Robert Hatton Beck was a grandson of Merric and Doris Boyd, and a son of Lucy Boyd Beck and Hatton Beck. He died on the 6th of February, 2026 at the age of 84. His health had been in decline for several years. He was admitted to Sandringham Hospital in January 2026 and died peacefully there with his two sons by his side. Collectively, we lost a Boyd family member, a fine potter and exceptionally good man. As for me, I lost a very close friend.

Rob was born on January 12, 1942 at Verdrew Private Hospital in Poath Road, Hughesdale. His parents, Hatton Beck and Lucy Boyd Beck were living nearby at Merric and Doris Boyd’s Open Country in Wahroongaa Crescent, Murrumbeena.

When Rob was born, his parents had been married for three years. Living in ‘the bungalow’, a former pottery at the rear of Open Country, Lucy was a young mother, her first son, Laurence being born in 1940. She was also supporting her parents, Doris and Merric. Rob’s father, ceramicist Hatton Beck had established the Altamira Pottery in Neerim Road in 1939. In 1943 he left the pottery and entered the Royal Australian Air Force in March, 1945. He was discharged in June, 1946. He did not serve overseas and was able to continue to live at Open Country.

In 1947, when Rob was five years old, his family moved to Brisbane. Hatton had accepted a teaching position at Brisbane Technical College. The Becks rented at one or more locations, including in Bevington Street, Sandgate on the city’s northern fringe, before settling at 80 Dorrington Drive, Dorrington. Years later, Dorrington was absorbed into the larger suburb of Ashgrove. Rob’s brother, Paul was born in 1948.

Rob attended Kangaroo Point and Oakleigh State Schools, followed by Brisbane Grammar. In 1956 he undertook a fine arts course at Brisbane Technical College. Around this time, his uncle, David Boyd offered to teach him pottery in Melbourne. In 1957 he returned to Open Country to live with David, his wife, Hermia and his grandparents. Rob worked with David and Hermia before returning to Brisbane that year. He made and sold pottery using Hatton’s wheel, kiln and equipment.

In 1959 Rob returned to Melbourne. For a period, he lived with Cliff Pugh at Dunmoochin, an artists’ colony at Cottles Bridge near Hurstbridge, northeast of Melbourne, painting and making pottery. Returning to Open Country, Rob worked at the Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery in Neerim Road. He worked with his uncle, Guy Boyd at his pottery in North Road, East Bentleigh, and with David and Hermia Boyd. They were living in Sandringham, but were still producing pottery at Open Country. Rob also assisted his parents in teaching pottery. They had returned to Murrumbeena in 1961 following the death of Doris Boyd the previous year and established a pottery school there. Merric was by then deceased, having died at Open Country in 1959.

Rob lived at Open Country with his parents until the property was sold in late 1963 or early 1964 when the Becks moved to Boronia. In 1964 he sailed for England. His cousin, Matthew Perceval was living there and encouraged Rob to join him. He lived with David and Hermia Boyd who had moved to England in the early 1960s and made pottery with them. He worked several jobs including as a swimming pool attendant and as a chauffeur.

In the mid-1960s, Lucy and Hatton travelled to England. They and Rob established a pottery and residence at Wandsworth, about six kilometres southwest of central London. They made, sold and taught pottery.

In 1969 Hatton and Lucy returned to Melbourne. They lived in Surf Avenue, Beaumaris in a house owned by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd. They had been living in England for a decade and were well established there. Rob returned to Australia shortly after his parents and lived with them in Surf Avenue, where they continued to produce and sell pottery together.

Rob with his son, Jeremy c. January, 1993.

Rob with his son, Daniel on 10 January, 1976.

In 1970 Rob met Margot Gardner, a trained nurse with an interest in art. They married in 1971 and lived briefly in Elwood before purchasing a house in Olympic Avenue, Cheltenham. Robert continued to make pottery at Surf Avenue until 1978 when he established a studio at his Cheltenham home. Margot left her nursing career to work as a pottery decorator, learning the fundamentals of handling clay and decoration from Rob and her in-laws. Together they made a wide range of domestic items such as dinner crockery sets, coffee pots, wine goblets, vases and salad bowls. Margot decorated Rob’s pottery, often with figures of birds and native flora. Their two children were born during these busy years; Jeremy in 1972 and Daniel in 1975.

Rob and Margot sold their pottery through Melbourne and interstate outlets, often exhibiting and selling with Lucy and Hatton. Robert made a lot of pottery for his parents. Hatton had ceased throwing pots and was concentrating on his ceramic tiles. Lucy never threw and was decorating the pottery thrown by Rob and creating her ceramic paintings.

As the market for hand-made Australian pottery declined during the 1980s and 1990s, Rob and Margot supplemented the income they drew from pottery by teaching it. They also married their interest in nature with creating an income by working as gardeners at homes in the bayside area, and supported their parents as they aged.

Rob with his mother, Lucy on 27 August, 1996.

Into the 2000s, Rob worked several paid jobs, including as a cleaner, before qualifying for the pension and giving paid work away entirely. By this time, he had retired as a potter. He had arthritis in his hands and was tired of pottery. He had spent much of his life making it for the commercial world and his interest had waned.

Rob and Margot were attracted to the natural world and shared a love of the outdoors and bushwalking from their earliest days. They often walked in the Dandenong Ranges, and along Port Phillip Bay beaches and the back-beaches of the Mornington Peninsula. They were frequent visitors to the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden (formally the National Rhododendron Gardens) at Olinda.

They shared a love of music. Rob played the piano by ear and often accompanied Margot who sang. In a different life he would have liked to have been a musician. They frequently attended live performances of classical music.

Rob enjoyed playing tennis. He had done so in Brisbane in his early days, and in his later years, played competition, winning his fair share of matches. He also enjoyed table tennis, he and Margot playing competition table tennis at the Sandringham Life Activities Club into the last year of his life.

Rob never saw himself as being special, despite the fact that he was. He was immensely modest. He was selective with his friends, not because of any arrogance, but because he was not one to waste his time or the time of others. He was also enormously sincere; he couldn’t have bragged about himself if he tried, and whatever he said he meant. He was an incredibly good and kind man.

Rob was buried at Bunurong Memorial Park at Bangholme on 20th February, 2026. He is missed by all who knew him.

Eulogy for Robert Beck.

The following is the eulogy I wrote for Rob’s funeral as his friend. It was shortened for the ceremony because of time constraints. I’ve reproduced it here in full. The photographs are from some of our outings.

Hello,

I was a friend of Rob’s for about 30 years. We met when I was researching my book on Rob’s grandfather, Merric Boyd. I interviewed Rob and Margot for the book in 1996, exactly 30 years ago. I got to know the wider family because I also interviewed Margot’s mother, Friedl and Rob’s mother, Lucy. Those interviews allowed me to become quite well acquainted with the family.

Rob in front of 'Tralee', his grandparents' former former home in Murrumbeena, in 2020'.

It was a funny situation; I didn’t Rob and Margot’s families that well, but through those interviews, I got to know their histories. It meant that I got to know them quickly, and since Lucy and Friedl were elderly, that was a good thing.

At this time Rob and Margot were teaching pottery at their Olympic Avenue home. I’d become interested in pottery and wanted to learn it. With their artistic backgrounds, to learn from the Becks was to learn from the best. This was in 1998 or 1999. I took lessons for a couple of years before the pressures of work and family led me to give it away.

They were such good instructors and I think I made some half decent pottery under their watchful eyes. Rob was a beautiful thrower of clay. How could he not be. As well as learning from Hatton, he did so from David Boyd who had learnt from his father, Merric. And Margot had learnt much about glazing from Lucy, and had her mother’s artistic flair. I was learning from the best.

Sometimes when I felt I needed to take a short cut with the clay because I couldn’t do something the proper way, I’d say to Rob, “Avert your eyes. Look away”. He’d always smile and do just that. I think in those early days I thought he was a little more disciplined when it came to teaching someone like me. Of course I was wrong. Rob didn’t care. He just wanted me to enjoy myself and make something I was happy with. Occasionally he’d quote his dad Hatton; “Let the clay do what it wants”.

Rob’s instruction was as he was; patient and kind and never overstated. Rob never told you too much in anything. He wasn’t an over-explainer and to most people he wasn’t especially talkative. He was a listener and a thinker. But the more you got to know Rob, the more open and expressive he became. He always had something to say and it was without exception, interesting and worthwhile. Rob didn’t waste his words with idle chat; he sought conversations with meaning. I will miss those conversations.

It was maybe a year or two after that and when I was living in Murrumbeena, that Rob and I began playing tennis. He had been playing competition tennis for years and was good. I hadn’t played for years and wasn’t. His experience and my inexperience showed. Most of the time I could return the ball to him, but his serve always killed me. He was really patient with me. He gave me a few tennis clues, especially around serving, but I never really got it. But these were social games and we played for pleasure. I know we were playing in 2009 because once, Lucy’s niece and Rob’s cousin, Celia Perceval joined us for tennis on a friend’s court in Murrumbeena that we often played on. This was the year of Lucy’s died. Lucy was, of course, an observer, while Rob got to play tennis with his cousin. Good family stuff.

At this stage I was still living in Murrumbeena. Rob would come over from Cheltenham. We’d meet, have a cup of tea or coffee, and play tennis. After our game, we’d return to my place for morning tea and conversation. It was at this time that my own children, then in their teens, got to know Rob. Without exception, they have such warm memories of Rob. He was always himself with them … sincere, friendly and kind. And the household cats loved him coming over. Meral, a finely built black and white cat, always made her way to his lap, no matter where he sat. Cats are so intuitive about people. They can pick the good ones from the not so good. Mera picked Rob well.

At some stage, I gave the tennis away with Rob. My back was always pretty sore afterwards and I didn’t want to provoke it any more than I needed to. Rob continued to come to Murrumbeena. We’d have a morning tea, walk somewhere, return to my home for more tea and cake, and then part.

After I moved to Mt. Waverley in 2016, we didn’t miss a blink. I was living with my mother, Helen. After a walk, Rob, Helen and I would sit in Helen’s sun-drenched lounge room and enjoy cake, tea and conversation. Helen had known Lucy and had been very fond of her. She was just as fond of Rob. Everyone was fond of Rob. How could you not be?

Rob in Boyd Park with signage remembering his family's time in Murrumbeena, in 2025

It was during this time that our friend, Paul Caine joined us. Rob, Paul and I all shared the same interests; the outdoors, life and the experience of living, nature, art and so on. Rob was interested in everything. He wasn’t a facts and figures guy, and he wasn’t political. He didn’t see the world in terms of political parties; he was beyond that and really saw the good and the bad in all things people did. He was disdainful of those who harmed people and harmed the environment, regardless of where they came from. He was drawn to the good, but recognized the bad. He worked on feelings and impressions. When Paul and I would talk about politics, Rob would just listen. He’d take it all in, and then say something that perfectly summed up what we’d been talking about. Still waters run deep. Rob did. Paul and I will miss his insights.

In 2024, I moved to Dandenong. By this time and from memory, Rob wasn’t driving anymore. I would drive to Cheltenham every second Sunday, greet Margot and have a tour of their garden, and then Rob and I would head out. We’d often go to Paul’s place in Glen Huntly. Then, it would be a catch up and tea, head out somewhere for a good walk, brunch/lunch and back to Paul’s place for tea, and then I’d take Rob home. There were variants, but this was the theme. I’ve lost track of all the places we went. We went to Murrumbeena quite a lot because Rob liked going back there. We spent time in Oakleigh, Carnegie, Hughesdale and Ashburton. We walked the outer Circle Railway, Gardners Creek and Scotsmans Creek. We walked the Edithvale wetlands and Braeside Park. We spent time in St. Kilda and on the foreshore there, at Elwood and down the bay as far as Mordialloc. And there were a million other places we went.

When Rob went to live at Regus in Bay Road, Sandringham, Paul and I would meet him there every Thursday morning. Then we’d go out somewhere, just as we did on our Sunday get togethers. The more we saw of Rob the better. We always looked forward to his company. Rob gave a lot of himself to us, including his friendship, and we appreciated it and him.

We always felt we were at our best when all three of us were present; the conversations were more interesting, the food tasted better and the walks were more memorable. On occasions there’d be four of us when another friend, Doug would join us. The more the merrier. Paul and I would not have gone to all those places if we had not been with Rob. We enjoyed and appreciated him, and his company. We miss it.

Our very last walk was on Sunday, January 18th. We drove to Beaumaris and walked Long Hollow Heathland Reserve in Reserve Road. We then went to Ginger Fix café in the Concourse for coffee and lunch. Paul said to me later how slow Rob was in having his lunch; slower than usual. It may have been a sign of things to come. But for all that, on that day, Rob was his usual self and very happy to be in the outdoors.

In those last months, when Rob was struggling with aspects of Regus, he was still his interesting self and made conversation. He sometimes had trouble finding the right word to use about something and would get frustrated with himself. We’d reassure him that he shouldn’t worry. “We’re all friends here, Rob. Take your time”. And way more often than not, Rob would find his word, or if not, we’d find it for him.

I remember a conversation between the three of us at the Servery Café in Glen Huntly, a place frequented by Paul and in later days, by all of us. We were talking about our favourite pieces of music. Rob knew his, but he couldn’t get it out; he couldn’t find it in his memory. We all worked hard to get its name in what was something like a game of hot and cold. To our shared pleasure, we did get it. It was Summertime by George Georshwin. More good times than I can remember.

Rob asked for nothing from anyone. He had no jealousy or want for what others had. He didn’t hate or even dislike anyone. He may not want their company, but that’s another thing. He was devoid of ego. He sought peace for all. What he had, he wanted to give and if he couldn’t give, he wanted to share. Always, when we were in a café, Rob would be trying to give you some of his cake, or bun or whatever he had. With Rob it was never about ‘Me’, but always about the collective ‘US’.

As we contemplate Rob’s life, perhaps the most worthwhile thing we can do is endeavour to live life as Rob believed it should be, as did his mother Lucy; with gentleness, respect and kindness. And with Merric’s maxim ‘Love Governs’ at its core. Rob knew a lot and knew this.

Robert. Rest in peace my very good friend.

Rob’s grave at Bunurong memorial Park is at Eternity, Row O, 022.

See https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/292716354/robert_hatton_beck for his online memorial.

My thanks to Rob’s son, Jeremy for his assistance in recording Rob’s life.

The Life of Robert Beck 1942-2026

Comes a Time: Drawings by Noel Gosling