(573) Beresford of Curraghmore, Marquesses of Waterford

Beresford, Marquesses of Waterford 

The Beresfords were established in south-west Derbyshire as a minor gentry family from at least the 15th century, holding adjoining estates at Fenny Bentley and Newton Grange, Tissington. They held Newton Grange as tenants of Combermere Abbey (Ches.) until the Dissolution, but bought the house and some of the lands in 1539, and added the remainder of the estate in or soon after 1586. In the 17th century the senior branch of the family at Fenny Bentley died out, but their lands were repurchased in 1724 by the Beresfords of Newton Grange. The Old Hall at Fenny Bentley seems to have been a substantial moated house, reputedly with two medieval towers, but part of it was pulled down in the late 17th century and it was probably never a country house within the definition used here. In the mid 18th century the family lived in nearby Ashbourne (Derbys), where Joseph Pickford built them a town house called Compton House in the 1760s. A modest new house, known as Bentley Hall, was built at Fenny Bentley in the late 18th century for Richard Beresford, but after his death the estate was bought by William Carr Beresford (1768-1854), 1st Viscount Beresford, who was non-resident, and both Bentley Hall and Newton Grange became farmhouses on the estate.

Compton House, Ashbourne. Image: Historic England.

Fenny Bentley Old Hall

The genealogy below begins with Michael Beresford (d. 1608), a younger son of George Beresford of Newton Grange. Like his father, Michael was probably trained as a lawyer, although there seems to be no record of his admission to any of the inns of court. He became an official of the Court of Wards and Liveries, and settled at Otford and Squerryes Court, Westerham (Kent). He married in 1564 and ten years later, when he registered his pedigree at the herald's visitation, he had six children. More followed, and in the end he had eleven children by his first wife and three by his second. His eldest son inherited Squerryes Court, but it did not remain in the family for long, and was not then the gracious country house that it later became. We are concerned here with Michael's third son, Tristram Beresford (c.1572-c.1649), who in 1610 was sent by the Irish Society of London (the body responsible for the administration of the corporation of London's plantations in Ulster) to oversee the building and fortification of the town of Coleraine, and by 1616 he had become the Society's agent. His powerful position, and the limited oversight from London, provided many opportunities for building up a substantial personal estate in the area which became Co. Londonderry, and already by 1613 he was being criticised for his acquisitiveness. By 1635 it was said his tyranny in Coleraine was like that of the Spanish inquisition, and his estates were forfeited to the Crown, but in 1641 they were restored by Parliament, and he seems to have successfully retained them until his death.

Tristram Beresford was succeeded as owner of his estates around Coleraine by his eldest son, Sir Tristram Beresford (c.1595-1674), 1st bt., who was a MP in the Irish Parliament in the 1630s and again in the 1660s, as well as sitting at Westminster during the Second Protectorate Parliament of 1656-58. He was evidently a royalist by inclination, as he was knighted in 1664 and created a baronet the following year, 'in consideration of his faithful services and sufferings'. When he died in 1674 he was succeeded by his son, Sir Randal Beresford (c.1636-81), 2nd bt., who married a daughter of the 1st Viscount Valentia. Sir Randal did not long survive his father, and at his death was succeeded by his only surviving son, Sir Tristram Beresford (1669-1701), 3rd bt., then aged about twelve. As a Protestant landowner, he was attainted by the Jacobite Irish Parliament in 1689, and fought for William III during the Williamite Wars of 1689-91, when his estates were burnt and pillaged. His record at this time secured the family's position in the Protestant elite in Ireland, and with the Jacobites ejected from Ireland, he became MP for Londonderry in 1692 and Governor of the city in 1699. Soon afterwards, however, he died, leaving an only son and heir, Sir Marcus Beresford (1694-1763), 4th bt., who continued the social rise of the family with his marriage in 1717 to Lady Katherine Power (d. 1769), the only daughter and heiress of  James Power (d. 1704), 3rd Earl of Tyrone, who brought the Curraghmore estate in Co. Waterford into the family, and thus shifted its primary focus from the far north of Ireland to the far south. 

Tyrone House, Dublin, from an engraving of 1779.

It was this marriage, and the accession of wealth that came with it, which led to him being raised to the peerage as Viscount Tyrone in 1720 and to his late father-in-law's title of Earl of Tyrone being conferred upon him in 1746. In 1740 he built Tyrone House in Dublin to the design of Richard Cassels, and a few years later he created a fashionable new room in the old tower at Curraghmore, and laid out formal gardens there. The recreation of her father's title for her husband does not seem to have satisfied the Countess, and after the Earl's death in 1763 she pursued a claim as heir general to a barony of La Poer, which it was claimed had been created by a writ of summons issued to Nicholas le Poer in 1375. The claim was allowed by the Irish House of Lords and confirmed by the king in 1767, but in fact under Irish law no writ of summons could create an hereditary peerage, and the Countess was not Nicholas' heir general, so the barony of Poer or La Poer, which remains a subsidiary title of the Countess' descendants, is today regarded as a new grant of 1767.

The Earl and Countess of Tyrone had fifteen children, several of whom died young, and on the Earl's death in 1763 the title passed to their eldest surviving son, George de la Poer Beresford (1735-1800), 2nd Earl of Tyrone. In the years before he inherited, he was an active member of the Irish parliament, and he continued to make himself useful to successive governments, resulting in his creation as Baron Tyrone of Haverfordwest in the peerage of Great Britain (and thus having a seat in the British House of Lords at Westminster) in 1786 and his promotion in the Irish peerage to be 1st Marquess of Waterford in 1789. With an income of around £20,000 a year, and a place in the highest echelon of Irish society, he was well placed to invest in improvements at Curraghmore, and either he or his mother (who remained in residence until her death in 1769) developed the magnificent courtyard approach in the 1760s, and later, from about 1778, he remodelled the interior of the house to the designs of James Wyatt. In 1769, he married the daughter of a local landowner, and they went on to have eight children, but he also had two illegitimate sons, born before his marriage, who both had distinguished careers: Admiral Sir John Poo Beresford (1766-1844) and the Rt. Hon. General William Carr Beresford (1768-1854), 1st Viscount Beresford, who as we have already noted, bought the Derbyshire estates of the Beresfords in the early 19th century. His eldest legitimate son, the Hon. Marcus Beresford (1771-83) died tragically in a riding accident, and it was therefore Henry de la Poer Beresford (1772-1826) who succeeded his father as 2nd Marquess of Waterford.

The 2nd Marquess married Lady Susanna Hussey Carpenter (d. 1827), the only daughter and heiress of the Earl of Tyrconnel, in 1805, and had four sons (the eldest of whom died young) and one daughter before his early death. The children were left as orphans when their mother died the following year, and their uncle, the Archbishop of Armagh, acted as their guardian until they came of age. The daughter, Lady Sarah Elizabeth Beresford, married the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury and thus became the chatelaine of Alton Towers (Staffs). The marquessate descended to Henry de la Poer Beresford (1811-59), 3rd Marquess of Waterford, a courageous but wild young man whose drunken violence and vandalism became notorious in the 1830s. He is said to have sobered up a little after his marriage in 1842 to the pre-Raphaelite artist, the Hon. Louisa Stuart, but he remained addicted to horse-racing and hunting, and he died in a hunting accident in 1859. The couple had no children, so Curraghmore and the peerage passed to the 3rd Marquess' younger brother, the Rev. John de la Poer Beresford (1814-66), 4th Marquess of Waterford, who retired from the church to take up his new responsibilities, but died of typhus fever just seven years' later.

The 4th Marquess had five sons, in all of whom the courage and indeed the wildness of their uncle is apparent to differing degrees. The eldest was John Henry de la Poer Beresford (1844-95), 5th Marquess of Waterford, who in 1866 eloped with an older married woman (and married her, after her divorce), but they had no surviving children, and after she died in 1873 he married again and produced a family. A hunting accident in 1885 left him partially paralysed, and although he recovered the ability to walk, he became depressed and in 1895 he shot himself in the library at Curraghmore. The second brother, Admiral Lord Charles William de la Poer Beresford (1846-1919), became one of the most senior officers in the Royal Navy and a long-serving MP, and was raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Beresford in 1916, but as he had no sons his peerage died with him. The third brother, Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford (1847-1900), won the VC for an action in the Zulu War in 1879, and was later military secretary to the Governor General of India. On returning to England, he married the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, and had one son. Brother number four was Lord Marcus Talbot de la Poer Beresford (1848-1922), 'a good pugilist and a man of very determined temper' who was manager of the king's racing stud to Edward VII and George V; he married but had no issue. The youngest brother - by fourteen years - was Lord Delaval James de la Poer Beresford (1862-1906), who emigrated to Mexico and purchased ranches there and in Canada. He formed a common law partnership with a black woman called Flora Wolff, and when he died in a train crash in North Dakota, his property was divided between her and his surviving brothers.

The 5th Marquess' second marriage produced three daughters and one son, Henry de la Poer Beresford (1875-1911), 6th Marquess of Waterford, a keen sportsman, mountaineer and big game hunter. He was lucky to survive being mauled by a lion in Africa, but was accidentally drowned in a swollen river at Curraghmore. Not surprisingly, this fourth consecutive untimely death in the family gave rise to rumours that the family was cursed, and the rumours were reinforced when the 7th Marquess died in an unexplained shooting accident in the gun room at Curraghmore in 1934, but the real story must be that the bravery of the Beresfords was fatally allied to a lack of caution. Happily, the 8th Marquess (1933-2015) and present 9th Marquess (b. 1958), despite a lifelong attachment to polo, have survived to a normal lifespan, and Curraghmore remains in the family today.

Curraghmore, Co. Waterford

A house of national importance which has developed over the centuries through a series of partial rebuildings and remodellings. At its core is still the medieval tower of the Le Poer or Power family, who came into Ireland in the 12th century and had settled at Curraghmore by the 15th century at the latest. Few features betray its age except for the thickness of the walls, the relatively low ceiling heights, and the original stone newel staircase. The tower is the only survivor of the medieval castle, for the rest seems to have been cleared away in the early 17th century, when a large three-storey house was built around three sides of a courtyard to the west of the tower. This house had probably been built before 1630, when John, Baron Le Poer, was declared insane, and it had certainly been built by 1654 when the Civil Survey says 'There stands a fayre Castle and a goodly stone house upon the land'.

Curraghmore: aerial view of the house in 2006. In the centre stands the medieval tower, with the 17th century and later house to its right.
Image: Bill Flynn.

Although the Le Poers were Catholics, they succeeded in preserving their property throughout the Civil War and Commonwealth, and in 1673 Richard Le Poer was created Earl of Tyrone. His son, the 2nd Earl, became a Protestant and fought for William III against James II, but died in 1693, and was succeeded by his brother, James Power (d. 1704), 3rd Earl of Tyrone. It was the 3rd Earl who undertook the next remodelling of the house in about 1700. A description of the house in Charles Smith's Ancient and Present State of the county and city of Waterford (1746) mention that date being carved 'on a pedestal of the door-case' and goes on to describe the elaborate wall and ceiling frescos by the Dutch painter, Johann van der Hagen on the staircase and in one of the downstairs rooms. 

Curraghmore: the billiard room ceiling, photographed in the early 20th century

The 3rd Earl of Tyrone died in 1704, leaving a young daughter as heiress. By her marriage in 1717 to Sir Marcus Beresford, 4th bt., she carried the Curraghmore estate to the Beresfords, who have held it ever since. Sir Marcus was made Viscount Tyrone in 1726 and Earl of Tyrone in 1746, and in the late 1740s the Earl and Countess created a fine new reception room on the first floor of the medieval tower, which later became the billiard room. The room may have been designed by Richard Castle and has a very fine coved ceiling with foliage, flowers, busts and ribbons in rectangular and curvilinear compartments, evidently completed by 1750, which can be attributed with confidence to Paolo and Filippo Lafranchini. The woodwork of the room was probably by John Houghton, and Smith mentions a fine carved wood panel of St Paul preaching at Athens over the fireplace for which Houghton obtained a prize of £20 from the Dublin Society in 1742. This was still in place in 1779 but has since been replaced by a portrait of the Countess of Tyrone. The Lanfranchini were no doubt also responsible for the decoration of the hall below, which has a barrel vaulted ceiling decorated with plasterwork rosettes.

Curraghmore: the inner end of the forecourt, c.1880. Image: National Library of Ireland.

The next major change was the construction of the courtyard approach to the house. Indeed, the term courtyard hardly does justice to the scale and drama of the approach, which is aligned on the reworked medieval tower of the house. Ranges of offices attached to the house reach forward to embrace the visitor, and are joined by curved screen walls to long robust Palladian ranges of stables, coach houses, and a riding house enclosing a courtyard - almost a parade ground - some 550 feet long and 192 feet wide. It is a concept more continental than Irish or British, although comparisons have been made with Vanbrugh's dramatic approaches to Seaton Delaval and Blenheim. Mark Girouard suggested in 1963 that the architect might be John Roberts of Waterford and that it was probably built in the 1760s, and this seems to be confirmed by a reference in a letter of 1775 from Richard Chenevix, Bishop of Waterford, extolling Roberts' virtues, which mentions among his satisfied customers 'Lord Tyrone (whose fine offices he built)'. The Lord Tyrone in question was the 2nd Earl, who succeeded in 1763, but it is not clear whether the work was carried out for him or for his mother, the last of the Powers, who remained in residence at Curraghmore until her death in 1769.

Curraghmore: dining room c.1880. Image: National Library of Ireland

A few years later, the 2nd Earl of Tyrone (from 1789, 1st Marquess of Waterford) was undoubtedly responsible for redecorating the principal rooms at Curraghmore to the designs of James Wyatt, who although he visited Ireland only once (in 1785) had many Irish clients and a remarkable influence on the development of neo-classicism as an Irish vernacular. The dates of his involvement at Curraghmore are not quite certain, but he was probably commissioned in 1778. His designs for ornate plaster ceilings and wall decorations with inset painted and grisaille panels had probably all been supplied by 1780, although their execution seems to have taken place over an extended period. His designs for the blue and yellow drawing rooms, the library, dining room, breakfast room and a bedroom survive in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, but there are none for the staircase, which is decorated in a similar style. The staircase was, however, a new construction within the inner courtyard of the house, and thus a more complex project, and it seems possible that it was the work of Thomas Penrose (1740-92), who was Wyatt's most frequent amanuensis in Ireland and responsible for oversight of the execution of Wyatt's designs at Curraghmore. 

Curraghmore: the staircase hall.

Curraghmore: ceiling of blue drawing room

When Daniel Beaufort visited in 1779 he mentioned only the decoration of the billiard room (of c.1750) and the eating room, and said that work on the alterations was 'not quite finished', so work was evidently in progress. Who the stuccadores were who actually executed the delicate plasterwork seems to be undocumented (though Michael Stapleton seems a plausible suggestion), but the painted panels in the blue drawing room ceiling are attributed to Angelica Kauffman or her husband Antonio Zucchi, and the grisaille panels are the work of Peter de Gree, who only arrived in Ireland in 1785. He was responsible for painting the circular medallions in the ceiling of the blue drawing room and the oval panels in the dining room, which had been  completed by December 1787. A Coade stone relief of the Beresford arms, and probably also the fine marble chimneypieces, were made in London and sent by sea to Waterford. 

Curraghmore: the garden front.

Internally, the overall impression of Curraghmore is overwhelmingly of a Wyatt house, but the exterior was remodelled again in the 1870s by Samuel Ussher Roberts (1821-1900), the great-grandson of the John Roberts who designed the forecourt in the 1760s. There had, in fact, been a scheme in 1833 for an extravagant Gothic Revival remodelling of the house by Daniel Robertson, but this was never implemented. The work of the 1870s involved the refacing of the whole house under a unifying but charmless cement render, the replacement of the Georgian multi-pane sashes by plate glass sashes, and the addition of various carved ornaments by J.E. Boehm (who also carved monuments for the chapel at Clonagam on the estate). These included the Stag of St. Hubert, with a crucifix between its antlers, which stands proudly at the top of the ancient tower of the house. Curraghmore has been little changed since these works, but a major restoration project since 2015 has done much to revive the appearance and fortunes of the house.

Alongside the architectural development of the house runs the story of the development of its extensively wooded grounds, which are enclosed within a walled circuit some ten miles in circumference. The immediate site of the castle seems at first to have been a bog (the name means 'the great bog'), but it was soon drained, and by 1746 Charles Smith described a house set in a formal landscape of considerable size and sophistication:

The gardens are of a considerable extent and laid out in a fine taste. On the right is a natural wilderness of tall venerable oak...[through which] an artificial serpentine river is cut, which (from an adjacent hill that affords an intire prospect of the improvements) has a beautiful effect. The house has the advantage of water on three sides, laid out in large elegant canals and basons, well stored with carp, tench and perch. Swans and other wild-fowl contribute to enliven the scene; and the banks and terraces are adorned with statues. Facing two fronts of the house are cascades; one of which falls from step to step in form of a perron, and the other from bason to bason. A third is designed to face the other front. There is also a shell-house erecting, which when finished , promises to be very curious; as also a handsome green-house. From the front of the house, besides a prospect of the gardens etc., you see beyond these in the centre a beautiful extended lawn. On either hand, are rising grounds, covered with wood, and on the neighbouring hills are several young plantations of the same.

Curraghmore: interior of the shell house.
Image: Christopher Simon Sykes.

The shell house referred to is perhaps the best preserved in Ireland, encrusted with shells of many different kinds and colours, said to have been used as ballast by ships returning unladen to Waterford. It contains a statue (by Jan van Nost junior) of the Countess of Tyrone for whom it was built, together with an inscription recording that the shell decoration was applied in 261 days by the countess' own hands.

The formal gardens recorded by Smith were largely swept away in the later 18th century as fashions changed, and the present terrace west of the house was laid out for the 3rd Marquess' wife in 1843. The 4th Marquess bought an enormous cast iron fountain (costing £3,000) at one of the Paris exhibitions and installed it on the terrace. It is said to have been capable of sending a jet of water forty feet into the air, but on windy days it soaked everyone on its downwind side and the 5th Marquess sold it for scrap.

Descent: John Le Poer (c.1599-1661), 5th Baron Le Poer; to son, Richard Power (1630-90), 6th Baron Le Poer and 1st Earl of Tyrone; to son, John Power (d. 1693), 2nd Earl of Tyrone; to brother, James Power (d. 1704), 3rd Earl of Tyrone; to daughter, Lady Katherine Power (d. 1769), Baroness Le Poer, wife of Sir Marcus Beresford (1694-1763), 4th bt. and 1st Earl of Tyrone; to son, Rt. Hon. George de la Poer Beresford (1735-1800), 2nd Earl of Tyrone and 1st Marquess of Waterford; to son, Henry de la Poer Beresford (1772-1826), 2nd Marquess of Waterford; to son, Henry de la Poer Beresford (1811-59), 3rd Marquess of Waterford; to brother, Rev. John de la Poer Beresford (1814-66), 4th Marquess of Waterford; to son, John Henry de la Poer Beresford (1844-95), 5th Marquess of Waterford; to son, Henry de la Poer Beresford (1875-1911), 6th Marquess of Waterford; to son, John Charles de la Poer Beresford (1901-34), 7th Marquess of Waterford; to son, John Hubert de la Poer Beresford (1933-2015), 8th Marquess of Waterford; to son, Henry Nicholas de la Poer Beresford (b. 1958), 9th Marquess of Waterford.

Beresford family, Marquesses of Waterford

Beresford, Michael (d. 1608). Eldest son of George Beresford of Newton Grange (Derbys) and his wife Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Greene. An officer of the Court of Wards & Liveries. He married* 1st, 3 May 1564 at Sevenoaks (Kent), Rose (d. 1590), daughter of John Knevett; 2nd, 3 June 1591 at St Margaret Moses, London, Anne (d. 1598), daughter of [forename unknown] Call and widow of Randolph Came of London, salter; and 3rd, 7 September 1598 at St Dunstan-in-the-West, London, Dorothy (d. 1613), daughter of William Cromer of Tunstall (Kent) and widow of William Seyliard (d. 1596) of Delaware, Brasted (Kent), and had issue:

(1.1) Bennet Beresford (c.1565-1612), born about 1565; married, as his second wife, Sir Thomas Harfleet alias Septuans (d. 1617) of Moland, Ash (Kent), and had issue at least two sons and seven daughters; died 2 July and was buried at Ash, 4 July 1612, where she and her husband are commemorated by a monument;

(1.2) George Beresford (c.1566-1613), of Squerryes Court, born about 1566; married, 1 September 1595 at Westerham (Kent), Elizabeth (who m2, 20 April 1615 at St Magnus-the-Martyr, London, Thomas Petley of Filston, Shoreham (Kent) and had further issue one son), daughter of Randle Cam of London, and had issue at least five sons and four daughters; died after 26 November 1613; will proved in the PCC, 8 February 1613/4; inquisition post mortem held 1614;

(1.3) Richard Beresford (b. 1569; fl. 1607), of Ashburnham (Sussex), baptised at Sevenoaks, 28 February 1568/9; inherited the advowson of Otford (Kent) from his father; married [forename unknown], daughter of Sir Edward Pelham, kt., and had issue;

(1.4) Frances Beresford (b. c.1570), born about 1570; married Robert Leigh of Beckenham (Kent), and had issue at least one daughter;

(1.5) Tristram Beresford (c.1572-c.1649) (q.v.);

(1.6) James Beresford (b. c.1574), born about 1574; died without issue;

(1.7) Dorothy Beresford (c.1575-1607), born about 1575; married, before 1592, Thomas Petley (d. 1635) (who m2, 20 April 1615 at St Magnus-the-Martyr, London, his first wife's sister-in-law, Elizabeth, daughter of Randle Cam of London and widow of George Beresford (c.1566-1613), and had further issue one son), of Filston, Shoreham (Kent), and had issue four sons and three daughters; buried at Shoreham (Kent), 12 June 1607;

(1.8) Rev. Thomas Beresford (c.1576-1638), born about 1576; educated at St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated c.1593; BA 1597; MA 1600; BD 1608; DD 1613); rector of Eynsford (Kent), 1604-30 and Loughton (Essex), 1609-38, and vicar of St Sepulchre, London, 1614-38; lived at Chigwell (Essex); married Sarah (fl. 1638), daughter of Rev. Dr. Withers and had issue three sons and four daughters; will proved in the PCC, 7 September 1638;

(1.9) Anne Beresford (c.1578-1645), born about 1578; married, 5 December 1598 at St Dunstan-in-the-West, London, Sir William Southland (1578-1638), kt., of Lee House (later Lee Priory), Ickham (Kent), and had issue two sons and five daughters; buried at Ickham, 21 March 1645;

(1.10) Cornelius Beresford (b. c.1580), of Chilham (Kent), born about 1580; married 1st, his step-sister, Elizabeth (b. 1582), daughter of William Seyliard of Delaware (Kent) esq. and had issue four daughters; married 2nd, Dorothy, daughter of Edward Petley of Chelsfield and had issue at least one son and one daughter;

(1.11) Henry Beresford (b. c.1582; fl. 1607), born about 1582; died unmarried;

(3.1) Jane Beresford (1599-1631?), baptised at Westerham, 9 December 1599; living in 1622 and was probably the woman of this name buried at Shoreham (Kent), 18 May 1631;

(3.2) Mary Beresford (b. 1600), baptised at Westerham, 30 November 1600; living in 1622;

(3.3) William Beresford (1605-28?), baptised at Westerham, 6 March 1604/5; living in 1607 when he was mentioned in his father's will, and possibly the 'stranger' of this name buried at Lydd (Kent), 27 October 1628.

He lived at Otford and Squerryes Court, Westerham (Kent).

He was buried at Westerham, 5 March 1607/8; his will was proved in the PCC, 30 April 1608, and an inquisition post mortem was held, 1610. His first wife was buried at Otford, 6 August 1590. His second wife's burial has not been traced, but her will was proved in the PCC, 9 May 1598. His widow died 29 July 1613 and was buried at Brasted (Kent); her will was proved 5 November 1613.

* The register entry for his first marriage gives his name as Michael Bashford and that for his second as Michael Beresorth, and the entry for his wife's forename is illegible in the third marriage , but these are almost certainly the correct records; his third wife's forename is known from his will.

** The register entry gives his surname as Bersworth, but this is almost certainly the correct entry.

Beresford, Tristram (c.1572-c.1649). Third son of Michael Beresford and his wife Rose, daughter of John Knevett, born about 1572. In 1610 Beresford was sent by the Honourable Irish Society of London to oversee the building and fortification of Coleraine (Co. Londonderry), and he was named as portreeve in the town's first charter of 1613; he was later the first mayor. He laid the foundations of his family's wealth by acquiring large estates and exploiting the timber resources of the area. In 1613 the London companies found that he had used his position for personal gain but the blame for abuses fell chiefly on his superior, John Rowley (d. 1617), and Beresford managed to retain the confidence of his employers. By 1616 he was agent for the Irish Society. In 1625 the privy council in London demanded the Society's rents, but Beresford managed to collect and pay what was due before the sequestrators arrived. In 1635, during Star Chamber proceedings against the Irish Society, it was alleged that Beresford's tyranny in Coleraine equalled that of the Spanish inquisition, and his lands, like those of the London companies, were declared forfeit to the Crown, but in 1641 parliament voted to restore them. He survived the rebellion of 1641. He married Susan Brooke, and had issue:

(1) Sir Tristram Beresford (c.1595-1674), 1st bt.;

(2) Michael Beresford (1603-60), baptised at St Christopher-le-Stocks, London, 10 December 1603; a commissioner for examining the delinquency of the Irish, 1653; high sheriff of Cos. Derry, Donegal and Tyrone, 1654; married, 22 April 1627 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), Mary, daughter of Sir John Leake, kt., and had issue one son (who died young) and four daughters; died 1660 and was buried at Coleraine; will proved 1661;

(3) Anne Beresford (d. 1679); married 1st, c.1612, as his second wife, Sir Edward Dodington (1582-1618/9), kt. of Dungiven; married 2nd, c.1620, Sir Francis Cooke (d. 1628), kt.; died 1679 and was buried at Coleraine; will proved about 1679;

(4) Jane Beresford; married George Cary (1581-1640) of Redcastle (Co. Donegal), Recorder of Londonderry and MP for that city, 1613, and had issue five sons and four daughters; 

(5) Susanna Beresford (d. 1669); married Maj. Edmund Ellis (d. 1651) of Templepatrick, provost-marshal of Derry, and had issue; died at Templepatrick; will proved 1669.

He settled at Coleraine (Co. Londonderry).

He died between 1647 and 1651; his will was proved 15 August 1651. His wife apparently died before him, but her date of death is unknown.

Beresford, Sir Tristram (c.1595-1674), 1st bt. Elder son of Tristram Beresford (c.1572-c.1649) and his wife Susan Brooke, born about 1595. Governor of Culmore Castle (removed 1635). He was MP for Londonderry in the Irish parliament, 1634-35; for Cos. Londonderry, Tyrone and Donegal in the Second Protectorate Parliament at Westminster, 1656-58; and for Derry City, 1661-66. He was knighted, 1664, and in 'consideration of his faithful services and sufferings' created a baronet, 5 May 1665. He married 1st, Anne, eldest daughter of John Rowley of Castleroe (Co. Londonderry), first mayor of Derry City, and 2nd, Sarah Sackville, and had issue:

(1.1) Sir Randal Beresford (c.1636-81), 2nd bt. (q.v.);

(1.2) Mary Beresford; died unmarried, after 1647;

(1.3) Elizabeth Beresford; died unmarried and was buried at Coleraine;

(2.1) Tristram Beresford (d. 1708), of Coleraine; died without issue; will proved 1708;

(2.2) Susanna Beresford (d. 1706); married 1st, about January 1665/6, as his second wife, Capt. William Jackson (1628-88) of Coleraine and had issue five sons and three daughters; married 2nd, 6 February 1690, as his second wife, Col. John Mitchelburne (1647-1721), but had no further issue; died intestate, 1706;

(2.3) Sarah Beresford (1646-83), baptised at St Gregory by St Paul, London, 3 July 1646; married 1st, Paul Brazier (d. 1671), of Coleraine, and had issue one son; married 2nd, Rt. Hon. Edward Cary of Dungiven (Co. Derry), son of Edward Cary (d. 1668), and had issue at least three sons and four daughters; died 13 April 1683 and was buried at Coleraine;

(2.4) Michael Beresford (b. c.1651; fl. 1730), born about 1651; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1668); said to have married Jane Keating, and had issue one son and one daughter; living in 1730, when he was mentioned in the will of his nephew, Richard Jackson;

(2.5) Sackville Beresford (b. c.1652), born about 1652; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1668); living in 1672 but died unmarried before 1683;

(2.6) Anne Beresford (1653?-1722?), said to have been born 1653; married, 9 August 1679, Henry Hart (1651-1712) of Muff House and Kilderry House (Co. Donegal), son of George Hart, and had issue six sons and seven daughters; possibly the woman of this name buried in Dublin, 1 April 1722.

He lived at Coleraine.

He died 15 January and was buried at Coleraine, 18 January 1673/4, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved 1674. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His second wife's date of death is unknown.

Beresford, Sir Randal (c.1636-81), 2nd bt. Only son of Sir Tristram Beresford (c.1595-1674), 1st bt., and his first wife, Anne, eldest daughter of John Rowley of Castleroe (Co. Londonderry), born about 1636. MP for Coleraine in the Irish Parliament, 1661-68. He succeeded his father as 2nd baronet, 15 January 1673/4. He married, 1662/3 (licence 20 February), Hon. Catherine (1634-1701), younger daughter of Sir Francis Annesley (1585-1660), 1st Viscount Valentia, and had issue:

(1) Arthur Beresford (b. c.1664); said to have died young at Kensington (Middx) and been buried there;

(2) Jane Beresford (1665?-1716), said to have been born in 1665; married Lt-Gen. Rt. Hon. Frederick Hamilton (1650-1732) of Stackallen (Co. Meath) and Walworth (Co. Derry), MP for Coleraine, 1713-14, 1715-27, but had no issue; died 1716 and was buried at Walworth; her husband left his property to his wife's nephews, the 1st Earl of Tyrone and Frederick Cary;

(3) Sir Tristram Beresford (1669-1701), 3rd bt. (q.v.);

(4) Francis Beresford; said to have died young at Ballykelly (Co. Derry) and been buried there;

(5) Catherine Beresford (d. 1755); married, 1697, Matthew Pennefather (1675-1733) of Rathsallagh, Cashel (Co. Tipperary), MP for Cashel, 1710-14, 1715-33 and Accountant and Auditor General, 1718-19, 1731, second son of Matthew Pennefather, and had issue one son and five daughters; died 21 March 1755.

He lived at Coleraine.

He was buried at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 19 October 1681; his will was proved in the PCC, 3 November 1681. His widow died 3 April 1701 and was buried at St Michan, Dublin.

Beresford, Sir Tristram (1669-1701), 3rd bt. Second, but oldest surviving, son of Sir Randal Beresford (c.1636-81), 2nd bt., and his wife Catherine, younger daughter of Sir Francis Annesley, 1st Viscount Valentia, born 1669. He succeeded his father as 3rd baronet, October 1681. A Protestant, he commanded a regiment of foot in the army of King William III against James II, and was attainted by the Jacobite Parliament in Ireland in 1689. After the Glorious Revolution, he became MP for Co. Londonderry in the Irish Parliament, 1692-93, 1695-99, and was Governor of Co. Londonderry in 1699. He married, February 1687, Nichola Sophia* (1666-1714), youngest daughter and co-heir of Hugh Hamilton (d. 1679), 1st Baron Hamilton of Glenawly, and had issue:

(1) Susanna Catherina Beresford (1689-1763), born in London, 1 July 1689; married, 1703, Hyacinth Richard Nugent (d. 1737), self-styled 2nd Baron Nugent of Riverston, but had no issue; died 30 March 1763;

(2) Arabella Maria Beresford (1690-1732), born in Dublin, 12 May or 1 November 1690; died unmarried, 1732;

(3) Jane Beresford (1691-1764), born at Coleraine, 23 December 1691; married, April 1711, Gorges Lowther MP (d. 1716) of Kilrue (Co. Meath), MP for Ratoath, and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 20 October 1764;

(4) Sir Marcus Beresford (1694-1763), 4th bt. and 1st Earl of Tyrone (q.v.);

(5) Araminta Olivia Beresford (1695-1729), born 4 December 1695; died unmarried, 1729.

He lived at Coleraine (Co. Londonderry), and had estates in that county and Tyrone, including the town of Ballygawley, which were burnt and pillaged during the Williamite wars.

He died 16 June 1701 and was buried at Coleraine. His widow married 2nd, 1704, Lt-Gen. Richard Gorges (d. 1728) of Kilbrew (Co. Meath) and had further issue, but the marriage was unhappy, and she died 23 February and was buried at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, 25 February 1713/4.

* A striking legend is recorded about this lady. She was brought up with John Power, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, and made a pact with him that whichever of them should die first would appear to the other to confirm or deny the truth of revealed religion. In 1693, when she and her husband were visiting her brother-in-law, Sir John Magill, she received such a visitation, the spirit of Lord Tyrone telling her that she would bear a son in the next year; that she would make an unfortunate second marriage; that her son would marry Lord Tyrone's daughter; and that she would die on her 47th birthday. More conventional news of Lord Tyrone's death arrived later that day, and all that the spirit had predicted came to pass.

1st Earl of Tyrone

Beresford, Sir Marcus (1694-1763), 4th bt. and 1st Earl of Tyrone. Only son of Sir Tristram Beresford (1669-1701), 3rd bt., and his wife Nichola Sophia, youngest daughter and co-heir of Hugh Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Glenawly, born 16 July and baptised 27 July 1694. After the death of his father, his maternal aunt's husband, Marcus Trevor (d. 1706), 3rd Viscount Dungannon, acted as his guardian, and then the latter's widow (d. 1708). MP for Coleraine in the Irish Parliament, 1715-20. Trustee of the Linen Board for Ulster, 1735-63; a Commissioner of the Tillage Act for Munster, 1735, 1739-63. A freemason, he was Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Irish Freemasons, 1733 and Grand Master, 1736, 1737. His income was estimated at £800 a year in 1713, but was nearly trebled in 1729 when his mother-in-law died and her jointure fell to him. He succeeded his father as 4th baronet, 16 July 1701, and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Tyrone and Baron Beresford, 4 November 1720, and further created Earl of Tyrone, 18 July 1746. He married, 16 July 1717, 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, and had issue including:

(1) Lady Anne Beresford (1718?-70), said to have been born 16 August 1718; initially made an unfavourable impression on Mary Delany, who wrote "such another slatternly ignorant hoyden I never saw, and the worst of it is she is very good humoured, but will be familiar", though later "she does not want sense, and is comical enough in a satirical way"; she married, 16 August 1738 at St Mary, Dublin, William Annesley (c.1710-70), 1st Baron Annesley and 1st Viscount Glerawly, MP for Midleton (Co. Cork), 1741-58, sixth son of Francis Annesley (1663-1750) of Castlewellan (Co. Down), Thorganby (Yorks) and Bletchingdon Park (Oxon), and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 12 May 1770;

(2) Hon. James Beresford (b. c.1720), born about 1720; died young;

(3) Lady Jane Beresford (c.1722-92), born about 1722; married, 10 August 1743, Rt. Hon. Edward Cary (c.1719-97), (who m2, July 1793, Mary Gore of Bath) of Dungiven (Co. Derry), MP for Co. Londonderry, 1742-60, 1761-90, eldest son of Henry Cary, but had no issue; died 1792;

(4) Hon. Elizabeth Beresford (b. c.1724), born about 1724; died young, and was buried at St Peter, Dublin;

(5) Lady Catherine Beresford (c.1726-63), born about 1726; married 1st, 8 December 1748, Thomas Christmas (1721-49) of Whitefield (Co. Waterford), MP for County Waterford, 1743-49, eldest son of Thomas Christmas (1687-1747), and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, 16 April 1754, Rt. Hon. Theophilus Jones (1729-1811) (who m2, 2 January 1768, Anne, daughter of John Murray), of Headfort (Co. Leitrim), son of Walter Jones of Headfort, and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 28 March 1763;

(6) Hon. Marcus Beresford (b. 1727), baptised 22 February 1727; died young;

(7) Hon. Sophia Beresford (c.1728-40), born about 1728; died in September 1740 and was buried at Clonagam;

(8) Lady Araminta Beresford (1730-1818), born 17 September 1730; married, 24 April 1755, George Paul Monck (1733-1803) of Streamstown (Co. Westmeath), MP for Coleraine, 1763-68, son of Henry Stanley Monck, and had issue two sons and five daughters; died in Bath (Som.), 20 December and was buried at Weston, Bath (Som.), 26 December 1818 (though her tombstone gives the year as 1819 in error);

(9) Lady Frances Maria Beresford (1731-1815), born 9 October 1731; married, 13 April 1762, Rt. Hon. Henry Flood (1732-91) of Farmley (Co. Kilkenny), MP for Co. Kilkenny, 1759-60, Callan, 1762-76, Enniskillen, 1777-83, Kilbeggan, 1783-90 in the Irish Parliament, and for Winchester, 1783-84 and Seaford, 1786-90, in the British parliament, son of Rt. Hon. Warden Flood, Lord Chief Justice of King's Bench, but had no issue; died 18 April, and was buried at Clifton, Bristol (Glos), 25 April 1815; will proved in Dublin, 1815;

(10) Hon. Marcus Beresford (b. 1733), born 23 December 1733; died young;

(11) George de la Poer Beresford (1735-1800), 2nd Earl of Tyrone and 1st Marquess of Waterford (q.v.);

(12) Lady Elizabeth Beresford (1736-1806), born 8 August 1736; married, 1 May 1755, Col. Thomas Cobbe (1733-1814) of Newbridge House (Co. Dublin), MP for Swords (Co. Dublin), 1759-60, 1761-68, 1776-83, son of Most. Rev. Charles Cobbe, Archbishop of Dublin, and had issue one son and two daughters; died 6 May, and was buried at Weston, Bath (Som.), 12 May 1806;

(13) Hon. John de la Poer Beresford (1738-1805) [for whom see my post on the Beresfords of Abbeville, Termon House and Woodhouse];

(14) Hon. William Hamilton Beresford (1739-40), born 8 May 1739; died in infancy, 1740, and was buried at Clonagam;

(15) Most Rev. the Hon. William Beresford (1743-1819), 1st Baron Decies [for whom see my post on the Beresfords and Horsley-Beresfords of Bolam Hall and Sefton Park, Barons Decies].

His wife brought him the Curraghmore estate on their marriage in 1717. He built Tyrone House in Dublin to the design of Richard Cassels in 1740.

He died at Tyrone House, Dublin, 4 April 1763; his will was proved in Dublin, 21 April 1763. His widow died 17 July 1769; her will was proved in Dublin, 6 August 1769.

* After her husband's death, Lady Katherine claimed a barony of Le Poer or La Poer that she alleged had been created by writ to Nicholas fitz John le Poer in 1375. The claim was recognised by the Irish House of Lords, 16 November 1767, and confirmed by the Crown, 19 December 1767, even though no such barony had ever existed. The barony is regarded as a 1767 creation.

1st Marquess of Waterford 

Beresford, Rt. Hon. George de la Poer (1735-1800), 2nd Earl of Tyrone and 1st Marquess of Waterford. Fourth, but eldest 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 8 January 1734/5. Educated at Kilkenny and Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1752; BA 1754). He was MP for County Waterford, 1757-60 and for Coleraine, 1761-63 in the Irish Parliament, and was an active parliamentarian. After he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Tyrone, 4 April 1763, he was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland, 1763, and made himself useful to successive governments in pursuit of places and a promotion in the peerage. He was made one of the original company of the Knights of St Patrick, 1783, created Baron Tyrone of Haverfordwest (in the peerage of Great Britain), 21 August 1786 and Marquess of Waterford (in the Irish peerage), 19 August 1789. He served as High Sheriff of Co. Waterford, 1762; Governor of Co. and City of Waterford, 1765-1800; Custos Rotulorum of Co. Waterford, 1766-1800 and for Co. Tyrone, 1769, 1773, 1777. He was a Trustee of the Linen Board for Leinster, 1763-1800, a Commissioner of the Tillage Act for Munster, 1764-84, a Governor of the Charitable Loan Society, 1778-1800 and of the Charitable Musical Society, 1780. He was appointed a General of Volunteers, 1784, and was Colonel of the Co. Waterford Militia, 1793. His estates in Co. Waterford, Co. Derry and Co. Wicklow produced an income not far short of £20,000 a year, but by the time of his death the estates were burdened with capital debts of £130,000 and annual interest payments of £7,000. He married, 18/19 April 1769, Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Henry Monck (c.1715-87) of Charleville (Co. Wicklow), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Marcus Beresford (1771-83), Baron Le Poer, born 17 March 1771; died young, 10 August 1783 when thrown from his horse trying to jump a low fence at Curraghmore;

(2) Henry de la Poer Beresford (1772-1826), 2nd Marquess of Waterford (q.v.);

(3) Most Rev. & Rt. Hon. Lord John George Beresford (1773-1862), born at Tyrone House, Dublin, 22 November 1773; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1794; MA 1797; DD 1805); ordained deacon, 1795 and priest, 1797; rector of Clonagam and Newtownlennon (Co. Waterford) , 1799-1801; Dean of Clogher, 1799-1801; rector of Termonmaguirke, 1801-05; Bishop of Cork & Ross, 1805-7, Raphoe, 1807-19 and Clogher, 1819-20; Archbishop of Dublin, 1820-22; Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, 1822-62; he met two-thirds of the cost of restoring Armagh Cathedral from his own pocket and over his long lifetime is estimated to have spent more than £280,000 on religious and charitable objects, including famine relief in the 1840s; appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland, 1820; Prelate of the Order of St Patrick; Lord High Almoner; Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, 1851-62; died unmarried and without issue, 18 July 1862, and was buried in the crypt of Armagh Cathedral; he was the last person in Ireland to be accorded an heraldic funeral, marshalled by the Ulster King of Arms;

(4) Lady Isabella Anne Beresford (1776-1850), born 28 May 1776; married, 14 April 1812 at St Marylebone (Middx), Col. Sir John William Head Brydges (1764-1839), kt., of Wootton Court, nr Dover (Kent), MP for Coleraine, 1823-31 and Armagh, 1831-32, third son of Edward Brydges (d. 1780) of Wootton Court, and had issue one son and two daughters; died 7 May 1850; will proved in the PCC, 6 August 1850;

(5) Lady Catherine Beresford (1777-1843), born 11 September 1777; died unmarried, 23 June 1843 and was buried at Clonagam; will proved in the PCC, 5 July 1843;

(6) Lady Anne Beresford (1779-1841), born 26 July 1779; died unmarried in Dublin, 27 November 1841 and was buried at Clonagam; will proved in Dublin, 1842;

(7) Lt-Gen. the Rt. Hon. Lord George Thomas Beresford (1781-1839), born 12 February 1781; educated at Eton; an officer in the army (Cornet, 1794; Lt., 1794; Capt., 1795; Maj., 1800; Lt-Col. 1803; Col. 1812; Maj-Gen. 1814; Lt-Gen. 1830); Colonel of 3rd Dragoon Guards, 1829-39; MP for Co. Londonderry, 1802-12, Coleraine, 1812-14 and Co. Waterford, 1814-26, 1830-31; Comptroller of the Household (Government whip), 1812-30; Custos Rotulorum of County Waterford and Colonel of Co. Waterford Militia, 1826-39; appointed to the Privy Council, 1812; appointed GCH, 1827; married, 22 November 1808 at St Marylebone (Middx), Harriett (1787-1860), a talented amateur artist who was taught by John Varley, daughter of John Bacon Schutz of Gillingham Hall (Norfk), and had issue three daughters; died 26 October 1839; will proved in the PCC, 31 January 1840;

(8) Lady Elizabeth Louisa Beresford (1783-1856), born 2 February 1783; married 1st, 10 July 1818, Maj-Gen. Sir Denis Pack KCB (1775-1823), son of the Very Rev. Thomas Pack, Dean of Ossory, and had issue three daughters [from whom descend the Pack-Beresfords of Fenagh]; married 2nd, 12 February 1831, Lt-Gen. Sir Thomas Reynell (1777-1848), 6th bt., KCB; died 6 January 1856.

He also had two illegitimate sons, born before his marriage:

(X1) Admiral Sir John Poo Beresford (1766-1844), 1st bt., born 1766; educated at Catterick Bridge (Yorks NR); joined the Royal Navy, 1782 (Midshipman, 1784; Lt., 1790; Cdr., 1794; Capt., 1795; Comm, 1812; Rear-Adm., 1814; Vice-Adm., 1825; Adm., 1838); commander of the Royal Yacht, HMS Royal Sovereign, 1814-15 and Second Sea Lord, 1834-35; knighted, 1812, raised to a baronetcy, 1814, appointed KCB, 1819 and KCH, 1836; MP for Coleraine, 1809-12, 1814-23, 1832-33, Berwick-on-Tweed, 1823-26, Northallerton, 1826-32 and Chatham, 1835-37; lived in London and at Bedale (Yorks NR); married 1st, 22 June 1809 at St Marylebone (Middx), Mary (1783-1813), daughter of Capt. Anthony James Pye Molloy RN (c.1754-1814), and had issue one son; married 2nd, 17 August 1815 at the Oxford Chapel, St Marylebone, Elizabeth (1790-1825), daughter of Henry Peirse of Bedale, and had issue two sons and four daughters; married 3rd, 26 May 1836 at the house of his half-brother, Archbishop Beresford, in Charles St. in the parish of St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Amelia (c.1779-1862), daughter of James Baillie (1737-93) and widow of Samuel Peach (1762-1832), but had no further issue; died 2 October 1844; will proved in the PCC, 16 November 1844;

(X2) Rt. Hon. Gen. William Carr Beresford (1768-1854), 1st Viscount Beresford of Beresford and 1st Marquis of Campo Maior; born 1768; educated at Catterick Bridge (Yorks NR) and at a French military academy in Strasbourg; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1785; Lt. 1789; Capt. 1791; Maj., 1794; Lt-Col., 1794; Col, 1800; Brig-Gen., 1804); MP for County Waterford, 1811-14; Governor of Cork, 1811-20 and of Jersey, 1820-54; Master-General of Ordnance, 1828-30; appointed KB, 1810 and created Baron Beresford in 1814 and Viscount Beresford in 1823; at the time of his ennoblement he was said 'not to possess an acre anywhere' although he subsequently purchased Bedgebury Park (Kent) and 'the ancestral estate of the Beresfords in England' in Derbyshire; Captain-General of Spain and Marshal of the Portuguese Army, 1809-19 and created Duke of Elvas, Marquis of Campo Maior and Count of Francoso in the Portugeuse aristocracy, 1812; sworn of the Privy Council, 1821; in Portugal, he had a romantic involvement with his military secretary António Lemos Pereira de Lacerda and his wife Dona Maria da Luz Willoughby da Silveira, and the three lived together in Palácio da Ega; Beresford acknowledged two of Maria's children as his, and also had another illegitimate child by an unknown mother; he married, 29 November 1832 at the house of Rev. Lord Decies in Curzon St., in the parish of St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, his first cousin, the Hon. Louisa (c.1782-1851), daughter of the Most Rev. the Hon. and Rt. Hon. William Beresford (1743-1819), 1st Baron Decies and Archbishop of Tuam, and widow of Thomas Hope (1769-1831) of Deepdene (Surrey), but had no further issue; died 8 January 1854.

He inherited the Curraghmore and Co. Derry estates from his father in 1763.

He died 3 December 1800. His wife's date of death is unknown.

2nd Marquess of Waterford 

Beresford, Henry de la Poer (1772-1826), 2nd Marquess of Waterford. Second, but eldest surviving, son of Rt. Hon. George de la Poer Beresford (1735-1800), 2nd Earl of Tyrone and 1st Marquess of Waterford, and his wife Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Henry Monck of Charleville (Co. Wicklow), born 23 May 1772. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1790; MA 1792). MP for County Londonderry in the Irish Parliament, 1790-1800. He succeeded his father as 2nd Marquess of Waterford, 3 December 1800, and was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick, 1806. Governor and Custos Rotulorum of Co. Waterford, 1801-26 and Colonel of Co. Waterford militia, 1810. He married, 29 August 1805 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Lady Susanna Hussey (1784-1827), only daughter and heiress of George Carpenter (1750-1805), 2nd Earl of Tyrconnel, and had issue:

(1) Lady Sarah Elizabeth Beresford (1807-84), born 8 November and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 14 December 1807; her uncle, Lord John George Beresford (1773-1862), the Archbishop of Armagh was her guardian after the death of her parents; married, 2 November 1828 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Admiral Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot (1803-68), 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, and had issue four sons and four daughters; died 13 October 1884; will proved 6 November 1884 (effects £30,260);

(2) Lord George de la Poer Beresford (1810-24), Earl of Tyrone, born 27 July 1810; died young, 'from inflammation', 8 July 1824;

(3) Henry de la Poer Beresford (1811-59), 3rd Marquess of Waterford (q.v.);

(4) Lord William de la Poer Beresford (1812-50); his uncle, Lord John George Beresford (1773-1862), the Archbishop of Armagh was his guardian after the death of his parents; an officer in the army (Cornet, 1829; Lt., 1834; Capt. 1837); a keen traveller (who visited Turkey, Egypt and the Holy Land in 1848) and a yachtsman who became a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, 1849; died in his quarters in Regent's Park Barracks, London, 18 October 1850, and was buried at Clonagam; will proved in the PCC, 23 November 1850;

(5) Rev. John de la Poer Beresford (1814-66), 4th Marquess of Waterford (q.v.).

He inherited Curraghmore and Co. Derry estates from his father in 1800.

He died at Carmarthen (Carms.), 16 July 1826 and was buried at Clonagam. His widow died 7 June 1827.

3rd Marquess of Waterford, in his
armour for the Eglinton tournament, 1840 

Beresford, Henry de la Poer (1811-59), 3rd Marquess of Waterford. Second, but eldest surviving, son of Henry de la Poer Beresford (1772-1826), 2nd Marquess of Waterford, and his wife Lady Susanna Hussey, only daughter and heiress of George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnel, born 26 April and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 25 August 1811. His uncle, Lord John George Beresford (1773-1862), the Archbishop of Armagh was his guardian after the death of his parents. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1829). He was a notoriously wild young man, described in the press in 1838 as 'a turbulent piece of aristocracy' who with others of his ilk enjoyed drunken sprees of violence and vandalism that led to several convictions for assault. One particularly serious incident of vandalism at Melton Mowbray (Leics), which led to the coining of the phrase 'painting the town red', saw him and his companions fined £100 each. It has also been alleged that he was the original 'Spring-heeled Jack'. In 1839, he took part in the Eglinton Tournament as the Knight of the Dragon, and there met his future wife. In 1840 he rode one of his own horses in the Grand National, succeeding in being the last of four riders to complete the course. After his marriage he seems to have settled down and conformed to more normal standards of behaviour, although his passion for horse-racing and hunting was undiminished, and he became Master of Waterford Fox Hounds. He married, 8 June 1842 at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, Westminster (Middx), Hon. Louisa Anne (1818-91), a pre-Raphaelite artist of note*, second daughter and co-heir of Charles Stuart (1779-1845), 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay, but had no issue.

He inherited the Curraghmore and Co. Derry estates from his father in 1826 and Ford Castle (Northbld) from his mother in 1827, and came of age in 1832. His wife inherited Highcliffe Castle (Dorset) from her father, and a life interest in Ford Castle, where she lived in her widowhood, from her husband.

He was killed in a hunting accident at Corbally near Carrick-on-Suir, 29 March 1859, and was buried at Clonagam; administration of goods granted 2 August 1859 (effects under £70,000). His widow died 12 May 1891; her will was proved 20 July 1891 (effects £40,096).

* Her life was dominated by religion, philanthropy and art. She was a friend of Ruskin and G.F. Watts, and was admired by Rosetti and Millais. As an artist, she was engaged for over twenty years (1862-83) on a sequence of frescos for the school hall at Ford (Northbld), showing Biblical scenes with life-size figures on the subject of childhood and education.

Beresford, Rev. John de la Poer (1814-66), 4th Marquess of Waterford. Fourth son of Henry de la Poer Beresford (1772-1826), 2nd Marquess of Waterford, and his wife Lady Susanna Hussey, only daughter and heiress of George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnel, born at Tyrone House, Dublin, 27 April 1814. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1832; MA 1836). A freemason from 1834. Ordained deacon, 1841 and priest, 1842. Rector of Baronstown (Co. Louth), 1844-49 and of Mullaghbrack (Co. Armagh), 1849-59; prebendary of Armagh Cathedral, 1849-59 and Rural Dean; retired on succeeding his brother as 4th Marquess of Waterford, 29 March 1859. He married, 20 February 1843, Christiana (c.1825-1905), third daughter of Col. Charles Powell Leslie of Glaslough (Co. Monaghan), and had issue:

(1) John Henry de la Poer Beresford (1844-95), 5th Marquess of Waterford (q.v.);

(2) Lord Charles William de la Poer Beresford (1846-1919), 1st Baron Beresford, born 10 February 1846; joined the Royal Navy, 1859 and had a successful career (midshipman, 1861; Sub-Lt., 1866; Lt. c.1869; Cdr., 1875; Capt., 1882; Rear-Adm., 1898; Vice-Adm 1902; Adm. 1906; retired 1911), although his later years in the service were marred by disputes with Admiral Lord Fisher and Admiral Scott, and he failed in his ambition to become First Sea Lord; ADC to HRH Price of Wales, 1875-76 and to HM Queen Victoria, 1897; Hon. Colonel of Royal Marine Brigade, 1914; Conservative MP for Co. Waterford, 1874-80, East Marylebone, 1885-89, York, 1897-1900, Woolwich, 1902-03 and Portsmouth, 1910-16; appointed CB, 1885, KCB, 1903, GCB, 1911. KCVO 1903, GCVO, 1906 and was raised to peerage as 1st Baron Beresford of Metemmeh and Curraghmore, 22 January 1916; received honorary degrees from Universities of Oxford (DCL) and Liverpool (LLD) and three medals for saving lives at sea as well as several foreign orders and decorations; he first proposed marriage in 1869 to Nancy Wahinekapu Sumner (1839-95), a lady at the court of Queen Emma of Hawaii, but she turned him down, and he married, 25 June 1878, Mina (d. 1922), elder daughter of Richard Gardner MP and had surviving issue two daughters; in 1891 his affair with Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, came to light and caused a rift in his relationship with the Prince of Wales; he died at Langwell House (Caithness), 6 September 1919, when his barony became extinct; a funeral was held in St Paul's Cathedral, London, and he was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery;

(3) Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford VC (1847-1900), born 20 July 1847; educated at Eton and with a private tutor at Bonn (Germany); army officer (Cornet, 1867; Lt., 1870; Capt. 1876; Maj., 1884; Lt-Col., 1887; Col. 1891), who was awarded the VC for an action during the Zulu War, 1879; ADC and military secretary to Governor-General of India, 1881-94, where he enjoyed notable success as a racehorse owner and racing manager, which he sustained after returning to England; appointed KCIE, 1894 (CIE 1886); he married, 30 April 1895, Lillian Warren (1854-1909), daughter of Comm. Cicero Price of the US Navy and widow of Louis Carré Hammersley (d. 1883) and George Spencer-Churchill (1844-92), 8th Duke of Marlborough, and had issue one son; died of peritonitis at Deepdene (Surrey), 28 December 1900, and was buried at Clonagam;

(4) Lord Marcus Talbot de la Poer Beresford (1848-1922), born 25 December 1848; an officer in the army (Cornet, 1867; Lt., 1870; retired 1876); extra equerry and manager of the king's racing stud to King Edward VII and King George V, 1890-1922; appointed KCVO, 1918 (CVO, 1910); in 1884, when charged with assault, he was described as 'a good pugilist and a man of very determined temper'; married, 28 August 1893, Louisa Katherine (1846-1920), eldest daughter of Maj-Gen. Charles William Ridley, but had no issue; died 16 December and was buried at Egham (Surrey), 21 December 1922; will proved 10 February 1923 (estate £35,641);

(5) Lord Delaval James de la Poer Beresford (1862-1906), born 19 January 1862; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1879; Lt., 1880; retired 1884); emigrated to Mexico and purchased ranches there and in Canada; entered into a common law partnership with a black woman called Flora Wolff; died in a railway accident in North Dakota (USA), 22 December 1906, but his remains were buried at Clonagam; will proved 14 June 1907 (estate in England £27,410), but his property in North America is said to have been worth £400,000, of which his common law wife inherited a quarter and his brothers the rest.

He inherited the Curraghmore and Co. Derry estates from his elder brother in 1859.

He died of typhus fever, 6 November 1866; his will was proved in Dublin, 6 February 1867 (effects in England under £25,000). His widow died 19 May 1905; administration of her goods was granted in Dublin, 24 July 1905 (estate £28,994).

5th Marquess of Waterford 

Beresford, John Henry de la Poer (1844-95), 5th Marquess of Waterford. Eldest son of Rev. John de la Poer Beresford (1814-66), 4th Marquess of Waterford, and his wife Christiana, third daughter of Col. Charles Powell Leslie, born 21 May 1844. Educated at Eton. An officer in the army (Cornet, 1862; Lt. & Capt., 1866; Capt. & Lt-Col., 1868; retired 1869); hon. Colonel, Waterford Artillery, 1876. MP for County Waterford, 1865-66. Lord Lieutenant and Custos Roturlorum of Co. Waterford, 1874-95. Master of Buckhounds, 1885-86; appointed a Knight of St Patrick, 1868. He received spinal and internal injuries in a hunting accident in 1885 which left him partially paralysed, and although he recovered the ability to walk, an accidental fall some months before his death caused him renewed pain and depression. In 1866 he eloped with Mrs Florence Vivian (1837-73), second daughter of Maj. George Rowley and wife of Capt. the Hon. John Cranch Walker Vivian (1818-79), who caught them at the Hotel Grosvenor in Paris; Mrs. Vivian then unsuccessfully attempted suicide and refused to be reconciled with her husband. After the couple were divorced, Lord Waterford married her, as his 1st wife, 9 August 1872, but she died shortly after giving birth to a stillborn child. He married 2nd, 21 July 1874 at Great Badminton (Glos), Lady Blanche Elizabeth Adelaide (1856-97), only daughter of Henry Charles Fitzroy Somerset (1824-99), 8th Duke of Beaufort, and had issue:

(2.1) Henry de la Poer Beresford (1875-1911), 6th Marquess of Waterford (q.v.);

(2.2) twin, Lady Mary Beresford (b. & d. 1877), born 3o April and baptised at All Souls, Langham Place, Marylebone (Middx), 6 May 1877; died in infancy, 31 May 1877;

(2.3) twin, Lady Susan Beresford (1877-1947), born 30 April and baptised at All Souls, Langham Place, Marylebone, 6 May 1877; married, 28 April 1902 at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster (Middx), Maj. the Hon. Hugh Dawnay (1875-1914) of Whitfield Court (Co. Waterford), second son of Maj-Gen. Hugh Dawnay (1844-1924), 8th Viscount Downe, and had issue four sons; died 30 October 1947; will proved 6 July 1948 (estate in England, £8,829);

(2.4) Lady Clodagh de la Poer Beresford (1879-1957), born 6 August 1879; married, 27 February 1901 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Hon. Claud Anson (1864-1947)  of Ballyin, Lismore (Waterford), fifth son of Thomas George Anson (1825-92), 2nd Earl of Lichfield, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 17 April 1957.

He inherited the Curraghmore and Co. Derry estates from his father in 1866 and Ford Castle on the death of the 3rd Marquess' widow in 1891, but sold the Co. Derry estate in 1872.

He shot himself in the library at Curraghmore rather than endure the constant pain from his injuries, 23 October 1895, and was buried at Clonagam; his will was proved 3 March 1896 (effects £88,467). His first wife died 4 April 1873 and was buried at Clonagam. His widow died 22 February 1897 and was buried at Clonagam; her will was proved 6 July 1897 (effects £3,094).

6th Marquess of Waterford 

Beresford, Henry de la Poer (1875-1911), 6th Marquess of Waterford. Only son of John Henry de la Poer Beresford (1844-95), 5th Marquess of Waterford, and his second wife, Lady Blanche Elizabeth Adelaide, only daughter of Henry Charles Fitzroy Somerset (1824-99), 8th Duke of Beaufort, born 28 April and baptised at St Marylebone (Middx), 29 April 1875. Educated at Eton. He succeeded his father as 6th Marquess of Waterford, 23 October 1895. An officer in the Imperial Yeomanry (Lt.; temp. Capt.), who served in the Boer War. Master of the Tipperary and Waterford Hunts. DL for County Waterford and Northumberland. Appointed a Knight of St Patrick, 1902, and of the Order of St. John. He was a keen sportsman, mountaineer and big game hunter, and was lucky to survive an attack by a lion in east Africa. He married, 16 October 1897 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Lady Beatrix Frances DGStJ (1877-1953), younger daughter of Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice (1845-1927), 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, and had issue:

(1) Lady Blanche Maud de la Poer Beresford (1898-1940), born 13 October and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 10 November 1898; an accomplished musician and huntswoman and the author of several books, including The world is for the young (1935); married, 26 October 1927 at Westminster Cathedral, Richard Déstré Girouard (1905-89), stockbroker, only son of Col. Sir Percy Girouard KCMG DSO, and had issue one son (the architectural historian, Mark Girouard) and one daughter; died as a result of a motor accident, 29 September 1940; administration of goods granted to her husband, 21 April 1941 (estate £5,675);

(2) Lady Katherine Nora de la Poer Beresford (1899-1991), born 23 December 1899; married, 14 October 1926 at St John, Paddington (Middx), her cousin, Maj-Gen. Sir David Dawnay KCVO CB DSO (1903-71), son of Maj. the Hon. Hugh Dawnay, and had issue twin sons and two daughters; died 18 December 1991 and was buried at Kilmeadan (Co. Waterford);

(3) John Charles de la Poer Beresford (1901-34), 7th Marquess of Waterford (q.v.);

(4) Lady Beatrix Patricia de la Poer Beresford (1902-86), born 23 December 1902; married, 7 July 1926 at St John, Paddington, Lynden Roberts Miller (1901-73), barrister-at-law, eldest son of Rt. Rev. Robert Miller DD, Bishop of Cashel, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 19 June 1986 and was buried at Clonagam;

(5) Lord William Mostyn de la Poer Beresford (1905-73), born 30 May 1905; educated at Sherborne School; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1926; Lt., 1927; retired 1933; returned to army 1939; Capt.; retired as Maj., 1944); ADC to Governor of Malta, 1931; inherited Woodhouse from his younger brother, 1941, but sold it 1971 at moved to Dangan Cottage, Thomastown (Co. Kilkenny); married, 29 November 1943, Rachel (d. 2000), younger daughter of George Kennett Page of Upton Lodge, Bursledon (Hants), and had issue two daughters; died 24 November 1973; will proved 12 May 1975 (effects in England & Wales, £45,033);

(6) Lord Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford (1908-41), born 1 October 1908; inherited Woodhouse (Co. Waterford) from his kinswoman, Lady Hodson, in 1933; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt-Cdr.), who served in the Second World War and was killed in action in HMS Kelly off Crete, 23 May 1941; he died unmarried; will proved in Dublin, 3 January 1942 (estate in Ireland, £2,809) and in Llandudno, 23 February 1942 (estate in England & Wales, £33,995).

He inherited Curraghmore and Ford Castle from his father in 1895, but sold the latter in 1907.

He was accidentally drowned at Curraghmore, 1 December 1911, after missing his footing on the bank of a swollen river. His widow married 2nd, 19 August 1918 at St Thomas' chapel, Taney (Co. Dublin), Osborne de Vere Beauclerk (1874-1964), 12th Duke of St. Albans, from whom she became informally separated, living in Ireland while he lived in England;  she died at Newtown Anner (Co. Tipperary), 5 August 1953 and was buried at Killaloan; her will was proved 2 January 1954 (estate £3,118).

7th Marquess of Waterford.
Image: NPG  

Beresford, John Charles de la Poer (1901-34), 7th Marquess of Waterford. Eldest son of Henry de la Poer Beresford (1875-1911), 6th Marquess of Waterford, and his wife Lady Beatrix Frances DGStJ, younger daughter of Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice (1845-1927), 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, born 6 January 1901. He succeeded his father as 7th Marquess of Waterford, 1 December 1911. Educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Cambridge. An officer in the Royal Horse Guards reserves (Lt., 1924). He married, 14 October 1930 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Juliet Mary (1904-87), second daughter of Maj. David Balcarres Lindsay, and had issue:

(1) John Hubert de la Poer Beresford (1933-2015), 8th Marquess of Waterford (q.v.);

(2) Lord Patrick Tristram de la Poer Beresford (1934-2020), born 16 June 1934; educated at Eton and RMA Sandhurst (Sword of Honour, 1953); an officer in the army (Capt.) and later in the SAS reserves; married, 26 November 1964 (div. 1971), Julia Jill (d. 2013) (who m3, Maj. Sir Nicholas Nuttall, bt.), daughter of Col. Thomas Cromwell Williamson DSO of Beaumont Hall, Thorpe-le-Soken (Essex), and formerly wife of Capt. Darel Carey, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 18 March 2020.

He inherited Curraghmore from his father in 1911. His widow's second husband inherited Newtown Anner from the 12th Duke of St. Albans in 1964, but sold it c.2000.

He died in an accident in the gun room at Curraghmore, 25 September 1934. His widow married 2nd,17 December 1946, Lt-Col. John Eric Durnford Silcock (1913-2005), son of Charles Silcock of Cahir (Co. Tipperary); she died in May 1987 and was buried at Clonagam (Co. Waterford).

8th Marquess of Waterford 

Beresford, John Hubert de la Poer (1933-2015), 8th Marquess of Waterford. Elder son of John Charles de la Poer Beresford (1901-34), 7th Marquess of Waterford, and his wife Juliet Mary, second daughter of Maj. David Balcarres Lindsay, born 14 July 1933. He succeeded his father as 8th Marquess of Waterford, 25 September 1934. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Royal Horse Guards supplementary reserve (Lt.). After leaving the army he became a director of the Munster Chipboard company, Waterford Properties (a hotel group) and, later, Kenmare Resources, an Irish oil and gas exploration company. A member of the diocesan synod for the Church of Ireland diocese of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory. He was a noted polo player; a regular member of the Duke of Edinburgh's Windsor Park polo team, 1960-72, and Captain of the All-Ireland Polo Club, 1960-85, and was also devoted to shooting. He married, 23 July 1957, Lady Caroline Olein Geraldine (b. 1936), younger daughter of Richard Southwell Windham Robert Wyndham-Quin (1887-1965), 6th Earl of Dunraven and Mount Earl, and had issue:

(1) Henry Nicholas de la Poer Beresford (b. 1958), 9th Marquess of Waterford (q.v.);

(2) Lord Charles Richard de la Poer Beresford (b. 1960), born 18 January 1960; educated at Eton; married, 1984, Maria Theresa, daughter of Gabriel Donoso Phillips of Santiago (Chile), and had issue two sons and one daughter; now living;

(3) Lord James Patrick de la Poer Beresford (b. 1965), born 10 December 1965; educated at King's School, Bruton (Som.); racehorse trainer; married, 6 September 1989, Avril, daughter of Louis Murphy of Baylough, Portlaw (Co. Waterford); now living;

(4) Lady Alice Rose de la Poer Beresford (b. 1970), born 31 July 1970; educated at Heathfield School and Parsons' School of Art & Design, New York; photographer and sustainability campaigner.

He inherited Curraghmore from his father, 1934, and came of age in 1954.

He died 11 February and was buried at Clonagam, 14 February 2015; his will was proved  in April 2016 (estate about €8m). His widow is now living.

Beresford, Henry Nicholas de la Poer (b. 1958), 9th Marquess of Waterford. Eldest son of John Hubert de la Poer Beresford (1933-2015), 8th Marquess of Waterford, and his wife Lady Caroline Olein Geraldine, younger daughter of Richard Southwell Windham Robert Wyndham-Quin (1887-1965), 6th Earl of Dunraven and Mount Earl, born 23 March 1958. Educated at Harrow. A proficient polo player. He married, 4 January 1986 at St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny (Co. Kilkenny), Amanda, daughter of Norman Thompson of The Castle, Borris-in-Ossory (Co. Leix), and had issue:

(1) Richard John Beresford (b. 1987), Earl of Tyrone, born 19 August 1987; heir apparent to the Marquessate; educated at Harrow; a professional polo player; married, 2017, Dr Flora Mary R., elder daughter of Michael Kim O. Richardson of West Sussex, and has issue two daughters;

(2) Lord Marcus Patrick Beresford (b. 1990), born 1990; educated at Stowe School; management consultant;

(3) Lady Camilla Juliet Beresford (b. 1995), born 25 July 1995; educated at Millfield School; fashion designer.

He inherited Curraghmore from his father in 2015 and has undertaken a major programme of restoration, as well as continuing to diversify the estate's sources of revenue.

Now living. His wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 1061-63, 4084-92; M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, 2nd ed., 1988, pp. 97-98; M. Craven & M. Stanley, The Derbyshire country house, 2001, pp. 100, 295; E.M. Johnston-Liik, History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800, 2002, vol. 3, pp. 156-71.

Location of archives

Beresford family of Newton Grange (Derbys): deeds and papers, 13th-20th cents [Derbyshire Record Office, D158]

Beresford, Marquesses of Waterford: deeds and estate papers relating to Co. Londonderry estate, c.1800-1900 [Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, D1118]

Coat of arms

Beresford, Marquesses of Waterford: 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).

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 28 April 2024 and updated 29 April 2024 and 18 December 2024. I am grateful to Chris West for additional information.