Richard Joseph Beamish (November 6, 1869 – October 1, 1945) was a Pennsylvania lawyer and journalist.

[1] Beamish attended the National School of Elocution in Ontario and the newly founded St. Thomas College in Scranton, where he also served as the football coach beginning in 1893.

[2][4][5] He was admitted to the bar and appointed Assistant District Attorney in Lackawanna County in 1890, at the age of 21.

[7] In 1917, he wrote the libretto for Camille Zeckwer's cantata The Mischianza, basing it on Silas Weir Mitchell's novel Hugh Wynne.

[8] During his years as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Beamish covered the 1925 Scopes trial, serving as chairman of the press committee.