Colonel Francis Marcus Beresford (August 1818 – 1 August 1890) was a British Conservative Party politician

Early life and education

He was born at Aylestone,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, the fourth son of Rev Gilbert Beresford and his wife Anne. He was educated at

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...

, and went into business as a

wharfinger Wharfinger (pronounced ''wor-fin-jer)'' is an archaic term for a person who is the keeper or owner of a wharf. The wharfinger takes custody of and is responsible for goods delivered to the wharf, typically has an office on the wharf or dock, and ...

Career

During the invasion scare of 1859, Beresford raised the 7th (Southwark) Surrey Rifle Volunteer Corps in December and commanded it with the rank of

Captain-Commandant ''Captain-commandant'' is a rank currently used in the Belgian Armed Forces and formerly used in the United States Revenue Cutter Service and its successor, the United States Coast Guard. Belgium Captain-commandant (; ; ) is a junior officer o ...

.Ray Westlake, ''Tracing the Rifle Volunteers'', Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84884-211-3, pp. 230–3. By February 1860 the unit had six companies, and Beresford was promoted to Major-Commandant. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 19 November 1864. After his retirement from the command, he was appointed the honorary colonel of the battalion (later the

4th Volunteer Battalion, East Surrey Regiment The 23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment was an auxiliary unit of the British Army. Formed in 1908 from Volunteer Force, Volunteer units in the Surrey suburbs of London that dated back to 1859, it was part of the London Regiment ( ...

) on 25 January 1873.''Army List''. He was elected at a by-election in February 1870 as a Member of Parliament (MP) for

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. He was re-elected in

1874 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1880 general election.

Personal life

He married twice. Firstly, Elizabeth Green, the daughter of George Green, on 20 September 1848 at St. Oswald Parish Church, Durham. They had six children. Secondly, Eleanor Richardson on 2 June 1881 at St. George, Hanover Square, London. His daughter Selina (1859–1938) married Sir

Hay Frederick Donaldson Brigadier-General Sir Hay Frederick Donaldson (7 July 1856 – 5 June 1916) was a Colony of New South Wales-born English mechanical engineer. Early life He was born at Sydney, Colony of New South Wales, son of Stuart Donaldson, Sir Stuart Alexa ...

, the son of Sir

Stuart Donaldson Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (16 December 1812 – 11 January 1867) was the first Premier of the Colony of New South Wales. Early life Donaldson was born in London, England. He entered his father's firm at the age of 15 and was sent first t ...

. He died on 1 August 1890 at Cliftonthorpe,

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

, Leicestershire, and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

, London.

References

External links

* 1818 births 1890 deaths British Army colonels East Surrey Regiment officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 Burials at Brompton Cemetery 19th-century British people People from Aylestone 19th-century British military personnel People educated at King's College School, London Military personnel from Leicester {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1810s-stub