(575) Massy-Beresford of Macbiehill and St Hubert's

Massy-Beresford of Macbie Hill and St Huberts

This family is yet another branch of the extensive Irish Beresford clan, deriving from the Rev. Charles Cobbe Beresford (1770-1850) [for whom see my post on the Beresfords of Abbeville etc.], who was a younger son of the Hon. & Rt. Hon. John Beresford (1738-1805). Charles' eldest son was the Rev. John Isaac Beresford (1796-1847), with whom the genealogy below begins. He held several preferments in Ireland, but it is not clear how far he served them in person, especially after he inherited the Macbiehill estate in Peeblesshire (Scotland) in 1831 from his maternal uncle, Sir George Montgomery (1765-1831), 2nd bt. In the mid 1830s, he employed the leading Tudor Revival architect, William Burn, to extensively remodel and enlarge the house at Macbiehill, and it presumably became his principal residence thereafter. He died, comparatively young, in 1847, and was succeeded by his only son, George Robert Beresford (1830-71), who came of age in 1851. Joining the army in the same year, he fought in the Crimean War and was wounded. The nature and severity of his injuries are not known, but he never married and died at the age of 40. Macbiehill then passed to his elder sister, Emily (c.1827-93), the wife of the Very Rev. John Maunsell Massy (1823-86), Dean of Kilmore (Co. Cavan). They took the additional name Beresford in recognition of their inheritance, but seem to have divided their time between Macbiehill and the St Huberts' estate on the banks of  Lough Erne near Derrylin (Co. Fermanagh), which they purchased c.1870.

On the death of the Dean, St Hubert's and Macbiehill descended to his only surviving son, John George Beresford Massy-Beresford (1856-1923), who, growing up on the banks of Lough Erne, became an enthusiastic yachtsman and was involved in gun running for the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1914. He sold the Macbiehill estate around 1900, and married a younger daughter of the 1st Baron Dunleath, and produced three sons and a daughter. His daughter, Monica, was the eldest child, and was evidently something of a handful as a youngster. In 1916 she married a Danish diplomat with an estate on the island of Lolland in the Danish archipelago. His fortune faded under the double impact of taxation and the Great Depression, and she successfully took up the manufacture of beauty products in Paris to supplement their income. During the Second World War they retreated to Denmark, where she became an important figure in the Danish resistance movement. Eventually betrayed, tried and convicted by the Nazis, she received her sentence of death (later commuted to imprisonment) with admirable insouciance, rejecting an invitation to plead for clemency unless it was extended to her nine co-defendants. 

When John Massy-Beresford died in 1923, St Hubert's descended to his elder son, Brigadier Tristram Massy-Beresford (1896-1987), a career soldier in the British army. In the troubled conditions prevailing in Ireland at the time, he could see no prospect of living peacefully in the house, and sold the contents later that year. The estate was put up for sale in 1926, and later offered as a rental property, but there seem to have been no takers, and the house fell into disrepair and was demolished after the Second World War. The Brigadier went on to play a notable role in national affairs, leading King George V's funeral procession in 1935, and making plans for the evacuation and defence of Singapore against the Japanese, which, if he had been allowed to implement them, might have saved many lives. He himself was held as a Prisoner of War for three years, partly in the notorious Chanji jail in Singapore, but later in China, from where he was liberated by the Russians in 1945. He lived latterly at Woodgreen in Hampshire, where he died at the advanced age of ninety-one in 1987.

Macbiehill, West Linton, Peeblesshire

In origin, a 16th century tower house called Coldcoat, which was acquired in 1712 by William Montgomery of Magbiehill, an Ayrshire advocate, who gave it its present name. On the death of Sir George Montgomery (1765-1831), 2nd bt., the estate passed to his nephew, the Rev. John Isaac Beresford (1796-1847), who remodelled the old house to the designs of William Burn in 1835. 

Macbiehill: entrance front in the early years of the 20th century, from an old postcard.

Macbiehill: entrance front and side elevation, c.1900.

As altered, the house had a three-storey three-bay centre with gabled dormers in the roof and the old tower rising an extra storey at the left-hand end, and flanking two-storey wings with crowstepped gables. The windows were sashed, with tripartite ones on both floors in the ends of one of the wings and a two-storey canted bay on the other. Nothing seems to be recorded of the interior, but in 1900 it had four reception rooms, a boudoir, a smoking room, and eight principal bedrooms. After 1920, the house fell into disrepair, and already by 1939 'even through the trees it is possible to see that its roof has disappeared, and that the House, like the village and the limekilns, is slowly crumbling to ruin'; the remains were demolished in about 1950. A three-storey tower house on an L-shaped plan but without any historical detailing was built on a new site a couple of fields to the west by Crichton Wood in 1998-2000.

While the old house does not survive, many of the associated buildings do. These include the single-storey rubble-built farm steading, built round a courtyard in the early 19th century but perhaps including some earlier structures, which has now been converted into housing; a stone bridge, dated 1838, across the outfall from Macbiehill Loch; and an early 19th century Gothic lodge, set beside earlier gatepiers. Across the road is a wooded knoll crowned by the mausoleum of William Montgomery (d. 1768), built in 1769 by Robert Somerville, mason, and restored in 1974. It has a square plan and a pyramidal vaulted stone roof, and originally had stone urns on plinths at each corner. Several generations of the Montgomery and Beresford families are interred here.

Descent: sold 1712 to William Montgomery (d. 1768); to son, Sir William Montgomery (1717-88), 1st bt.; to son, Sir George Montgomery (1765-1831), 2nd bt., MP; to nephew, Rev. John Isaac Beresford (1796-1847); to son, George Robert Beresford (1830-71); to sister, Emily Sarah (c.1827-93), wife of Very Rev. John Maunsell Massy (later Massy-Beresford) (1823-86); to son, John George Beresford Massy-Beresford (1856-1923), who sold 1900 to David Hunter (d. 1920)...

St Hubert's, Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh

The house was built for the Saunderson family of Castle Saunderson in a delightful wooded location on the banks of Lough Erne in the early 19th century. It began as a two-storey villa with a three-bay front, and was probably intended at first only as a holiday house. In about 1845 it was enlarged (perhaps to the designs of George Sudden, who was working at Castle Saunderson and also at nearby Crom Castle at this time), into a Tudor Revival style castellated house for James Saunderson (c.1797-1886). 

St Hubert's: entrance front c.1900. The original block is on the right; the addition of c.1845 to the left. Image: The Impartial Reporter.

St Huberts: entrance front, after 1907, from an old postcard.

The earlier block was given a crenellated parapet, label mouldings to the windows, and a new crenellated porch. A new block was attached to its left, which was stepped forwards from the existing front, with a tower in the resultant angle between the wings, which started square and was broached into an octagon in its upper stage. The new block was gabled and had mullioned and transomed windows and canted bay windows on both the entrance front and side elevation. A new service wing was built in 1889 and a conservatory, supplied by McKenzie & Moncur of Edinburgh, in 1907. The house remained in use until the death of John Massy-Beresford in 1923, but the contents were sold later that year, and the estate itself was put on the market in 1926. There are some indications that it was not successfully sold, and it may have been abandoned at that time; there are no newspaper references to it after 1927 and the house is said to have been demolished after the Second World War. No trace of it is left today.

Descent: perhaps built for James Saunderson (c.1797-1886); sold c.1870 to Very Rev. John Maunsell Massy (from 1871, Massy-Beresford) (1823-86); to son, John George Beresford Massy-Beresford (1856-1923); to son, Tristram Hugh Massy-Beresford (1896-1987), who sold or demolished the house.

Massy-Beresford family of Macbiehill and St Hubert's

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) (q.v.)

(2) George Robert Beresford (1830-71) (q.v.)

(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 inherited Macbie Hill from his uncle, Sir George Montgomery (1765-1831), 2nd bt., in 1831.

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

Beresford, George Robert (1830-71). Only son of Rev. John Isaac Beresford (1796-1847) and his wife Sophia, daughter of Robert White of Aghaboe (Co. Leix), 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. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Macbie Hill (Peebles) from his father in 1847.

He died at Naseby Woolleys (Northants), 6 April 1871; his will was confirmed in Scotland, 25 July 1871.

Beresford, Emily Sarah (c.1827-93). Elder daughter of Rev. John Isaac Beresford (1796-1847) and his wife Sophia, daughter of Robert White of Aghaboe (Co. Leix), born about 1827. She 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, third but eldest surviving son of the Hon. John Massy (d. 1869), and had issue:

(1) Anna Sophia Massy (c.1852-67), eldest child, born about 1852; died young, 13 March 1867;

(2) Emma Maria Louisa Massy (later Massy-Beresford) (1854-90), born 30 June 1854; married, 31 October 1876 at Kinawley (Fermanagh), Cecil Edward St. Lawrence Leslie (1843-1930) of Corrovahan (Co. Cavan), son of Rt. Rev. John Leslie (1772-1854), Bishop of Kilmore, and had issue two sons; died 3 January 1890;

(3) John George Beresford Massy (later Massy-Beresford) (1856-1923) (q.v.);

(4) Hugh Hamon Massy (1857-67), born 28 November 1857; died young, 13 May 1867;

(5) Selina Harriette Perotine Massy (later Massy-Beresford) (c.1860-1902), born about 1860; married, 10 November 1892 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster, Rev. Charles Barrington Walters (1857-1946), vicar of Shalford (Surrey) (who m2, 1904, Emmeline Theresa (1877-1958), daughter of Perceval Debnam Dickens), son of Rev. Henry Littlejohn Master Walters, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 24 January and was buried at Shalford, 28 January 1902; will proved 25 March 1902 (estate £1,767);

(6) Allan Frederick Massy (1864-67), born 10 March 1864; died young, 4 May 1867;

(7) Lilian Helena Grace Massy (later Massy-Beresford) (1867-1915), baptised at West Linton (Peebles), 12 July 1867; visited the USA for three months in 1907; shared a flat in Kensington with Olive Leonora Mackenzie (b. c.1885); died unmarried in London, after an operation, 25 March 1915; will proved 19 October 1915 (estate £2,736).

She inherited Macbie Hill from her brother in 1871. Her husband purchased St Huberts in about 1870.

She died in London, 28 July 1893; her will was confirmed in Peebles, 13 November 1893 (estate £2,152). Her husband died in London, 22 October 1886; his will was confirmed in Peebles, 3 January 1887 and proved in Dublin, 11 February 1887 (estate in Ireland, £1,331).

Massy-Beresford, John George Beresford (1856-1923). Eldest and only surviving son of Very Rev. John Maunsell Massy (later Massy-Beresford) (1823-86) and his wife Emily Sarah, elder daughter of Rev. John Isaac Beresford (1796-1847), born 7 February 1856. Educated at Malvern, Trinity College, Glenalmond, and Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1876; BA 1880). An officer in the Lanarkshire Yeomanry Cavalry (2nd Lt., 1877; Lt. 1880; retired 1886); JP for Peeblesshire and Co. Fermanagh and DL for the latter county; High Sheriff of Co. Fermanagh, 1900-01. He served with the British Red Cross in France, 1915-16. An enthusiastic yachtsman, he built and raced his own yachts on Lough Erne and elsewhere, and was involved in gun running for the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1914. He married, 22 November 1892 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), the Hon. Alice Elizabeth (1869-1948), third daughter of John Mulholland (1819-95), 1st Baron Dunleath, and had issue:

(1) Monica Emily Massy-Beresford (1894-1945), born 12 July 1894; a 'difficult' and rebellious child who grew into a notably courageous woman; she is said to assisted her father in gun running for the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1914; after her marriage she became a Danish citizen and in the 1930s was an entrepreneur in Paris, developing a range of beauty products to buttress the fading fortunes of her husband's family; during the Second World War she became a leading figure in the Danish resistance movement, who treated her arrest and trial by the Germans with admirable insouciance, even when sentenced to death, although this was later commuted to imprisonment; she married, 15 June 1916 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Jorgen Adelbert de Wichfeld of Engeslofte, Maribo (Denmark), secretary to the Danish legation in London, and had issue two sons and one daughter; she subsequently had a nine-year affair with her neighbour, Kurt Heinrich Eberhard Erdmann Georg, Count von Haugwitz-Hardenberg-Reventlow, in which her husband was complaisant; she died of pneumonia in the German prison camp at Waldheim, Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany,  27 February 1945; administration of goods granted 16 May 1946 (estate in England, £4,845);

(2) Brig. Tristram Hugh (k/a Tim) Massy-Beresford (1896-1987) (q.v.);

(3) John Clarina Massy-Beresford (1897-1918), born 29 July 1897; educated at Wellington College and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; an officer in the Royal Field Artillery (2nd Lt., 1916) who was invalided out of the army after being wounded, 1917, but appealed against this decision and applied to return to France, where he was killed in action, 23 August 1918;

(4) Desmond George Massy-Beresford (1905-66), born 21 April 1905; educated at Cheltenham, Trinity College, Glenalmond, and McGill University (Canada); an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1940); married, May 1940 at Highclere (Hants), Alicia (1919-99), actress (as Alicia Marlowe) (who m2, 1969, Dr John L. Maran), daughter of Prof. Felix Markstein, but had no issue; died 15 February 1966; administration of goods granted 24 May 1966 (estate £940).

He inherited St Hubert's and Macbiehill from his father in 1886, but sold the latter in 1900. After his death his widow and family moved to England and the house was sold. His widow lived latterly at Campo dei Fiori, Rapallo (Italy).
He died 25 July 1923 and was buried at Crom (Co. Fermanagh); his will was proved 21 December 1923 (estate in Northern Ireland £4,913; in Scotland, £499; and in England & Wales, £16,172). His widow died 11 November 1948 and was buried in the public cemetery at Rapallo; her will was proved 25 February 1949 (estate in England, £2,074).

Massy-Beresford, Brig. Tristram Hugh (k/a Tim) (1896-1987). Eldest son of John George Beresford Massy-Beresford (1856-1923) and his wife the Hon. Alice Elizabeth, third daughter of John Mulholland (1819-95), 1st Baron Dunleath, born 10 April and baptised at Holy Trinity, Chelsea (Middx), 6 May 1896. Educated at Eton and RMA Sandhurst. An officer in the Rifle Brigade (2nd Lt., 1914; Lt., 1916; Capt., 1917; Maj., 1929; Lt. Col., 1940; Col., 1946; Brig., 1948; ret. 1949), who served in the First World War (twice wounded) and Second World War (PoW, 1942-45) and led the funeral procession of King George V in 1935. His plans for the evacuation of civilians from Singapore and for the defence of the city against the Japanese could have saved many lives, but were countermanded by more senior officers. Awarded the MC, 1919 and DSO, 1945, and appointed MVO. He married, 25 August 1927 at Christ Church, Montreal (Canada), Helen Lindsay (k/a Molly) (1903-79), daughter of Lindsay Crompton Lawford (1857-1929) of Montreal, and had issue:

(1) Patricia Nell Massy-Beresford (b. 1931), born 17 May 1931; educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford (MA, PhD); married, 13 December 1958, Lt. Col. James Otway George Paton (1929-2021), and had issue two sons and two daughters;

(2) Michael James Massy-Beresford (1935-2022), born 10 April 1935; educated at Eton, Jesus College, Cambridge (BA), and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and College of Science, Cranfield; army officer (2nd Lt., 1955; Lt., 1957; Capt., 1961; Maj., 1967); secretary and director of The Veterans Charity, 2012-22; died 26 September 2022;

(3) Christopher Kerry Massy-Beresford (b. 1939), born 22 April 1939; educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1961; MA); an officer in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1960; Lt., 1961; retired 1965); translator and business executive; married, 1979, Marjory Ellen Snow (d. 2012), and had issue one daughter.

He inherited St Hubert's from his father in 1923, but sold/demolished it after the Second World War, and lived latterly at Woodgreen (Hants).

He died aged 91 on 21 July 1987; his will was proved 6 November 1987 (estate £114,052). His wife died 16 September 1979; her will was proved 10 January 1980 (estate £31,885).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1925, p. 120; K. Croft, J. Dunbar & R. Fawcett, The buildings of Scotland: Borders, 2006, p. 511; B. Byrom, The country houses, castle and mansions of Peeblesshire, n.d. [2014], p. 31; J.A.K. Dean, The plight of the big house in Northern Ireland, 2020, p. 109;

Location of archives

Massy-Beresford, Brig. Tristram Hugh (1896-1987): scrapbooks and memoirs relating to military service and personal papers, 1940s-70s [Imperial War Museum Documents 14487]

Coat of arms

Quarterly, 1st and 4th, argent semée of cross crosslets fitchée three fleurs-de-lis within a bordure engrailed all sable; 2nd and 3rd, argent on a chevron between three lozenges sable, a lion passant or, a martlet for difference.

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 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 10 May 2024 and was corrected 11 May 2024. I am grateful to Dart Montgomery for pointing out an inconsistency in the text.