Martha May Chaffey was born on 30 June 1895, in Lara, Victoria, Australia as the daughter of George Herbert Chaffey and Mary Mc Donald. She married Harold Hope Beamish on 4 October 1922, in Korumburra South, Victoria, Australia. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. She died on 13 December 1986, in Korumburra, Victoria, Australia, at the age of 91, and was buried in Australia.