Jean Ochiltree Beatson (1904–1981) (née Robertson) was an Australian motorist, mechanic and photographer best known for her motor tours of Australia in the 1920s and 1930s with her school friend, Kathleen Gardiner.
Jean Beatson was born in 1904 to a wealthy western district pastoral family in Goroke, Victoria.
[7] During the Melbourne to Perth trip, Beatson and Gardiner tried to break the land speed record, but were unsuccessful, as they became bogged in South Australia and later in Victoria.
[4][8] In 1931, Beatson and Gardiner were chosen to represent Australia in the Monte Carlo Rally, alongside team members Robert Beatson (team organiser), Mrs Charles Coldham (the chaperone), Miss Joan Richmond, and Mr J. P. Morice (journalist).
[12][13] After her motor tours, Beatson went on to compete in sheepdog trials and was also a plane spotter for the Australian Volunteer Air Observers Corps during the Second World War, when she fell ill.[14][15] In 1955 she won the National Maiden Championship for dog trials at Manuka Oval with her home bred dog Firrhill Bob.