(572) Beresford and Horsley-Beresford of Bolam Hall and Sefton Park, Barons Decies

Beresford, Barons Decies 

This fascinating family was a cadet branch of the Beresfords of Curraghmore, Earls of Tyrone and Marquesses of Waterford, who will be the subject of a future post. The genealogy below begins with the Most Rev. the Hon. and Rt. Hon. William Beresford (1743-1819), third surviving son of Sir Marcus Beresford (1694-1763), 4th bt. and 1st Earl of Tyrone. He was ordained in about 1764 and became a chaplain to the Lord Lieutenant in 1766.

Bishop's Palace, Dromore, built in 1781

He was made Bishop of Dromore (Co. Down) in 1780, and in the short period he was there, he built a handsome new episcopal house (later known as Bishopscourt), which became redundant in 1842 when the diocese of Dromore was merged with that of Down and Connor. The house was then repurposed as a Jesuit school before being abandoned after the Second World War.

In 1782 Beresford was translated to Kilkenny, as Bishop of Ossory, and he remained there until 1795, when he was promoted to be Archbishop of Tuam (Co. Galway) and Bishop of Ardagh (Co. Longford). Described as 'amiable, kind and loquacious', he was a patron of artists as well as architects. He was also an active politician, who supported the Union of Britain and Ireland and produced a weekly paper, The Patriot, which gave expression to his Pittite views. It was probably on account of his political usefulness that he was raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Decies in December 1812. He was married in 1763 to Elizabeth Fitzgibbon, sister of the 1st Earl of Clare, who was Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 1789-1802, and they had no less than fifteen children in the space of eighteen years. Remarkably, Elizabeth survived this experience (though six of the children did not) and lived another twenty-five years, although she did predecease her husband and did not, in fact, live to see him ennobled.

The archbishop's eldest son, Marcus Beresford (1764-1803), entered the army and rose rapidly to become a Brigadier-General, but died unmarried in his father's lifetime. When the archbishop died, therefore, his peerage passed to his second surviving son, the Rev. John Beresford (1773-1855). He held a range of benefices in Ireland, but was probably largely, if not entirely, non-resident, for in 1810 he married Charlotte Philadelphia (1784-1852), the daughter and sole heir of Robert Horsley (d. 1809) of Bolam Hall (Northbld), and the couple seem to have lived at her family home, although they also maintained an apartment in Paris. In 1816-18 they landscaped the grounds at Bolam to the designs of John Dobson, perhaps partly to provide employment in the recession which succeeded the Napoleonic wars. After his father's death, John had royal licence to adopt the name Horsley-Beresford, which was also used by his sons and grandsons, although subsequent generations dropped the Horsley, perhaps because with sale of Bolam Hall in about 1902 it seemed less important to keep the name alive. John and Charlotte had a more modest family than his father: just one son and three daughters. The younger daughters married well (to the 3rd Earl of Ailesbury and the 4th Duke of Montrose respectively), and the only son, William Robert John Horsley-Beresford (1811-93), 3rd Baron Decies, pursued a brief career in the army before retiring and devoting himself to estate management and country pursuits. He did not marry until he was nearly fifty, but his wife, the daughter of a neighbouring landowner, was thirty-three years his junior and they managed to produce five sons and four daughters between 1861 and 1878. Their careers are set out in the genealogical section below and cannot be rehearsed here, but the adjective 'colourful' might have been invented to describe their lives.

In later years, the 3rd Baron became somewhat eccentric, persisting in dressing in the style fashionable in his youth; he also suffered from increasing ill health, and for the last seven years of his life he lived at an hotel in York rather than at Bolam. His heir was William Marcus de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1865-1910), 4th Baron Decies, who in 1901 married Maria Willoughby (1862-1939), a prominent cat breeder and fancier. They lived at first in a large suburban villa at Birchington-on-Sea (Kent), but in 1905 they bought Stoke Farm at Stoke Poges (Bucks) and renamed it Sefton Park (the name coming from the Earls of Sefton who had built the house). The couple were childless, and in 1910 he died from heatstroke after spending a very hot day at the races. The peerage and Sefton Park passed to his brother, John Graham Hope de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1866-1944), 5th Baron Decies, who set about reducing and remodelling the house. The 4th Baron's widow took up nursing during the First World War, rising to be a Commandant in the Red Cross and receiving no less than twelve decorations for her service in France (where she was wounded) and during the Russian Revolution. In a cruel twist of fate, however, in 1920 she lost all her money helping a friend and was bankrupted, and she spent the last two decades of her life running a village shop in Surrey. 

Leixlip Castle (Co. Kildare)

In 1911, the 5th Baron married Helen (1893-1931), the daughter of the American railway magnate, George Jay Gould (1864-1923), who brought exceptional wealth into the marriage. The couple set up home in Paris and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle there. They undertook the remodelling of Sefton Park mentioned above, but they also bought the enchanting Leixlip Castle (Co. Kildare) and made additions there too. The result was that within three years the couple had run through $4m of her inheritance, and her family took steps to safeguard what was left, getting her brother made her trustee and settling only a modest annual allowance on Lord Decies. To live within drastically reduced means, the apartment in Paris was given up, Sefton Park was sold in 1917, Leixlip was rented out after 1922, and a smaller house at Englefield Green (Surrey) became their home. Helen, Lady Decies, died in 1931 and in 1936 the 5th Baron married another American heiress, the socialite and author, Elizabeth Wharton Lehr (1868-1944), but this union does not seem to have been a success and in 1942 Lord Decies filed for divorce, although the case had not been heard before he died at the beginning of 1944. By his first wife, Lord Decies had a son and two daughters. The son, Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer Beresford (1915-92), 6th Baron Decies, served in the Second World War with the RAF Volunteer Reserve.

Kinnitty Castle (Co. Offaly)

In 1946 he sold Leixlip Castle and bought Castle Bernard, otherwise Kinnitty Castle (Co. Offaly), but this too was sold just five years later in 1951. In 1960 the 6th Baron inherited some £680,000 from his American cousin, Howard Gould, and this provided him with greater financial security, and he lived latterly at the Chateau de Bétouzet, Andrien (France). 

At his death in 1992, the 6th Baron was succeeded by his only son, Marcus Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford (b. 1948), 7th Baron Decies, who was educated in Ireland and became chairman of one of the largest legal practices in Dublin. In 1989 he and his second wife bought Straffan Lodge (Co. Kildare) and raised their family of two sons and two daughters there, but in 2017 the house was sold. It is notable that since Bolam Hall was sold c.1902, circumstances have meant that the family has never settled anywhere for terribly long: Sefton Park, Leixlip Castle, Kinnitty Castle, the Chateau de Bétouzet, and Straffan Lodge have all passed in and out of their ownership in the last hundred and twenty years. One wonders what the future may hold!

Straffan Lodge (Co. Kildare)

Bolam Hall, Northumberland

A square two storey house with two five-bay fronts set at right-angles to each other, built for Robert Horsley (d. 1809). The main entrance front is very plain, with just a central pedimented doorway, plain architraves to the windows, and a shallow cornice supporting the hipped slate roof. The side elevation also has a pedimented doorcase, positioned under the staircase window in the second bay. The other ground floor rooms have tripartite windows which are probably a slightly later insertion. In 1901, when it was advertised to let, the house contained a large entrance hall, dining, drawing and morning rooms and seventeen bedrooms as well as the usual domestic offices. The house was divided into two dwellings c.1980.

Bolam Hall: entrance front and side elevation, 2000. Image: Brian Pearson.

Bolam Hall: extract from Ordnance Survey 6" map showing the layout of the grounds, 1895.

The grounds, including a large and beautiful lake, were laid out in 1816-18 by John Dobson of Newcastle for the Rev. John Beresford, later 2nd Baron Decies. According to Hodgson, he undertook the work 'to give employment to the poor in the scarce, disastrous winters of 1816 and 1817'. The lake and its wooded surroundings have been a country park since about 1980.

Descent: Robert Horsley (d. 1809); to daughter, Charlotte Philadelphia (1784-1852), later wife of Rev. John Beresford (later Horsley-Beresford) (1773-1855), 2nd Baron Decies; to son, William Robert John Horsley-Beresford (1811-93), 3rd Baron Decies; to son, William Marcus de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1865-1910), 4th Baron Decies, who first let it and then sold it c.1902 to Frank H. Burn; sold c.1912 to Arthur Fenwick (d. 1917); sold to William Boustead Dickenson (fl. 1923); sold c.1929 to Maj. Richard Straker (fl. 1939); sold or leased to Wentworth Henry Canning Beaumont (1890-1956), 2nd Viscount Allendale; sold to Mary Evelyn, Lady Readhead (1882-1953); sold 1956...Anne van Gruisen (fl. 1977); sold 1980 and divided into two residences, while the grounds became a country park.

Sefton Park, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire

A farm here was acquired and developed as a ferme ornée by the 2nd Earl of Sefton, for whom Humphry Repton undertook landscaping in 1808; it was known as Stoke Farm throughout the 19th century. The house is apparently essentially of this time, but has been through several phases of alterations which have radically altered its appearance. As first built, the house consisted of a nine-by-four bay block of two storeys, with a veranda along its south (garden) front. The main entrance seems at this time to have been at the west end, where an Ionic porch projected from a single-storey forebuilding which was also decorated with Ionic columns.

Sefton Park: the house from the south-west in 1824, from an engraving in Ackermann's Repository of the Arts.

Sefton Park: another early 19th century view, showing the entrance at the west end of the building.

After 1838, the 3rd Earl of Sefton moved back to Croxteth Park (Lancs) leaving his widowed mother and sisters at Sefton Park, and they occupied the property until the last survivor, Lady Maria Molyneux, died in 1872. The house was then let and perhaps later sold, but its ownership in the late 19th century is uncertain. This is unfortunate because before 1875 the house was radically altered, with the construction of a large, three-storey service wing to the north of the original building. This seems to have involved at least the partial demolition of the forebuilding at the west end of the house, necessitating the construction of a new main entrance on the north side of the house and a subsidiary entrance on the east side.

Sefton Park: the house from the north-east, showing the Victorian service wing and the new entrances on the north and east sides made c.1890.

In 1905 the house was sold to the 4th Baron Decies, who changed its name to Sefton Park, and after he died in 1910 it passed to his brother, John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford (1866-1944), 5th Baron Decies. He engaged Horace Farquharson to make major changes to the house, replacing the Victorian service wing at right-angles to the main façade with what is now the eastern third of the main front. On the south side, he pulled down the old veranda and built a pair of bow windows at either end of the front, and created a balustraded terrace in front of the elevation. He also remodelled the interiors, creating a series of panelled rooms, with at least one imported 17th century overmantel. 

Sefton Park: drawing room, c.1917

Sefton Park: the north front of the house today

Sefton Park: the remodelled south front, c.1917.

During the Second World War the house was requisitioned for military use and in 1948 it was sold for use as commercial offices. After 1989 there was an extensive redevelopment of the site for Hitachi Data Systems, who have built two large new buildings in the grounds as their European corporate headquarters, and it now forms an 'office campus' occupied by several well-known firms.

Descent: built for William Philip Molyneux (1772-1838), 2nd Earl of Sefton; to son, Charles William Molyneux (1796-1855), 3rd Earl of Sefton; to sister, Lady Maria Molyneux (d. 1872)... let or sold to Walter Barron (fl. 1889)... to John George Bulteel (1856-1920); sold 1905 to William Marcus de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1865-1910), 4th Baron Decies; to brother, John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford (1866-1944), 5th Baron Decies; sold 1917 to Sir Bernard Oppenheimer (d. 1922), diamond merchant; sold 1923 to Sir Walter de Freece (husband of Vesta Tilley); sold 1928 to Sir Frederick William Duncan (1859-1929), 2nd bt.; to widow, Helen Julia (1866-1953), Lady Duncan; sold 1948 to Glaxo Ltd; sold 1982 to GEC plc; sold c.1989 to Hitachi Data Systems.

Beresford family, Barons Decies

1st Baron Decies

Beresford, Most Rev. the Hon. and Rt. Hon. William (1743-1819), 1st Baron Decies. Sixth, but third surviving son* of Sir Marcus Beresford, 4th bt. and 1st Earl of Tyrone and his wife Lady Katherine, from 1767 Baroness La Poer in her own right, daughter and heiress of James Power (d. 1704), 3rd Earl of Tyrone, born 16 April 1743. Educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1759; BA 1763; MA 1766; DD 1780). Prebendary of Rathmichael in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin and vicar of Bray (Co. Dublin), 1764-68; rector of Bray, 1765-68, and chaplain to the viceroy, 1766; rector of Termonmaguirke (Co. Tyrone), 1767-80; Rector of Urney (Co. Derry), 1768-80; Bishop of Dromore (Co. Down), 1780-82, where he built a handsome new episcopal residence; Bishop of Ossory (Co. Kilkenny), 1782-95; Archbishop of Tuam (Co. Galway) and Bishop of Ardagh (Co. Longford), 1795-1819. Admitted a freeman of Waterford, 1775. He was a Pittite Tory in politics, and organised a weekly paper, The Patriot. As bishop and archbishop he was a regular attender at the Irish Parliament, and he supported the Union of Great Britain and Ireland. He was sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland, 1794, appointed a Commissioner of the Board of Education, and raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Decies, 22 December 1812. He was 'an amiable, kind and loquacious individual', and a patron of artists including Gilbert Stuart, who painted his portrait. He married, 12 June 1763 at Donnybrook (Co. Dublin), Elizabeth, second daughter of John Fitzgibbon of Mountshannon (Co. Limerick), MP for Newcastle (Co. Wicklow) and sister of John Fitzgibbon (1748-1802), 1st Earl of Clare, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 1789-1802, and had issue:

(1) Brig-Gen. Marcus Beresford (1764-1803), born 1 June 1764; educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1780); an officer in the army (Ensign, 1786; Lt., 1787; Capt., 1789; Maj., 1793; Lt-Col., 1794; Col., 1801; brevet Brig-Gen., 1802); Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, 1800; MP in Irish Parliament for St Canice, 1790-94 and Swords, 1798-1800; died unmarried, 6 January and was buried at St Michael (Barbados), 7 January 1803;

(2) Thomas Beresford (b. c.1765), born about 1765; died young;

(3) Henry Beresford (b. c.1766), born about 1766; died young;

(4) Hon. Catherine Eleanor Beresford (c.1768-1837), born about 1768; married, 1789 (licence 11 November), Rev. William Carew Armstrong (1752-1839) of Mealiffe (Co. Tipperary), prebendary of Kilmoylan, and had issue four sons and three daughters; died at Tramore (Co. Waterford), 6 November 1837;

(5) Elizabeth Beresford (b. c.1769), born about 1769; died young;

(6) Hon. Araminta Anne Beresford (c.1771-1816), born about 1771; married, 26 May 1794, Very Rev. Arthur John Preston DD (1761-1844), rector of Loughcrew (Co. Meath), 1784-98, canon of Kildare Cathedral, 1793-1808; Dean of Kildare, 1808-09 and Dean of Limerick, 1809-44 (who m2, 1819, Isabella (d. 1859), daughter of Rev. Dr. John Shepherd and had further issue one daughter), son of Rev. Nathaniel Preston, vicar of Loughcrew, and had issue two sons; died 26 September 1816;

(7) Hon. Harriet Beresford (c.1772-1834), born about 1772; married, 1796 at St Peter, Dublin (licence 26 January), Col. Thomas Bermingham Daly Henry Sewell (1774-1852) (who unsuccessfully claimed the barony of Athenry in 1800), son of Thomas Bailey Heath Sewell (1746-1803), and had issue two sons (one of whom died in infancy) and four daughters; died 11 June 1834;

(8) Rev. John Beresford (later Horsley-Beresford) (1773-1855), 2nd Baron Decies (q.v.);

(9) Hon. Frances Beresford (c.1775-1864), born about 1775; married, 1797 (licence 14 January), as his third wife, Col. Thomas Burrowes (b. c.1742) of Dangan Castle (Co. Meath), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 7 October 1864;

(10) Rev. the Hon. George de la Poer Beresford (1776-1842), born 21 May 1776; educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1791; LLB and LLD 1797; MA 1809); ordained deacon, 1797 and priest, 1798; Rector of Killererin, 1798-99, prebendary of Faldown, 1798-1816 and of Iniscarra, 1799-1826; vicar choral of Cork, 1816-26, vicar of Fenagh, 1816-42 and Provost of Tuam, 1816-42; married, 21 May 1798 at St George, Dublin, Susan, third daughter of Hamilton Gorges (1739-1802) of Kilbrew (Co. Meath), and had issue five sons and two daughters; died 10 August 1842;

(11) William Beresford (b. c.1777), born about 1777; died young;

(12) Henry Beresford (b. c.1778), born about 1778; died young;

(13) William Beresford (b. c.1779), born about 1779; died young;

(14) Rev. the Hon. William Beresford (1780-1830), born 20 November 1780; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1798; MA 1809); ordained priest, 1802; rector and vicar of Kilvine, Ballinrobe, Crossboyne, Kilcolman and Mayo, c.1803-08; rector and vicar of Headford, c.1808-16; prebendary of Laccagh, 1808-30 and of Tullaghorton (diocese of Lismore), 1809-30; vicar choral and vicar of Tuam, 1812-30; admitted a freeman of Waterford, 1802; married, 19 July 1804 by special licence at her father's house in Portman Sq., Westminster, Lady Anna (1774-1836), second daughter of Charles Bennet (1743-1822), 4th Earl of Tankerville, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 27 June 1830;

(15) Hon. Louisa Beresford (c.1782-1851), born about 1782; married 1st, 16 April 1806, by special licence at 46 Upper Seymour St., Portman Sq., in the parish of St Marylebone (Middx), the immensely rich merchant and interior designer, Thomas Hope (1769-1831) of Deepdene (Surrey), and had issue four sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 29 November 1832, Gen. William Carr Beresford (1768-1854), 1st Viscount Beresford of Beresford and Marquis of Campo Maior, illegitimate son of George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone; died 21 July 1851.

He lived in the episcopal and archepiscopal residences attached to his bishoprics, and also maintained a town house in London.

He died at Tuam Palace, 6 September 1819, and was buried at Clonagam (Co. Waterford). His will was proved in Dublin in 1819; he is said to have left goods to the value of £250,000. His wife died 24 August 1807.

* The Dictionary of Irish Biography calls him an illegitimate son, but does not cite an authority for this, and it may be a confusion with his nephew of the same name, who was an illegitimate son of the 2nd Earl of Tyrone (vide supra).

Beresford (later Horsley-Beresford), Rev. John (1773-1855), 2nd Baron Decies. Fourth, but eldest surviving, son of Most Rev. the Hon. and Rt. Hon. William Beresford (1743-1819), 1st Baron Decies, Archbishop of Tuam, and his wife Elizabeth, second daughter of John Fitzgibbon (and sister of 1st Earl of Clare), born 20 January 1773. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1789), Emmanuel College, Cambridge (matriculated 1791; BA 1795; MA 1809), Lincolns Inn (admitted 1795) and Kings Inns, Dublin (called to Irish bar, 1797). Ordained deacon and priest, 1803. Rector and vicar of Burrishoole, Kilmina and Achill, 1803-09; rector of Gowna and Granard, 1805-11; rector of Aherne and Ballymore, 1806-55; prebendary of Kilrossanty in diocese of Lismore, 1812-55, but was probably largely, if not entirely, non-resident. He took the additional name Horsley in 1819 after succeeding his father as 2nd Baron Decies. He married, 26 July 1810, Charlotte Philadelphia (1784-1852), only surviving child and heiress of Robert Horsley (1749-1809) of Bolam Hall (Northbld), and had issue:

(1) William Robert John Horsley-Beresford (1811-93), 3rd Baron Decies (q.v.);

(2) Hon. Georgina Catherine Horsley-Beresford (1812-66?), born 21 August 1812 and baptised at Bolam, 24 August 1812 and again at St Marylebone, 4 June 1813; married 1st, 7 August 1831 at Bolam (div. 1843), William Watson (c.1811-67) of North Seaton (Northbld) (who m2, 29 November 1843 at St George-in-the-East, London, Julia Charlotte (c.1813-87), daughter of Robert Johnson, merchant), son of William Watson (d. 1830), and had issue at least two sons; married 2nd, 25 September 1845  at St Clement Danes, London, Henry Edward Brown, solicitor, son of Richard Brown; possibly the 'Catherine Brown' buried at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 12 January 1866;

(3) Hon. Louisa Elizabeth Horsley-Beresford (1814-91), born 6 April and baptised at Bolam, 21 August 1814; married, 25 November 1834 at Great Bedwyn (Wilts), Ernest Augustus Charles Brudenell-Bruce (1811-86), 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury, of Tottenham House (Wilts), MP for Marlborough 1832-78, and had issue five sons and two daughters; died at Biarritz (France), 14 October, and was buried at Great Bedwyn, 22 October 1891; will proved 22 January 1892 (effects £43,122);

(4) Hon. Caroline Agnes Horsley-Beresford (1818-94); after her second marriage she operated as a successful racehorse owner and trainer under the soubriquet 'Mr Manton'; she married 1st, 15 October 1836, James Graham (1799-1874), 4th Duke of Montrose, of Buchanan Castle (Stirlings), MP for Cambridge, 1825-32 and Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire, 1843-74, and had issue three sons and three daughters; married 2nd, 22 January 1876 at Holy Trinity, Chelsea (Middx), William Stuart Stirling-Crawfurd (1819-83) of Milton (Lanarks) and Cannes (France); married 3rd, 26 July 1888, Marcus Henry Milner DSO MVO (1864-1939), racehorse trainer and comptroller to the Earls of Derby; after her second marriage she lived at Sefton Lodge, Newmarket (Suffk); she died in London, 16 November 1894.

He inherited Bolam Hall (Northbld) in right of his wife on his marriage in 1810. He also maintained an apartment in Paris (France).

He died in London, 1 March 1855; his will was proved in the PCC, 30 May 1855. His wife died at Ryde (IoW), 9 March 1852.

Horsley-Beresford, William Robert John (1811-93), 3rd Baron Decies. Only son of Rev. John Beresford (later Horsley-Beresford) (1773-1855), 2nd Baron Decies, and his wife Charlotte Philadelphia, only daughter and heiress of Robert Horsley of Bolam Hall (Northbld), born 24 June 1811 and baptised at Bolam, 17 March 1812. Educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. An officer in the 10th Hussars (Cornet, 1827; Lt., 1829; Capt., 1833) and the Grenadier Guards (Lt. & Capt., 1834; retired 1837). He succeeded his father as 3rd Baron Decies, 1 March 1855. He took no part in public affairs, but devoted himself to the management and improvement of his estate, which he made one of the most productive in Northumberland. As a young man he was a keen participant in hunting and a follower of other sports, particularly wrestling. In later years he became somewhat eccentric, particularly in the matter of dress, where he adhered to the fashions of his youth. He married, 31 July 1860 at Bolam, Catherine Anne (1844-1941), second daughter of Cdr. William Dent Dent RN (1796-1872) of Shortflatt Tower (Northbld), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Caroline Catherine Horsley-Beresford (1861-1929), born 11 October 1861 and baptised at Bolam, 3 January 1862; a great traveller, she was said 'to have visited almost every country in the course of an exceptionally active life'; she married, 14 July 1886 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), as his second wife, Col. George Alexander Eason Wilkinson CBE DSO (1860-1941) of Middlethorpe Hall, York and Dringhouses Manor (Yorks), inspector of racecourses for the Jockey Club and manager of York Racecourse, son of Dr. Matthew Eason Wilkinson of Middlethorpe Hall, but had no issue; died at Bath (Som.), 9 February 1929; will proved 28 August 1929 (estate £3,768);

(2) Hon. Louisa Beresford (1863-66), born 20 March 1863; died young, 5 December 1866;

(3) William Marcus de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1865-1910), 4th Baron Decies (q.v.);

(4) John Graham Hope de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1866-1944), 5th Baron Decies (q.v.);

(5) Hon. Seton Robert de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1868-1926), born 25 July 1868; educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge (matriculated 1887); he was briefly an officer in the army reserves (2nd Lt., 1888; Lt., 1890; retired 1894) and later a war correspondent during the Boer War; bankrupted in 1901 and after going to America for his elder brother's wedding he stayed there for a decade, joining Archer H. Morgan of New York in 1914 and organising the supply of 25,000 American horses for the war effort in France; he later became a director of two shipping associations and developed a co-operative shipping plan between North and South America; he returned to England in 1919 but seems to have been a compulsive gambler (he published The future at Monte Carlo (1923) advocating a system for 'beating the bank') and he was bankrupted again in 1925; an all-round sportsman, he played ice hockey for the All England team, was an amateur boxer, won the World trap-shooting championship four years running, 1901-04, and played first class cricket for Middlesex and the MCC, 1909-10; he married 1st, 20 November 1899 at Chelsea Register Office (div. 1908 on the grounds of his adultery and cruelty) Delia Dorothy (c.1874-1966?), (who m2, 1909, Sir Charles Philip Huntington (1888-1928), 3rd bt., and m3, 1928 Sir Edward Lingard Lucas (1860-1936), 3rd bt. and was bankrupted 1936), daughter of Daniel John O'Sullivan of The Grange, Killarney (Co. Kerry); married 2nd, 28 June 1915 at St Lawrence Jewry, London, Joan Rosemary (1890-1971), ice-skating champion (who m2, 28 February 1929, Col. Ralph Patterson Cobbold (later Cobbold-Sawle) DSO (1869-1965)), daughter of Rear-Adm. Sir Charles John Graves-Sawle (1851-1932), 4th bt. of Penrice House, St Austell (Cornw.); died 28 May 1928, and was buried in the Cimetière Communal de Ste. Marguerite at Nice (France); 

(6) Hon. Catherine Elizabeth Ellen Horsley-Beresford (1870-1948), born 9 May and baptised at Windermere (Westmld.), 13 June 1870; married, 16 September 1902 at St Michael-le-Belfry, York, Lt-Col. Edward James Machell Lumb (1863-1962) of Northcroft House, Englefield Green (Surrey), son of James Lumb of Homeward, Hensingham (Cumbld.), but had no issue; died at Monte Carlo (Monaco), 11 March 1948; will proved 7 July 1948 (estate £7,457);

(7) Hon. Charlotte Ernestine de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1871-1923), born 3 September 1871; married, 8 October 1892 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (sep. 1902 after he unsuccessfully brought divorce proceedings on the grounds of her adultery, which she denied), Maj. Cameron Barclay (1866-1954) of The Orchard, York, fourth son of Henry Ford Barclay of Markham (Essex), and had issue one daughter; died at Royat-les-Bains, Auvergne (France), 28 September 1923 and was buried at Stoke Poges (Bucks); will proved 29 October 1923 (estate £3,375);

(8) Hon. Henry William Walter Horsley-Beresford  (1876-1924), born 22 April 1876; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1895; Lt. 1897; retired 1906; returned to colours as Capt., 1915; retired 1919), seconded to the British South African Police, 1897-1900; moved to the USA with his wife in 1909 and had minor roles in films; married*, 6 October 1904 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), as her third husband, the stage and film actress 'Kitty Gordon' (1878-1974), who was born Constance Millie, daughter of Col. Joel Blades and was the widow of Maxwell James (d. c.1902) and Michael Levenston (d. 1904), theatre manager, (she m4, 1932 (licence 15 Sept.) in New York, Ralph Ranlet (b. 1874), an American stockbroker); they had no issue, but her daughter, Cynthia Vera (1901-45) by Maxwell James took the name Beresford, and herself became a film actress; he died at Garche, Seine-et-Oise (France), 28 January 1924; administration of goods granted 27 March 1925 (estate £3,612);

(9) Hon. William Arthur de la Poer Horsley-Beresford (1878-1949), born 9 August 1878; an officer in Strathcona's Horse in the Boer War and in the army (2nd Lt., 1918) during the First World War; proprietor of the Frensham Ponds Hotel, 1941-44; lived latterly at Wokingham (Berks); married 1st, 17 June 1901 at St Stephen, Buffalo, New York (USA) (div. 1919), Florence (1882-1969), daughter of Dr. Gardner L. Miller of Providence, Rhode Island (USA), and had issue three sons and two daughters; married 2nd, 22 July 1919 in London (div. 1928), Laura (1899-1958) (who m2, 8 October 1932 (div. 1946), Reginald Robert Coventry (1901-61) and m3, 2 December 1950, John Hamilton Hamilton (1901-79)), daughter of Capt. St. John Halford Coventry (1866-1920), and had further issue one son and one daughter; married 3rd, 18 August 1933 in London (div. 1940), Georgina Leonora (1879-1969), only daughter of Richard Frederick Hendrick Mosselmans and formerly wife of Capt. Henry Barnard, Lord Sholto George Douglas (1872-1942), His Imperial Highness Prince Mehmed Burhameddin (1885-1949) of Turkey and Count Fernand de Bertier de Sauvigny; married 4th, 1941, Ida Kaye Kauffman, and had further issue one son and one daughter; died 11 July and was buried at Henley Road Cemetery, Reading, 14 July 1949; will proved 20 October 1949 (estate £9,686).

He inherited Bolam Hall from his father in 1855, but for the last seven years of his life lived at the North-Eastern Hotel, York. After the First World War, his widow converted her home at Sunningdale (Berks) into an hotel as a money-making venture; she lived latterly at White Lodge Hotel, Blindley Heath (Surrey).

He died at the North-Eastern Hotel, York, 3 July 1893, and was buried at Bolam; his will was proved 28 August 1893 (estate £40,717). His widow died aged 96 on 27 February 1941 and was buried at Stoke Poges; her will was proved 22 December 1941 (estate £11,877).

* Henry Horsley-Beresford first obtained a licence to marry Kitty Gordon on 2 March 1903, when she was the widow of Maxwell James, but the marriage did not proceed and she married Michael Levenston instead. After his death, four months later, she returned to Henry and the marriage proceeded. Kitty filed for divorce in 1910 on the grounds of his adultery, but failed to complete the paperwork and the case was struck off by the courts in 1912.

4th Baron Decies

Horsley-Beresford, William Marcus de la Poer (1865-1910), 4th Baron Decies. Eldest son of William Robert John Horsley-Beresford (1811-93), 3rd Baron Decies, and his wife Catherine Anne, second daughter of Cdr. William Dent Dent RN of Shortflatt Tower (Northbld), born 12 January and baptised at Bolam, 4 March 1865. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1885). He succeeded his father as 4th Baron Decies, 3 July 1893. JP and DL (from 1890) for Northumberland and the Cinque Ports. He married, 12 March 1901 at St Michael, Chester Sq., Westminster (Middx), Maria Gertrude (1862-1939), a prominent cat lover and breeder, younger daughter of Sir John Pollard Willoughby (1798-1866), 4th bt., but had no issue.

He inherited Bolam Hall from his father in 1893, but had let it by 1899 and evidently sold it c.1902. He lived at a suburban villa (Beresford Lodge) at Birchington-on-Sea (Kent) until he bought Sefton Park, Stoke Poges (Bucks) in 1905.

He died, apparently of heatstoke, after a day at the races, 30 July 1910 and was buried at Stoke Poges; his will was proved 20 October 1910 (estate £97,484). His widow took up a nursing career (rising to be a Red Cross volunteer Commandant) during the First World War (wounded and won twelve decorations) and Russian Revolution; in 1920 she is said to have lost all her money helping a friend, was bankrupted, and was reduced to running a village shop and tearoom near East Grinstead (Sussex) for the rest of her life; she died 4 April 1939.

5th Baron Decies

Horsley-Beresford, John Graham Hope de la Poer (1866-1944), 5th Baron Decies. Second son of William Robert John Horsley-Beresford (1811-93), 3rd Baron Decies, and his wife Catherine Anne, second daughter of Cdr. William Dent Dent RN of Shortflatt Tower (Northbld), born 5 December 1866. Educated at Eton. An officer in the army reserves (2nd Lt., 1887; Col.), 1886-1910, who served in South Africa and Somaliland; Colonel of the Southern Irish Horse, 1911-16 and was awarded the DSO, 1904. He succeeded his brother as 5th Baron Decies, 30 July 1910, and was a representative Irish peer, 1912-44. Chief Press Censor for Ireland, 1916-19. Director of the Income Taxpayers Society, c.1920-44. He married 1st, 7 February 1911 at St Bartholomew, New York, Helen Vivien (1893-1931), daughter of George Jay Gould of New York (USA), a railway magnate of great wealth*, and 2nd, 25 May 1936 in Paris (France), Elizabeth Wharton** (1868-1944), daughter of Joseph Wilhelm Drexel of Philadelphia (USA), banker, and widow of John Vinton Dahlgren (1868-99), lawyer, and Henry Symes Lehr (1869-1929), socialite, and had issue:

(1.1) Hon. Eileen Vivien de la Poer Beresford (1912-75), born 17 August 1912; married, 21 April 1931 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Maj. Robert Alfred O'Brien MVO KStJ (1902-82), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 10 May 1975 and was buried at Englefield Green (Surrey); will proved 9 July 1975 (estate £98,596);

(1.2) Hon. Catherine Moya de la Poer Beresford (1913-67), born 21 September 1913; married 1st, 16 April 1936 at Brompton Oratory (sep. by 1943; div. 1946), Hon. Patrick Herbert Bellew (1905-84), artist and cartoonist (who m2, Helen Carol (fl. 2003), daughter of Walter Clinton Louchheim (1870-1957) of New York (USA)), and had issue one son; married 2nd, 19 December 1946 at Reno, Nevada (USA), Dr Max Wilhelm Johannsen (1909-65) of New York, and had further issue two sons and one daughter; died at Palm Beach, Florida (USA), 26 May 1967; administration of her goods (with will annexed) was granted 27 February 1968 (effects in England, £2,733);

(1.3) Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer Beresford (1915-92), 6th Baron Decies (q.v.).

He inherited Sefton Park, Stoke Poges (Bucks) from his brother in 1911 and remodelled it. He bought Leixlip Castle (Co. Kildare) and enlarged it, but after 1922 he let it, and it was sold after his death. He lived latterly at Parkside House, Englefield Green (Surrey).

He died 31 January 1944 and was buried at Stoke Poges (Bucks); his will was proved 6 July 1944 (estate £25,948). His first wife died 3 February 1931 and was buried at Stoke Poges. His second wife died 13 June 1944.

* Newspaper reports at the time of the marriage mentioned that the wedding gifts included jewellery valued at $1m. It is said that some years later, Lady Decies' brother was made her trustee as her husband had spent some $4m of her fortune in less than three years.

** After the death of her second husband she wrote two books giving an insider's view of the American 'gilded age': "King Lehr" and the Gilded Age (1935) and Turn of the World (1937). The former gives an intimate picture of her unconsummated marriage to a gay man. Lord Decies filed for divorce in 1942, but his petition was contested and the matter remained unresolved when he died.

Beresford, Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer (1915-92), 6th Baron Decies. Only son of John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford (1866-1944), 5th Baron Decies, and his first wife, Vivien, daughter of George Jay Gould of New York (USA), born 24 April 1915. He served with the RAF Volunteer Reserve (Flying Offr) in the Second World War, and was awarded the American DFC. He married 1st, 21 October 1937, Ann Christina Margo (d. 1945), daughter of Sidney Walter Trevor of Camperdown, Victoria (Australia), and 2nd, 12 September 1945, Diana Mary (1916-2004), daughter of Wing Cdr. George Turner-Cain of Marsh House, Wells (Norfk) and widow of Maj. David W.A. Galsworthy, and had issue:

(2.1) Marcus Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford (b. 1948), 7th Baron Decies (q.v.);

(2.2) Hon. Sarah Ann Vivien de la Poer Beresford (b. 1949), born 23 June 1949; married 1st, 1975 (div. 1982), Jeorg B. Schnapka, son of Dr Hubert Schnapka of Bochum (Germany), and had issue one son; married 2nd, 1992, Andrew McMeekan;

(2.3) Hon. Clare Antoinette Gabrielle de la Poer Beresford (b. 1956), born 31 December 1956; married 1st, 1986 (div. 1995) Jorge Koechlin, son of Jose Edmondo Koechlin of Lima (Peru), and had issue one son; married 2nd, 2005, Peter Polster (b. 1962).

In 1946 he bought Kinnitty Castle (Co. Offaly) but sold it to the Irish government in 1951. He lived latterly at Chateau de Bétouzet, Andrien (France). In 1960 he inherited about 4% of the £17m estate of his cousin, Howard Gould.

He died 7 November 1992; his will was proved 16 June 1994 (estate in England & Wales, £75,155). His first wife died in St. Lucia (West Indies), 28 March 1945. His widow died 14 March 2004; her will was proved 23 March 2005.

Beresford, Marcus Hugh Tristram de la Poer (b. 1948), 7th Baron Decies. Only son of Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer Beresford (1915-92), 6th Baron Decies, and his second wife, Diana, daughter of Wing Cdr. George Turner-Cain of Marsh House, Wells (Norfk) and widow of Maj. David W.A. Galsworthy, born 5 August 1948. Educated at St Columba's College and Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1971; MLitt 1975), and qualified as a solicitor. Partner in A. & L. Goodbody, solicitors, 1977-2010 (latterly Chairman). He succeeded his father as 7th Baron Decies, 1992. In retirement he pursued historical interests relating to members of his family, and published several books and articles, including Marshal William Carr Beresford: The ablest man I have yet seen with the army (2019) and (with K. Krenz) From Napoleon to the Nazis: The Mysterious Story of Marshal Beresford’s Silver (2023). A trustee of the Alfred Beit Foundation, 1999-2014 (Chairman, 2008-14), the Apollo Foundation, and the Irish Architectural Archive, as well as Alexandra College, Dublin, Hewetson's School, Millicent (Co. Kildare), and St Columba's College, Dublin. He married 1st, 11 April 1970 (div. 1974), Sarah Jane (b. 1947), only daughter of Col. Basil Leslie Gunnell of Gun House, New Romney (Kent), and 2nd, Jul-Sept 1981, Edel Jeanette (b. 1957), daughter of Vincent Ambrose Hendron (1901-77) of Dublin, and had issue:

(2.1) Hon. Louisa Katherine de la Poer Beresford (b. 1984), born 23 October 1984;

(2.2) Hon. Robert Marcus Duncan de la Poer Beresford (b. 1988), born 14 July 1988; heir apparent to the peerage; married, 2019, Susannah, daughter of James Hill of Dunganstown (Co.Wicklow), and has issue two sons;

(2.3) Hon. David George Morley Hugh de la Poer Beresford (b. 1991), born 4 May 1991;

(2.4) Hon. Jessica Laragh de la Poer Beresford (b. 1996), born 16 November 1996.

From 1989 he lived at Straffan Lodge (Co. Kildare) which he sold in 2017.

Now living. His first wife is now living. His second wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 1061-63, 4084-92; Sir N. Pevsner, I. Richmond et al, The buildings of England: Northumberland, 2nd edn., 1992, pp. 196-97; Sir N. Pevsner & E. Williamson, The buildings of England: Buckinghamshire, 2nd edn., 1994, p. 658; 

https://www.dib.ie/biography/beresford-william-a0605;

http://messybeast.com/retro-fanciers-decies.htm.

Location of archives

Beresford of Bolam Hall, Barons Decies: deeds and estate papers, 18th-20th cents. [Northumberland Archives]

Coat of arms

Beresford, Barons Decies: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, argent semée of cross crosslets fitchée three fleurs-de-lis within a bordure engrailed all sable (for Beresford); 2nd and 3rd, argent a chief indented sable (de la Poer); a mullet argent for difference.

Can you help?

• Does anyone have fuller information about the ownership history of Bolam Hall in the 20th century or of Sefton Park in the late 19th century?
• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 1 April 2024 and updated 12 April 2024.

(571) Beresford of Abbeville, Termon House and Woodhouse

Beresford of Abbeville and Woodhouse 

The family considered here are a cadet branch of the Beresfords of Curraghmore, Earls of Tyrone and Marquesses of Waterford, who will be the subject of a future post. This branch descends from the Hon. and Rt. Hon. John de la Poer Beresford (1738-1805), with whom the genealogy below begins. He was the second surviving son of the 1st Earl of Tyrone. John was called to the Irish bar in 1761 and entered the Irish Parliament in the same year, serving as MP for Co. Waterford, where the interest of his father and later his elder brother, guaranteed his election. Although his brother (from 1789, Marquess of Waterford) was the head of the family, it was John who exercised the greater political power through his management of the rapidly expanding Beresford patronage network, and through his position as First Commissioner for the Revenue of Ireland. Such was his influence that he was spoken of as 'the king' of Ireland, and he demonstrated the effectiveness of his connections in 1795 when he secured the rapid dismissal of Lord Fitzwilliam as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland after the latter had presumed to dismiss him from the Custom House. After the Union of Britain and Ireland, he played a major part in defining the new financial relationship between the two nations. Nor was his influence confined to the political and economic spheres: his invitation to James Gandon to design a new Custom House in Dublin in the 1780s changed the landscape of Dublin and established neo-classical design as the style of its time in Ireland to an extent that it never quite achieved in the other nations of these islands. Gandon provided him with a sumptuous private apartment in the Custom House, and also remodelled Abbey Well House, the small country house at Kinsealy north of Dublin which Beresford bought and renamed Abbeville after his first wife's birthplace.

By his two wives, John Beresford produced a total of nineteen children between 1761 and 1793: four sons and four daughters by his French first wife, and four sons and seven daughters by his second wife, several of whom died young or in early adulthood. His eldest son, Marcus Beresford (1764-97) was brought up to succeed his father, becoming a barrister and MP, and making a good marriage with the daughter of Joseph Leeson, Earl of Milltown, whose home at Russborough House was one of the grandest in Ireland. Sadly, Marcus predeceased his father, and in 1802 John gave Abbeville to one of his younger sons, John Claudius Beresford (1766-1846), who also succeeded him as MP for Co. Waterford, although his politics were not always aligned with those of his father. J.C. Beresford had made an unsavoury name for himself during the Irish rebellion of the 1790s, when the militia unit for which he was responsible administered extra-judicial beatings to suspected rebels. He held a series of profitable positions within the Customs House during his father's long tenure there, but after his father's death he ran into financial difficulties and from 1811 largely withdrew from public life. He was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1814-15, but sold Abbeville at that time.

The Bishop's Palace, Kilmore

The second surviving son of John Beresford was the Rt. Rev. George de la Poer Beresford (1765-1841), for whom family influence secured the bishopric of Kilmore in 1802. He held this position until his death (the diocese being united with Ardagh from 1839), and in 1835-37 built a new bishop's palace there to the designs of William Farrell. He and his wife Frances - a niece of Henry Grattan - had six children. Their eldest son, John Beresford (1796-1856) was secretary of the colony of St Vincent from about 1825 until his death, but the second, Marcus Gervais Beresford (1801-85) followed in his father's footsteps and entered the church. He was Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh, 1854-62, during which time he rebuilt the cathedral at Kilmore, and was then appointed Archbishop of Armagh and Lord Primate of Ireland. Whatever the role his family connections played in securing his steady advancement to the episcopate, he was an able ecclesiastical administrator, who guided the Church of Ireland through the process of disestablishment and set up sound structures for its future governance. He had two sons and two daughters by his first wife, all of whom eventually left Ireland.

The youngest son of John Beresford and his first wife, Charles Cobbe Beresford (1770-1850), also entered the church, and quickly secured appointment as both a prebendary of St Patrick's Cathedral and Chancellor of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. After his father's death, however, he gave up these posts in favour of benefices in Ulster, and from 1809 he was the resident clergyman at Termonmaguirke (Co. Tyrone), where he became an active church and school builder. He also built himself the generously proportioned Termon House in 1815, the scale of which was perhaps necessitated by the size of his family, since he married the daughter of a Scottish baronet and produced four sons and five daughters.

Macbie Hill House, Peeblesshire: a 16th century house
remodelled by William Burn c.1835 and demolished in the 1950s.

His daughters married unusually well, with husbands including the 3rd Earl Erne and the Rev. Lord John Thynne. When he died, Termon House passed to his daughter, Charlotte and her husband the Rev. Samuel Alexander. His eldest son, the Rev. John Isaac Beresford (1796-1847) died before his father, leaving one son and two daughters. The son, George Robert Beresford (1830-71) eventually inherited his great-grandfather's seat, Macbie Hill, Peebles, but died unmarried, and it passed on his death to his sister Emily Sarah Massy-Beresford (c.1827-93) [for whom see my forthcoming post on that family].

The second son of the Rev. Charles Cobbe Beresford was George John Beresford (1807-64), who pursued a career in the Royal Artillery, retiring in 1854 with the rank of Colonel. He married twice, and in 1853 his second wife, Frances Constantia Uniacke (1822-67) inherited her family home, Woodhouse, at Stradbally on the south coast of Co. Waterford. This attractive 18th and early 19th century house remained the home of members of the Beresford family until 1971, although its descent was far from straightforward. It passed first to George's eldest surviving son, Robert Henry Beresford (1845-1903), who after a brief military career was employed as a temporary resident magistrate, a peripatetic role which probably left him little time to enjoy the estate. When he died, ownership passed to his younger brother, John George Beresford (1847-1925), who had, however, emigrated to the USA in 1869 and become an American citizen in 1883. In the circumstances of early 20th century Ireland, there was little incentive for him to return to take up the personal management of his property, and he seems to have been a classic absentee landlord, operating through agents. J.G. Beresford married twice but had no children, and on his death the estate passed briefly to his youngest brother, the Rev. Richard Uniacke Beresford (1858-1925), a canon and precentor of St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny. He too died before the year was out and the estate devolved on his sister, Emily Frances Louisa (1861-1933), the widow of Sir Robert Adair Hodson (1853-1921), 4th bt. Lady Hodson, like her brothers, was childless, and when she died in 1933 she was the last descendant of the Uniacke family. Lacking close relatives, she bequeathed the Woodhouse estate to her distant kinsman, Lord Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford (1908-41), the third son of the 6th Marquess of Waterford, who was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was killed in action in 1941 and the estate passed to his elder brother, Lord William Mostyn de la Poer Beresford (1905-73), who sold it in 1971 and moved to a smaller house called Dangan Cottage at Thomastown (Co. Kilkenny). A further account of Lord Hugh and Lord William will be given in my forthcoming post on the Beresfords of Curraghmore.

Abbeville, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

In origin, Abbeville is a south-facing late 17th or early 18th century house (originally called Abbey Well) which became the wing of a north-facing five-bay villa as the result of additions of c.1720-40, in the style of leading Irish architect, Richard Castle (c.1690-1751). 

Abbeville House: the early 18th century entrance front and Gandon porch in 1976. Image: South Dublin Libraries.

Abbeville House: phased plan 

Nothing is known of the ownership of the house until 1760, when a Kildare landowner, Edward Beaver, sold it to the John Beresford, who bought it as a base near Dublin from which to pursue his parliamentary and administrative career. In 1781, Beresford brought to Ireland a young English architect called James Gandon, who came to design the neo-classical Custom House on the north bank of the Liffey and stayed to become Ireland's greatest neo-classical architect. Not surprisingly, Beresford employed Gandon to alter and enlarge his own house, probably in the late 1780s, but Gandon had limited experience in the design of domestic buildings and the result lacks the grandeur of his public architecture. 

Abbeville House: the garden front created by James Gandon to unify the existing buildings.

Gandon added the porch to the entrance side and created a new 13 bay garden front uniting and concealing the previous buildings. This has two storeys over a basement and consists of a seven bay centre, flanked by two wide curved bows prolonged by single-storey one-bay units. He also added a stable and farmyard complex to the rear. In 1837 it was noted that the gardens contained a greenhouse more than 400 feet long, of which no trace remains. Inside the house, Gandon created a series of elegant neo-classical rooms, although the complex history of the house resulted in these being disposed on an unorthodox plan. 

Abbeville House: the dining room in use as a drawing room in 1912.

In c.1950 the house was restored and modernised by Michael John Scott for Percy Reynolds, but after 1963 the house slipped into decay while in the possession of an absentee German owner. It was rescued in 1969, when it was bought by Charles Haughey, a Government minister who was Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in 1979-81, 1982 and 1987-92. He lived here until his death in 2006, restored the house well, and filled it with on the whole appropriate contents. Haughey was eventually forced out of politics by a phone-tapping scandal, and after his retirement further revelations of corruption, embezzlement, tax evasion and a 27-year extra-marital affair tarnished his reputation. In 2003, he was obliged to sell Abbeville to meet his outstanding tax liabilities. It was bought by a development company, although a clause in the agreement allowed Haughey to remain in occupation until his death, and his widow did not finally move out until 2008. Planning permission was given for conversion of the house into a hotel and golf club, with housing in the grounds, but work did not start and eventually the developers went bust when the Irish property market collapsed after 2008. Abbeville was sold on in 2013 to the Japanese hotel chain, Toyoko Ltd., one of whose executives currently occupies the house, pending the realisation of similar development plans.

Descent: Edward Beaver; sold 1760 to the Hon. John Beresford (1738-1805); gave house 1802 to his son John Claudius Beresford (1766-1846); sold 1814 to Austin Cooper (d. 1830), antiquarian; sold 1830 to Sir James William Cusack, surgeon, for his son, Henry Thomas Cusack; to son, Athanasius Francis William Geoffrey de Geneville Cusack (1855-87); to brother, Major James William Henry Claud Cusack; to son, Major Ralph Smith Oliver Cusack who sold 1948 to (Albert) Percy Reynolds; sold 1963 to Franz Zielkowski, a German industrialist; sold 1969 to Charles Haughey (1925-2006); sold 2003 to Manor Park Homes; sold 2013 to Toyoko Ltd.

Termon House, Carrickmore, Co. Tyrone

An account of this house has been given in a previous post.

Woodhouse, Stradbally, Co. Waterford

A house is said to have been built on this estate close to the coast in the early 17th century by James Wallis, who rented the property from Richard Beacon, one of the undertakers of the Munster plantation, who had been granted the forfeited lands of the FitzGeralds in Limerick and Waterford. Wallis was dispossessed by the Fitzgeralds during the 1641 rebellion, and despite obtaining a legal judgement in his favour in 1653, he never recovered the estate. Civil War damage may have meant that the house was not occupied in the later 17th century. In 1724, debts forced the sale of the 2,500 acre estate, and the house was probably rebuilt soon afterwards. Landscaping evidently followed, for Maurice Uniacke was awarded a premium for planting over 150,000 trees on the estate in 1742, and it remains well-wooded today. 

Woodhouse, Stradbally: watercolour of the house by Louisa Uniacke, 1840 [National Library of Ireland, PD 4554 TX 5]

The Georgian house is a modest T-shaped two-storey building with an entrance front of six bays facing east. The detailing of the entrance front, with lowered sills to the ground-floor windows and an elliptical-headed doorway with a spoked fanlight, seems now to date from the early 19th century, when the house was probably further remodelled. The outbuildings were extended in the mid 19th century after the estate passed by marriage to the Beresfords. After a period of decline and neglect in the late 20th century, the house was restored and modernised at a cost of some €4m by the present owners after 2012.

Woodhouse, Stradbally: the house in 2012. (Image: The Woodhouse estate)

Descent: built for James Wallis (fl. 1641); seized by Thomas Fitzgerald... Maj. Richard MacThomas Fitzgerald, who sold 1724 to Thomas Uniacke; to son, Maurice Uniacke (d. 1743); to son, Bor Uniacke (1710-77); to son, Col. Robert Uniacke (1756-1802); to son, Robert John Uniacke (1795-1851); to son, Col. Robert Bor Uniacke (1823-53); to sister, Frances Constantia (1822-67), wife of Col. George John Beresford (1807-64); to son, Robert Henry Beresford (1845-1903); to brother, John George Beresford (1847-1925); to brother, Rev. Richard Uniacke Beresford (1858-1925); to sister, Emily Frances Louisa (1861-1933), widow of Sir Robert Adair Hodson (1853-1921), 4th bt.; to kinsman, Lord Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford (1908-41); to brother, Lord William Mostyn de la Poer Beresford (1905-73), who sold 1971 to John McCoubray, who sold 1972 to John Rohan; sold 1982 to Pinmere Ltd; sold 2006 to Defigo Ltd.; sold 2012 to Jim & Sally Thompson.

Beresford of Abbeville, Termon House and Woodhouse 

Hon. John Beresford (1738-1805) 

Beresford, Hon. and Rt. Hon. John de la Poer (1738-1805). Fifth, but second surviving, son of Sir Marcus Beresford (1694-1763), 4th bt. and 1st Earl of Tyrone, and his wife Lady Katherine (d. 1769), from 1767 Baroness La Poer in her own right, daughter and heiress of James Power (d. 1704), 3rd Earl of Tyrone, born 14 March 1737/8. Educated at Kilkenny College, Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1755; BA 1758), Lincolns Inn (admitted 1756), Middle Temple (admitted 1760) and Kings Inns, Dublin (called to Irish bar, 1761). Barrister-at-law. MP for Co. Waterford in the Irish Parliament, 1761-1801 and in the UK Parliament, 1801-05. He was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland, 1768 and that of Great Britain, 1786, and was made a Commissioner for the Revenue of Ireland, 1770 (First Commissioner, 1780-95, 1795-1802); he was also joint Taster of Wines (with his eldest son) at the Port of Dublin, from 1773. His position as First Commissioner and his extensive personal patronage through his kinship networks gave him such immense power in Ireland that he was spoken of as 'the king of Ireland', and when Lord Fitzwilliam was appointed as Lord Lieutenant in 1795 and dismissed him for corruption, he was able to secure Fitzwilliam's dismissal and his own reinstatement. He also challenged Fitzwilliam to a duel but the combatants were interrupted and Fitzwilliam afterwards apologised for his allegations of malversation. As First Commissioner he introduced some useful reforms in the collection of taxation, but his policy was generally conservative and repressive; he was opposed to Catholic emancipation and although initially cool about the proposed union of Britain and Ireland eventually strongly supported the policy. After the Union had taken place, he played a major part in settling the financial relationship between the two countries. A by-product of Beresford's role as Commissioner was his role in the development of neo-classical architecture in Ireland, since he brought James Gandon to Ireland to design a new Custom House. He was a Governor of St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin, 1763-88 and Deputy Governor of Co. Waterford, 1763. He married 1st, 12/15 November 1760, Annette Constantia* (d. 1770), daughter of Gen. the Count de Ligondes, of Ligondes, Auvergne (France), and 2nd, 4 June 1774, Barbara (d. 1795), second daughter of Sir William Montgomery, 1st bt., a celebrated beauty who was one of the three Montgomery sisters depicted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in his painting 'The Three Graces' (1773), and had issue:

(1.1) Catherine Beresford (1761-1836), born 28 September 1761; married, 7 August 1778, as his second wife, Lt-Col. the Rt. Hon. Henry Theophilus Clements (1734-95) of Ashfield Lodge (Co. Cavan) and Woodville (Co. Leix), MP for Cavan Borough, 1769-76, 1783-90, and for Co. Leitrim, 1776-83 and 1790-95, son of Rt. Hon. Nathaniel Clements (1705-77), and had issue five sons and three daughters; died 7 January and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery (Middx), 14 January 1836; her brief will was proved 23 January 1836;

(1.2) Elizabeth Beresford (1762-83), born 24 November 1762; died unmarried, 15 August 1783;

(1.3) Marcus Beresford (1764-97), born 14 February 1764; educated at Westminster, Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1779), Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1781; BA 1784), and Kings Inns, Dublin (called to Irish Bar, 1786); barrister-at-law (KC); MP for Dungannon in the Irish Parliament, 1783-97; joint taster of wines (with his father) in the Port of Dublin, 1773-97; married, 25 February 1791, Lady Frances Arabella (1771-1840), daughter of Rt. Hon. Joseph Leeson (1711-83), 1st Earl of Milltown, of Russborough House (Co. Wicklow), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 16 November 1797; will proved in Dublin, 1798;

(1.4) Rt. Rev. George de la Poer Beresford (1765-1841) (q.v.);

(1.5) John Claudius Beresford (1766-1846), born 23 October 1766; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1783; BA 1787; MA 1832); banker, in partnership with Mr Wood-Mason; an officer in the County of Dublin Cavalry (Capt., 1796), who was particularly unpopular during the 1798 rebellion for the extra-judicial floggings administered by his corps; alderman of Dublin, 1808-15 (Lord Mayor 1814-15); MP for Swords, 1790-97 and Dublin City, 1797-1800 in the Irish parliament, and for Dublin city, 1801-04 and Co. Waterford, 1806-11 in the UK parliament; unlike his father he opposed the Union of Britain and Ireland, although he accepted it when it happened; registrar general of tobacco, 1784-99; inspector-general of exports and imports for the Port of Dublin 1796-99, and also storekeeper, 1783-1802 and taster of wines, 1798-1802;  General Agent of the Irish Society, 1789-1837; inherited Abbeville from his father, but from 1811 was in financial difficulties and sold it in 1814, thereafter withdrawing from public life; married, 3 March 1795, Elizabeth McKenzie, only child of Archibald Menzies of Culdares (Perths), and had issue one son and four daughters; died 3 July 1846;

(1.6) Anne Constantia Beresford (1768-1836), born 16 April 1768; married 1st, 1790, Robert Uniacke (d. 1802), of Woodhouse (Co. Waterford) and had issue at least one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 2 July 1805 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Robert Doyne of Wells (Co. Wexford), and had further issue one son; died at Tullow, 8 August 1836;

(1.7) Jane Beresford (1769-1836), born 13 June 1769; married, 10 September 1788, Rt. Hon. Sir George Fitzgerald Hill (1763-1839), 2nd bt., of Brook Hall (Co. Derry), Governor of St Vincent, 1830-33 and Trinidad, 1833-39, but had no issue; died 2 November 1836 and was buried in the Governor's Cemetery, Port of Spain (Trinidad); she is commemorated by a monument in the cathedral at Port of Spain;

(1.8) Rev. Charles Cobbe Beresford (1770-1850) (q.v.);

(2.1) Hannah Beresford (b. 1775), born 16 May 1775; probably died in infancy;

(2.2) Barbara Beresford (1776-86), born 8 July 1776; died young, 8 May 1786;

(2.3) Frances Honoria Beresford (1777-1860), born 3 September 1777; married, 9 July 1805 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, James Whyte (1774-1852) of Pilton House (Devon), banker, and had issue at least two sons; died 6 February 1860;

(2.4) Anna Marie Beresford (1778-79), born 30 October 1778; died in infancy, 11 October 1779.

(2.5) William Barré Beresford (1780-82), born 12 May 1780; died in infancy, 29 May 1782;

(2.6) James Hamilton Beresford (1782-1806), born 18 February 1782; a midshipman in the Royal Navy, who accidentally drowned while serving in HMS Phoenix; died unmarried, 7 December 1806;

(2.7) Henry Barré Beresford (1784-1837) [for whom see my forthcoming post on the Beresfords of Learmount]; 

(2.8) Elizabeth Beresford (1786-1860), born 27 January 1786; died unmarried, 17 January 1860;

(2.9) Anna Beresford (1787-1862), married 1st, c.1812, Maj. Charles Gardiner (c.1780-1818) of 90th Foot, only son of Gen. the Hon. William Gardiner; married 2nd, 9 October 1822 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Charles Manning Allen (1802-80) (also known as Charles Stuart Hay Allen and Charles Edward Stuart, Count d'Albanie, who claimed, with his elder brother, legitimate descent from the Jacobite royal family), and had issue one son and three daughters; died at Pressburg (now Bratislava, Slovakia), 13 November 1862;

(2.10) William Hamilton Beresford (1788-1865), born 11 October 1788; died 16 September 1865 and was buried at Carlingford (Co. Louth), where he is commemorated by a monument;

(2.11) Clara Barbara Beresford (c.1792-1862); married, 10 September 1813 at Derry Cathedral, Rev. James Spencer Knox (1789-1862), rector of Maghera (Co. Derry), and had issue four sons and five daughters; died 4 April and was buried at Bristol General Cemetery, 10 April 1862.

He bought the Abbey Well estate at Kinsealy (Co. Dublin) in 1760 and had James Gandon remodel it while working on the Custom House in the 1780s. He renamed it Abbeville after the town from which his first wife came. He also owned an estate at Walworth (Co. Londonderry), and a sumptuous private apartment in the Custom House.

He died 5 November 1805. His first wife died 26 October 1770. His second wife died 29 May 1795.

* She was born a Roman Catholic, but converted to Protestantism in 1764.

George de la Poer Beresford (1765-1841) 

Beresford, Rt. Rev. George de la Poer (1765-1841). Second son of Hon. and Rt. Hon. John de la Poer Beresford (1738-1805) and his first wife, Annette Constantia, daughter of Gen. the Count de Ligondes, of Ligondes, Auvergne (France), born 19 July 1765. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1782; BA 1786; DD 1802). A prebendary of Waterford Cathedral, 1789-1801; vicar of Donoughmore, 1790-97 and Treasurer of the diocese of Ossory, 1792-97; Precentor of Waterford, 1793-1801; Dean of Kilmore and vicar of Kilmore and Ballintemple, 1796-1801; Bishop of Clonfert, 1801-02; Bishop of Kilmore, 1802-39 and of Kilmore & Ardagh, 1839-41. He married, 1794 (licence 26 March), Frances (c.1775-1843), daughter of Gervais Parker Bushe of Kilfane, MP for Kilkenny, and niece of Henry Grattan, and had issue:

(1) Charlotte Mary Beresford (1795-1851), born 12 June 1795; married 1st, 2 May 1812, Frederick Lumley (later Lumley-Savile) (1788-1837) of Tickhill Castle (Yorks), and had issue one son and three daughters; married 2nd, 20 July 1839 at Kilmore (Co. Cavan), Robert Henry Southwell (1789-1863); died at Wiesbaden (Germany), 2 November 1851; will proved in the PCC, 18 December 1851 and again 5 July 1859;

(2) John Beresford (1796-1856), born April 1796; educated at St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1815); Colonial Secretary of the island of St. Vincent, c.1825-56; married, 6 May 1822, Harriet Eliza (c.1798-1857), eldest daughter of Hon. William Wylly, Chief Justice of St. Vincent, and had issue four sons and one daughter; died at Shirley (Hants), 16 September 1856;

(3) Anastasia Beresford (c.1798-1803); died young 'of a convulsive fit', April 1803;

(4) Most Rev. Marcus Gervais Beresford (1801-85) (q.v.);

(5) George de la Poer Beresford (c.1802-26), born about 1802; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1821; BA 1825); died unmarried, 6 June 1826;

(6) Frances Beresford (c.1804-33), born about 1804; married, 19 June 1824 at Belmore, the Hon. & Rev. Francis Howard (1797-1857), vicar of Swords (Co. Dublin), 1826-57 (who m2, 20 June 1836, Sarah, eldest daughter of Charles Hamilton, of Hamwood (Co. Meath), and had further issue two sons), son of William Howard, 3rd Earl of Wicklow, and had issue one son; died 17 November 1833.

He lived at the old bishop's palace in Kilmore until it was replaced by a new See House built in c.1835-37 to the design of William Farrell.

He died 16 October 1841. His widow died at Ballyhaise rectory, 19 May 1843.

Archbishop Beresford (1801-85) 

Beresford, Most Rev. & Rt. Hon. Marcus Gervais (1801-85). Second son of Rt. Rev. George de la Poer Beresford (1765-1841) and his wife Frances, daughter of Gervais Parker Bushe MP of Kilfane, born at the Custom House, Dublin, 14 February 1801. Educated at Richmond (Yorks) and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1819; BA 1824; MA 1828; DD 1840). Ordained deacon, 1824 and priest, 1825. Rector of Kildallon (Co. Cavan), 1825-28; vicar of Drung and Lara, and vicar-general of Kilmore, 1828-54; Archdeacon of Armagh, 1839-54; Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh, 1854-62, during which time he built a new cathedral at Kilmore to the designs of William Slater; Archbishop of Armagh and Lord Primate of Ireland, 1862-85; Prelate of the Order of St Patrick and Lord Almoner to Queen Victoria. An ecclesiastical statesman, who guided the Church of Ireland through the process of disestablishment and set up sound structures for its future governance; he was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland, 1862. He was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University (DCL, 1864). He married 1st, 25 October 1824, Mary (d. 1845), daughter of Col. Henry Peisley L'Estrange of Moystown (Co. Offaly) and widow of Richard E. Digby of Geashill (Co. Offaly), and 2nd, 5 June 1850 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Elizabeth (d. 1870), only daughter of James Trail Kennedy of Annadale (Co. Down) and widow of Robert George Bomford of Rahenstown (Co. Meath), and had issue:

(1.1) Charlotte Henrietta Beresford (1828-84), born 17 May 1828; married, 16 August 1853 at Drung (Co. Cavan), Henry Beilby William Milner (1823-76) of West Retford House (Notts) and Kirkstall Grange (Yorks WR), son of Sir William Milner, 4th bt., and had issue three sons and three daughters; died in Armagh, 15 September and was buried at Acaster Selby (Yorks WR), 20 September 1884; will proved 1 November 1884 (effects £3,387);

(1.2) Mary Emily Beresford (c.1829-58), born about 1829; married, 16 August 1853 at Drung (Co. Cavan), Col. Thomas Heywood (1826-1915) (who m2, 10 April 1862 at St Mark, Torquay (Devon), Sophie Grace (c.1840-1918), only daughter of Stepney St George (1791-1847) of Headford (Co. Galway)), of Oak Hall alias Hatley St. George (Worcs), son of Thomas Heywood of Hope End (Herefs), antiquary, and had issue one son and two daughters; died at Doveleys (Derbys), 12 August 1858;

(1.3) George de la Poer Beresford (1831-1906) of Auburn (Co. Cavan), born 22 April 1831; educated at University College, Oxford (matriculated 1849); JP and DL for Co. Cavan; High Sheriff of Co. Cavan, 1865-66 and Co. Armagh, 1887-88; Conservative MP for Armagh City, 1875-85; lived latterly at Ovendon House, Sundridge (Kent); married, 24 April 1860 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), Mary Annabella (1835-1917), daughter of Rev. William Vernon Harcourt (1789-1871) of Nuneham Courtenay (Oxon), scientist and clergyman, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died at Danbury Park (Essex), 3 August 1906; will proved 18 October 1906 (estate £31,109);

(1.4) Henry Marcus Beresford (1835-95), born 2 March 1835; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1853; Lt., 1854; Capt., 1858; Maj., 1873); lived at Drumlease (Co. Leitrim) and later at Villa Catterina, San Remo (Italy); married, 10 April 1861 at St Peter, Dublin, Julia Ellen (c.1841-1923), daughter of Rev. Francis Richard Maunsell, rector of Castleisland (Co. Kerry), and had issue four sons and one daughter; died at San Remo, 5 February 1895; will proved 28 March 1895 (effects £900).

He lived latterly at the Archbishop's Palace in Armagh.

He died at the Bishop's Palace in Armagh, 26 December 1885, and was buried in St Patrick's Cathedral there, 31 December 1885; his will was proved 10 February 1886 (effects £91,022). His first wife died 31 December 1845. His second wife died 1 July 1870 and was buried in Armagh Cathedral, where she is commemorated by a monument.

Rev. Charles Cobbe Beresford (1770-1850) 

Beresford, Rev. Charles Cobbe (1770-1850). Fourth son of Hon. and Rt. Hon. John de la Poer Beresford (1738-1805) and his first wife, Annette Constantia, daughter of Gen. the Count de Ligondes, of Ligondes, Auvergne (France), born 2 October 1770. Educated privately and at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1787; BA 1790; MA 1807). Prebendary of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, 1798-1805; Chancellor of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, 1802-09; rector of Carrigallen (Co. Leitrim), 1804-09, Killesher (Co. Fermanagh), 1805-50, and Termonmaguirke (Co. Tyrone), 1809-50, where he resided and was responsible for building two churches and nine schools. JP for Co. Tyrone. He married, 22 November 1795, Amelia (c.1770-1839), daughter of Sir William Montgomery (1717-88), 1st bt., of Macbie Hill (Peebles), and had issue:

(1) Rev. John Isaac Beresford (1796-1847) (q.v.);

(2) Harriet Louisa Beresford (c.1801-71), born about 1801; married, 15 February 1825 at Termonmaguirke, Rev. John James Fox (1792-1870), rector of Kinawley (Co. Fermanagh & Co. Cavan), 1822-70, fourth son of Richard Fox of Fox Hall (Co. Longford), and had issue six sons and three daughters; died at Farm Hill (Co. Sligo), 24 September 1871;

(3) Selina Griselda Beresford (1804-84), born December 1804; married, 6 July 1837, John Crichton (1802-85), 3rd Earl Erne, of Crom Castle (Co. Fermanagh), Lord Lieutenant of Co. Fermanagh and a representative Irish peer, and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 4 September 1884;

(4) Emilia Catherine Beresford (c.1805-69), born about 1805; married, 16 December 1831 at Termonmaguirke, Arthur Willoughby Cole-Hamilton (1806-91) of Beltrim Castle (Co. Tyrone), and had issue five sons and three daughters; died 19 November, and was buried at Lower Badony (Co. Tyrone), 22 November 1869;

(5) Anne Constantia Beresford  (c.1806-66), born about 1806; a pioneering marine biologist who constructed the first marine aquarium in Britain; married, 2 March 1824 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Rev. Lord John Thynne (1798-1881) of Ashburnham House, Westminster and Haynes Park (Beds), deputy Dean of Westminster, third son of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath, and had issue eight sons and two daughters; died 22 April 1866;

(6) George John Beresford (1807-64) (q.v.);

(7) Rev. Charles Claudius Beresford (1810-48), born 14 December 1810; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1828; BA 1832); ordained deacon, 1834 and priest, 1835; vicar of Drumlane (Co. Cavan), 1835-37; rector of Bailieborough and Moybologue (Co. Cavan), 1837-48; married, 8 August 1838 at Shercock (Co. Cavan), Anna Maria (c.1820-97), only daughter of Rev. Frederick Fitzpatrick (1790-1870) of Loch Scillan Glebe (Co. Cavan) and had issue two sons and two daughters; died of a fever caught from one of his parishioners, 29 August 1848 and was buried at Bailieborough;

(8) Henry Robert Beresford (c.1811-42), born about 1811; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1835; Lt., 1841); a freemason from 1840; died in Jamaica, 16 November 1842;

(9) Charlotte Frances Beresford (c.1812-90), born about 1812; married, 4 November 1839 at Termonmaguirke, Rev. Samuel Alexander (1808-89), rector of Termonmaguirke, 1851-80, eldest son of John Alexander of Caw, and had issue three sons and three daughters; died 27 January 1890.

He lived at Termon House, which he built in 1815 at a cost of £3,293.

He died 13 December 1850 and was buried at Termonmaguirke; his will was proved in 1851. His wife died 14 March 1839 and was buried at Termonmaguirke.

Beresford, Rev. John Isaac (1796-1847). Eldest son of Rev. Charles Cobbe Beresford (1770-1850) and his wife Amelia, daughter of Sir William Montgomery, 1st bt., born in Dublin, 13 October 1796. Educated at Royal School, Dungannon and Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1815; BA 1818; MA 1821). Ordained deacon, 1819 and priest by 1821. Prebendary of Maine, 1821-23 and vicar of Drumlane, 1821-35; rector of Donoughmore (Co. Leix), 1823-47. He married, 13 June 1824, Sophia (1809-58), daughter of Robert White of Aghaboe (Co. Leix) and had issue:

(1) Emily Sarah Beresford (c.1827-93); married, 6 May 1851 at Monkstown (Co. Dublin), Very Rev. John Maunsell Massy (from 1871, Massy-Beresford) (1823-86) of St Hubert's (Co. Fermanagh), perpetual curate of Killoughter, 1856-70 and Dean of Kilmore, 1870-86, and had issue three sons (of whom two apparently died young) and two daughters; lived at Macbie Hill, Peebles; died in London, 28 July 1893; will confirmed, 13 November 1893 (estate £2,152);

(2) George Robert Beresford (1830-71), born 18 October 1830; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1851; Lt., 1854; Capt., 1854), who fought in the Crimea (wounded) and was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (France), 1856; inherited Macbie Hill (Peebles) from his great-uncle, Sir George Montgomery c.1851; died unmarried at Naseby Woolleys (Northants), 6 April 1871; his will was confirmed in Scotland, 25 July 1871;

(3) Harriet Selina Beresford (1835-1919); married, 29 April 1856 at Edinburgh, William Allan Waddrop (c.1830-1911) of Dalmarnock, Glasgow and Garvold House, Dolphington (West Lothian); died 13 February 1919; confirmation of will granted 25 August 1919 (estate £2,927).

He died at Macbie Hill, 9 February 1847. His wife died 27 November 1858.

Col. George John Beresford (1807-64) 

Beresford, George John (1807-64). Second son of Rev. Charles Cobbe Beresford (1770-1850) and his wife Amelia, daughter of Sir William Montgomery, 1st bt., born 21 July 1807. An officer in the Royal Artillery (2nd Lt., 1826; Lt., 1828; Capt. 1841; Lt-Col., 1854; retired as Col., 1854). JP for County Waterford (by 1857). He married 1st, 12 December 1839 at Rathronan (Co. Tipperary), Jane Charlotte (c.1819-42), youngest daughter of Charles Riall of Heywood (Co. Tipperary), and 2nd, 15 November 1844 at Stradbally (Co. Waterford), Frances Constantia (1822-67), eldest daughter of Robert Uniacke of Woodhouse (Co. Waterford), and had issue: 

(1.1) Charles John Beresford (1841-42), born about January 1841; died in infancy, 1 July 1842 and was buried on Ireland island, Sandys (Bermuda);

(1.2) Jane Selina Beresford (1842-1930), born 26 March and baptised on Ireland island, Sandys (Bermuda), 7 April 1842; married, 18 February 1868 at Stradbally, Rev. William Power Cobbe (1827-89), rector of Clonegan (Co. Waterford), 1867-75 and chaplain of St Aubyn (Jersey), 1875-89, son of Capt. William Power RN, and had issue one son; lived latterly with her son at Dover (Kent); died 10 November 1930; will proved 24 January 1931 (estate £23,631);

(2.1) twin, Mildred Anne Beresford (1845-1922), born 8 September 1845; married, 18 October 1866 at Stradbally, Rev. William Carleton* (c.1828-91), rector of Callan, 1870-91 and canon of Ossory, 1882-91, but had no issue; died at Blackrock (Co. Dublin), 17 November 1921, and was buried with her husband at Kilkenny;

(2.2) twin, Robert Henry Beresford (1845-1903), born 8 September 1845; JP and DL for Co. Waterford; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1866; Lt., 1870; retired 1879); employed as a temporary resident magistrate in several counties of Ireland, 1882-1903, and for the last ten years of his life in Co. Louth; married, 24 May 1880 at Cappoquin (Co. Waterford), Laura Ellen Flora (d. 1920), youngest daughter of Sir John Henry Keane (1816-81), 3rd bt., of Cappoquin House, and widow of Capt. Bernard Henry Entwistle (d. 1877), but had no issue; died from injuries sustained in a carriage accident, 30 January 1903; will proved 28 April 1903 (estate £9,809);

(2.3) John George Beresford (1847-1925) (q.v.); 

(2.4) Charles Richard Gordon Beresford (1849-69), born 22 February and was baptised at Hougham (Kent), 22 March 1849; an officer in the merchant navy (third officer of the Lady Melville); died of dropsy in a Calcutta hospital, 24 September 1869;

(2.5) George Alexander Beresford (1850-75), born 21 November 1850 and baptised at St Thomas, Woolwich (Kent), 12 January 1851; an officer in the army (Lt., 1871); died unmarried, 8 June 1875 and was buried at Deesa, Bombay (India); administration of goods granted 6 March 1876 (estate under £2,000);

(2.6) Henry Robert Uniacke Beresford (1853-54), baptised at St Thomas, Woolwich, 27 December 1853; died in infancy and was buried at Charlton (Kent), 29 August 1854;

(2.7) Rev. Richard Uniacke Beresford (1858-1925), born 4 September and baptised at Stradbally, 31 October 1858; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1882; MA 1900); ordained deacon, 1883 and priest, 1884; curate of Pulborough (Sussex), 1883-92; rector of Inistioge (Co. Kilkenny), 1892-1925, canon of Ossory, 1893-1925 and of Leighlin, 1923-25; precentor of Ossory, 1900-25; died unmarried, 30 January and was buried at Stradbally, 3 February 1925;

(2.8) Emily Frances Louisa Beresford (1861-1933) (q.v.).

He lived at Woodhouse (Co. Waterford) in right of his second wife in 1853.

He died 11 February 1864 and was buried at Stradbally (Co. Waterford); will proved 26 May 1864 (effects under £5,000). His first wife died 6 April 1842 and was buried in the Royal Naval Cemetery, Ireland Island, Sandys (Bermuda), where she and her son are commemorated by a monument. His widow died 29 October 1867; her will was proved 26 February 1868 (effects under £3,000).

* He died suddenly while preaching in the pulpit of St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, 16 August 1891, and was buried in the churchyard there.

Beresford, John George (1847-1925). Second son of Col. George John Beresford (1807-64) and his second wife, Frances Constantia, eldest daughter of Robert Uniacke of Woodhouse (Co. Waterford), born 10 June and baptised at Hougham (Kent), 14 July 1847. He emigrated to the USA, 1869, and was naturalised as an American citizen in Wyoming, 1883. He married 1st, 21 February 1898 at Manhattan, New York (USA), Emilie Eleanora (1860-1916), daughter of Adrian Iselin of New York (USA), and 2nd, 14 February 1922 at Washington DC (USA), Helen (1876-1945), daughter of Alphonso Mason (1844-1921) of Philadelphia (USA), but had no issue.

He inherited Woodhouse from his brother Robert in 1903, but did not return to Ireland. At his death it passed briefly to his brother Richard and then to his sister Emily.

He died at Washington DC, 8 May 1925, and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York. His first wife died 24 May 1916 and was buried at New Rochelle, Westchester, New York. His widow married 2nd, 19 July 1927, John Rutherfoord (1861-1942), son of John Coles Rutherfoord; she died 2 March and was buried at Philadelphia, 5 March 1945.

Beresford, Emily Frances Louisa (1861-1933). Second daughter of Col. George John Beresford (1807-64) and his second wife, Frances Constantia, eldest daughter of Robert Uniacke of Woodhouse (Co. Waterford), born 15 February 1861. She married, 20 April 1913, Col. Sir Robert Adair Hodson (1853-1921), 4th bt., but had no issue.

She inherited Woodhouse from her brother Richard in 1925. At her death she bequeathed it to her kinsman, Lord Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford (1908-41), third son of the 6th Marquess of Waterford (for whom see my forthcoming post on the Beresfords of Curraghmore).

She died 14 February 1933. Her husband died 3 January 1921.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 1061-63, 4084-92; E. McParland, James Gandon: Vitruvius Hibernicus, 1985, pp. 63-66, 123-27; M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, 2nd ed., 1988, pp. 1, 286; M.R. Doorly, Abbeville, 1996; E.M. Johnston-Liik, History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800, 2002, vol. 3, pp. 156-71;

https://woodhouseestate.com/history/the-house/; 

https://woodhouseestate.com/history/the-people-2/

Location of archives

Beresford, Most Rev. Marcus Gervais (1801-85), Archbishop of Armagh: correspondence and papers, c.1856-82 [Cambridge University Library, Add. 9407]

Coat of arms

Quarterly, 1st and 4th, argent semée of cross crosslets fitchée three fleurs-de-lis within a bordure engrailed all sable (for Beresford); 2nd and 3rd, argent a chief indented sable (for de la Poer).

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 30 March 2024.