Harry Geoffrey Beasley was born in East Plumstead, Kent, in a family from whom he inherited the North Kent Brewery. He was a collector from a very young age, and shared his passion with his wife, Irene Marguerite Beasley (they married in 1914). Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute (1914), Council of the RAI (1921, 1922), Executive Committee of the RAI (1931), RAI Vice President (1932) he resigned in 1937. He was involved in the Council of the Hakluyt Society and was a lifetime member of the Polynesian Society.