 Beamish then settled in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where he ran a company named Empire Tea Rooms along with a friend.In 1904 he started one of the country's first agricultural newspapers, the "Farmer's Advocate", which he ran for 15 years years.In 1907 Beamish represented the Orange River Colony settlers at a London conference with the British government and he met in 1908 with Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe – then the secretary of state for the colonies – to promote the interests of South African settlers.