[2] Beattie originally emigrated from Scotland to Tasmania, Australia with his brother.
[4] He photographed for the Auckland Weekly News for sixteen years.
[4] Beattie managed to capture the wreckage of the Elingamite in the Three Kings in 1902.
[3] He also photographed the funeral of Sir John Logan Campbell in 1912.
[4] Works of Beattie are currently held in the collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum