Thomas Beale

[2] Known for his hospitality, Beale's mansion in Macao included a garden with 2,500 potted plants and an aviary that became a must-see for Western visitors to Macau.

George Vachell, chaplain to the East India Company described a visit during which he saw about six hundred birds to his friend John Stevens Henslow, Professor of Botany at Cambridge University and mentor to Charles Darwin.

When the missionary cum naturalist George Bennett stopped in Macau during his Pacific voyage, Beale's garden and aviary made such an impression that he devoted forty-five pages of his travelogue to describing their contents.

[2][6][7] Bankruptcy notwithstanding, Thomas' amiability made him Lady Elizabeth Napier's favourite [8] among the Europeans in Macau in 1834 and he later subscribed 20 pounds sterling for a memorial to her husband the late William John, Lord Napier, first Chief Superintendent of Trade at Canton, so appointed following the abolition of the East India Company's monopoly on Far Eastern trade.

[9] The body of Thomas was found washed ashore at Casilha Bay, near Macau in January 1841,[1] after he allegedly committed suicide.