Background
Belpitt was born on May 3, 1860, in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia.
Belpitt was born on May 3, 1860, in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia.
By October 7, 1884, he was serving in the United States. Navy as Captain of the Afterguard on the United States Ship Monocacy. On that morning, while Monocacy was at Fuzhou, China, he jumped overboard and rescued a Chinese man whose canoe had capsized. On board the United States.S. Monocacy, Foochow, China, 7 October 1884. Jumping overboard from that vessel on the morning of this date, Belpitt sustained, until picked up, a Chinaman who had been thrown into the water by the capsizing of a canoe.