Sir John Beresford, 1st Baronet
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Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
Sir John Poo Beresford, 1st Baronet, (1766 – 2 October 1844) was a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
admiral, Second Sea Lord and
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Member of Parliament.


Early life

Beresford was born in 1766 at
Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
. He was an illegitimate son of George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone; as well as a number of legitimate half-siblings, Beresford was also brother to General
William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, (; 2 October 1768 – 8 January 1854) was a British army officer and politician. A General (British Army), general in the British Army and a Marshal of Portugal, Marshal in the Portuguese Army, ...
, another illegitimate son. Beresford was educated at
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in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
before he joined the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
in 1782. He was taken on as a protégé by Captain Lord Longford in the 74-gun
ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...
HMS ''Alexander'', as a captain's servant.


Naval career


Early career

In ''Alexander'' Beresford was employed for a year and a half, serving mostly on the
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and
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stations. He joined the 32-gun
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
HMS ''Winchelsea'' as a
midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...
on 13 May 1784, and subsequently served in that rank in the 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Ganges'' and 28-gun frigate HMS ''Maidstone''. In ''Maidstone'' he passed his examination for the rank of
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
on 7 October 1787. He was promoted to lieutenant on 4 November 1790 and was sent to join the 28-gun
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
HMS ''Lapwing'' in the
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. When the French Revolution began ''Lapwing'' was busily employed in rescuing British citizens living abroad, and Beresford was sent ashore at
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and
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to arrange the escape of a number of these residents. In order to evade capture while doing this, he disguised himself as a
peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...
. Having completed these tasks, Beresford was appointed to the 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Resolution'' in 1794. ''Resolution'' was based on the
North America Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation (military), formation or Command (military formation), command of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 174 ...
as flag ship to Rear-Admiral George Murray, the commander-in-chief. In November of the same year Murray promoted Beresford to
commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
and gave him command of the 16-gun sloop HMS ''Lynx''.


Command

In the following three months Beresford was able to demonstrate his naval abilities multiple times, first by protecting a convoy against two larger French warships, then by rescuing the grounded 38-gun frigate HMS ''Thetis'' in December, and finally by capturing a powerful French
privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
. Murray rewarded him for these deeds with command of the 28-gun frigate HMS ''Hussar'' with the acting rank of
post-captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...
in February 1795. Beresford was then sent, under the orders of Captain Alexander Cochrane of ''Thetis'', to attack a group of five French store ships known to be in
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...
. These store ships were heavily armed and some were en flute frigates. The two British ships found the French on 17 May 1795 and engaged them, capturing two of the ships, ''Prévoyante'' and ''Raison''. In reward for the action Murray transferred Beresford to command the larger ''Prévoyante'', and Beresford used his personal funds to have her
refit Refitting or refit of boats and marine vessels includes repairing, fixing, restoring, renewing, mending, and renovating an old vessel. Refitting has become one of the most important activities inside a shipyard. It offers a variety of services for ...
ted as a 40-gun frigate at Halifax, using the captures he subsequently made in the ship to reimburse himself. However, the Admiralty decided that she was too large a vessel for him and instead appointed him to the smaller ''Raison'' despite the exertion he had put into ''Prévoyante''. ''Raison'' was taken into service with the Royal Navy as a 30-gun frigate. Some time after this Beresford was sent in ''Raison'' to take £200,000 of specie from
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to Halifax. On 25 August 1796 he was intercepted by the much larger French frigate ''Vengeance'' while much of his crew were away securing an American merchant ship as a
prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
. The French ship chased ''Raison'' in a running fight, but after being forced to drop back having been damaged, ''Vengeance'' then lost Beresford's ship when he escaped into a bank of fog. Having completed the delivery of the specie, Beresford continued on station. In March 1797 he captured a valuable Spanish merchant ship off the
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and destroyed another against the shore by tricking the enemy ships into thinking ''Raison'' was a ship of the line. Having made several other prizes in the following months, he was sent as escort to a homeward-bound convoy at the end of the year, and upon reaching Britain ''Raison'' was paid off. At the start of 1798 Beresford was given his next command, the 32-gun frigate HMS ''Unite''. He was again sent to serve on the Leeward Islands Station. In the following five years he participated in the captures of Surinam, St Martin,
St Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...
, St Thomas, St John, and Santa Cruz. At some point during this period he transferred commands to the 38-gun frigate HMS ''Diana'', and he served as senior officer of frigates under Rear-Admiral Sir John Duckworth in 1801. Just before the Peace of Amiens began he returned to England as escort to a convoy of 200 ships. ''Diana'' was then paid off, and Beresford stayed on land until the peace ended in 1803. At this point he was given command of the 40-gun frigate HMS ''Virginie'' to serve in the
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. He did so for around a year before the strains on serving in such bad conditions paid their toll on ''Virginie'', and she was deemed unseaworthy.


Senior command

Beresford was then sent to the North America Station again, where he took command of the 44-gun frigate HMS ''Cambrian''. In the following months Beresford became a successful
prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
taker on station and then when on 26 February 1806 the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell, died, he served as senior officer on station until his replacement could arrive. In 1808 Beresford was transferred into the 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Theseus''. Initially he served in her in the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
, but he then moved to serve in the Ferrol blockade squadron of Captain Sir Richard King. After eight months of blockade there, Beresford was sent in command of three other ships of the line to blockade
Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...
. In February 1809 he was engaged there in stopping French units from entering the port and joining with the ships already there, but he was forced off station on 21 February by the large squadron of
Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez (; 7 August 1763 – 17 May 1845) was a French Navy officer and nobleman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Willaumez joined the French navy at the age of 14, and proved to be a comp ...
. He continued the blockade until March, when he instead joined the fleet of Admiral Lord Gambier, and as such participated in the Battle of the Basque Roads in April, for which he was the originator of the idea for a
fireship A fire ship or fireship is a large wooden vessel set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar maneuver. Fireships were used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history up until the adv ...
attack. In summer 1809, he was called as a witness at the court-martial of James, Lord Gambier which assessed whether Admiral Lord Gambier had failed to support Captain Lord Cochrane at the Battle of Basque Roads. Gambier was controversially cleared of all charges. At the start of 1810 ''Theseus'' was paid off and Beresford was instead given command of the 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Poictiers''. He initially served as senior officer on the blockade of Brest but after four months he was sent to
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
where he worked in cooperation with the army of Lieutenant-General Lord Wellington. By 1811 he was serving at the blockade of the Texel in the North Sea, but in 1812 the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
broke out against America, and Beresford was sent there to assist in that war. He served off the coast of America for the duration of the war, for the last year of which he was made a commodore. During the war he ineptly bombarded
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in
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
. The Beresford-led ''Poictiers''-four hours after , commanded by Jacob Jones, captured -captured ''Wasp'', recaptured ''Frolic'' and brought both to
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
. He saw little action in which to distinguish himself in the War of 1812, but in that same year was knighted on 22 May. He returned home in November 1813.


Later service

In 1814 Beresford was given command of one of the royal yachts, HMS ''Royal Sovereign''. On 24 April of that year he participated in the convoy that took
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...
back to France at the end of the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, with ''Royal Sovereign'' conveying the monarch and a large entourage. For his services he was made a
baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
on 21 May and then was promoted to
rear-admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
on 4 June. He was given the 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Duncan'' as his flag ship in the following year, and in her sailed to
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with orders to take
John VI of Portugal '' Dom'' John VI (; 13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826), known as "the Clement" (), was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves from 1816 to 1825, and after the recognition of Brazil's independence, titular Emperor of Brazil ...
back to his homeland. Upon arriving there the prince regent decided that he did not wish to return at that time, and so Beresford returned to Britain. Despite the futility of his mission, John VI bestowed upon Beresford the Order of the Tower and Sword. He was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
on 12 August 1819, and in 1820 was given command of the Leith Station. He was promoted to
vice-admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...
on 27 May 1825 and served as a commissioner of the Admiralty between 23 December 1834 and 25 April 1835, in result of which he was appointed a
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Kingdom of Hanover, Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name from the House ...
in May 1836. He was finally promoted to
admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
on 28 June 1838.


Political career

He was MP for
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
1809–12 & 1814–23,
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1823–26,
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1826–32, and Chatham 1835–37.


Family

On 22 June 1809 in London, Beresford married Mary Molloy, the daughter of Captain Anthony James Pye Molloy; they had a son, George, before Mary's death in 1813. On 17 August 1815, in London, Beresford was remarried to Harriet Elizabeth Peirse, daughter of Henry Peirse, and with her had two sons (Henry William and John George) and four daughters (Harriet Charlotte, Mary Anne Araminta ied 1818 Georgiana and Mary Anne Catherine). Harriet Peirse Beresford died in 1825. Her widower remarried, to Amelia Peach, widow of Samuel Peach and daughter of James Bailie, on 26 May 1836 in
County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...
, Ireland. They had no children, and Amelia outlived him. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son from the first marriage, George, who, as he had no surviving sons, was later succeeded by his half-nephew.


Notes


References

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External links

* * * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford, 1st Baronet, Sir John 1766 births 1844 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
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