Lawrence Beesley (31 December 1877 – 14 February 1967) was an English science teacher, journalist and author who was a survivor of the sinking of RMS Titanic.

[1] Beginning as a schoolmaster at Wirksworth Grammar School in Derbyshire, he moved to Dulwich College in south London, where he was a science master.

These events are parodied in Julian Barnes' novel A History of the World in 10.5 Chapters, where Beesley makes a brief appearance as a fictional character.

Beesley was portrayed by actor David Warner (who later played fictional character Spicer Lovejoy in James Cameron's 1997 Titanic film) in the 1979 dramatisation of the voyage and sinking, S.O.S.

His son Alec married the author Dodie Smith,[2] and he is the grandfather of New York Times science editor Nicholas Wade.