Insurance Company, he wa- enabled to promote the Citizens' and Graziers' Life Assurance Company, of which he was the first managing director at a salary of £1000 a year, and which at the end of three year- increased to £1300 a year, with commission. In three years as the king-pin of the company he made about £13,000, or an average remuneration of about £5000 a year — quite enough for. anybody to do the things that Beckett wanted to do; He must hay . lived m style, for at different times he bought three Cadillac cars, each of which cost him the small sum of £900. But 'what he had he was not destined to hold for long, although he ..'might have been able to go on for .years if bad fortune had not. l dogged his footsteps and landed him into a pretty financial' mess, the outcome of which was that he became bankrupt. :- •■ ■ •'■•..- .■ , : •/■•-- ... A company known as the Redwood Brown Company, for making ' motor 'car bodies, at Pa*ramatta Roa^, Sydney, w.J invcburse pf .forrna'tipß, and he w"as induced,', because !of . his powers ot persuasiorii- to/ try and -shares £b prospective'" shareholders.; \.\ ' . . ..; :iv One man, ?■ named" Pohlmer; ■• of-Ade-laide, he succeeded m getting to''iny.est the princely, .sum i of £10;9p0' m .£1 shares, but' pwing to an inaccuracy m the company's .prospectus, Pohlmer ■ and subsequently .. sued: him m equity before Mr. Justice ■"• Harvey for the. full ..amount, f pi* which a verdict was given tq : Pohlmer. '. . ■ YET ANOTHER LADY LOVE! ' "As Beckett had to pay the lot out of his. own pocket it brought him to the

end of his happy journey — for the time j beinff. And during this time a mysterious lady, known as Miss Sands, an enigma to outsiders' or the uninitiated, moved within his circle, evidently a lady of whom he thought quite a lot. What her relative value is m Beckett's affairs is difficult to say, but at a time synchronising- with the crash of the Redwood Brown Company he I had purchase" a £3000 house at the Sydney suburb Bellevue Hill, m which he attempted to set her up m luxury that would make any ordinary mortal's mouth water. Miss Sands took over shortly after! hi i purchase, and one day he whisked her down to Anthony Hordern's for her to take her pick of furniture and furnishings that were to be of unlimited value, the payment of which he would i Jarantee. The i ys'-erious lady. Selected goods to the value of £700, but, unfortunately for. her, did not enjoy them for long. The bubble burst, with the result that the whole of the furnitm*e and other incidentals had to be returned to Anthony Hordern, who accepted them at tl.e value at which they were taken away. ' Yet m other ways Miss Sands was lucky, for. her gentleman friend installed her m an Essex single six which duly became her; property as a present fr~mihim.

WILLIAM J. BECKETT. (Who Loved and Made Money.) What luxury the lot of them have enjoyed can easily be imagined, and truly those three years were halcyon ones for Beckett. He never lost a moment in' enjoying himself and besides the Cadillacs, bought a motor launch (now sold) that. cost "only" £900. TO RULE THE HARBOR. But more magnificent still were his dreams for the future, if they had only come true, and if destiny had I not dispelled them as darkness wipes away a mirage on the desert. > He had actually signed a contract with a man named Light to build a motor launch to cost £2200 — a vessel that would have deserved • to rank with the best on Sydney harbor. It's all over now, and Beckett is now so "broke" that when the time came he couldn't even pay his premium on his life insurance, which, therefore, had to lapse. ' ' ■ . ; . . • Miss Sand's house at Bellevue Hill, he told the Official Assignee, Mr. Palmer,, m the Bankruptcy • Court when he was publicly examined, was bought by him more as an investment than anything else. . There seemed no bitterness, no anger at .the ycruel trick Fate had played on him;': Obviously he is. one of those irresistible gentlemen who are never beaten ;tiil< the fatal "Out!" i 3 counted. Absent-mindedly, on one occasion he remarked that one time he kept three homes, but m a moment corrected himself, declaring that there were only two, because Miss Sands did not take over the house at Bellevue Hill till the end of last year. . . But Beckett Don Juan reckons he will hot take the count. . He has lost his luck, but not his facility for. tumbling m and. out of love — -but is that a handicap or a gift?