Genealogy Chat

ths was an old thread bumped up from 2005!! cant see why??

From 1878 until 1881 Beresford was second in command of the royal yacht HMS Osborne. He was captain of the gunboat HMS Condor in 1882 when it took part in the bombardment of Alexandria during the Egyptian war of 1882 and won admiration amongst the British public for taking his ship inshore to bombard the Egyptian batteries at close range.

In 1884 and 1885 Beresford joined the staff of the Gordon Relief Expedition under Garnet Wolseley, along with the Naval Brigade and a Gardner machinegun, to which Beresford was much attracted. Beresford's use of the gun during the battle of Abu Klea broke British lines and contributed to the deaths of the machinegun crew - of which Beresford was the only survivor.


[edit] Re-election to Parliament, promotion to Rear Admiral
In 1885 he was again elected to Parliament, this time as MP for Marylebone East, and re-elected at the 1886 general election. Beresford constantly pushed for greater expenditure on the navy, resigning his seat in protest on this issue in 1888. The Naval Expenditure Act of 1889, which increased naval spending, was passed partly as a result of public pressure resulting from this action. From 1889 until 1893 he was the captain of HMS Undaunted, which was part of the Mediterranean Fleet.

In 1898 Beresford was promoted to rear-admiral and again entered Parliament, this time representing York. He retained this seat until 1900, although he spent much of his time in China representing the Associated Chambers of Commerce, and from 1900 onwards was second in command of the Mediterranean Fleet.

He returned to Parliament in 1902, this time for Woolwich, but resigned in 1903 when he was promoted to admiral and appointed chief of the Channel Fleet. He was in command of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1905 until 1907.

Beresford had a public and bitter dispute with the First Sea Lord, Sir John Fisher, over the reforms which the latter was pushing through. After his term with the Channel Fleet finished in 1909, Beresford returned to Parliament at the January 1910 general election, representing Portsmouth.

Despite the nearly 46 years of faithful loyalty to the Royal Navy by Prince Louis of Battenberg "...On the eve of World War I he unilaterally[1] made the crucial decision to cancel the scheduled dispersal of the British fleet following practice manoeuvres in order to preserve the Royal Navy's battle readiness.[2][3] Nonetheless with the outbreak of war, rising anti-German sentiment among the British public, newspapers, and elite gentlemen's clubs (where resentment was inflamed by Admiral Lord Charles Beresford despite Churchill's remonstrances)[4] drove Churchill to ask Prince Louis to resign as First Sea Lord on 27 October 1914,[5] which Louis did amidst an outpouring of appreciation from politicians and his naval comrades...".[6]

He remained an MP until 1916, although he retired from the navy in 1911. In 1916, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Beresford of Metemmeh and of Curraghmore in the County of Waterford. Lord Beresford died in 1919 at the age of 73.

Lord Charles Beresford was the second son of John Beresford, 4th Marquess of Waterford. He joined the Royal Navy in 1859, and started his training as a cadet at the naval training academy HMS Britannia. He became a lieutenant in 1874. He was a well-known and popular figure who courted publicity. He was widely known to the British public as "Charlie B" and considered by many to be a kind of personification of John Bull and indeed was normally accompanied by his trademark, a bulldog.

He entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1874, representing County Waterford and retained his seat until 1880. Whilst an MP he continued to serve in the navy, becoming a commander in 1875. He was aide-de-camp to the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, from 1875 until 1876, accompanying him on a visit to India. During his service under Edward VII, he became involved in an affair with Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick (i.e., Francis Brooke), with whom Edward VII was also involved romantically. The affair strained his friendship with Edward VII, even though Edward himself was married to Alexandra of Denmark

The most famous of his mistresses was Lady Frances Brooke, later Duchess of Warwick . Lady Brooke had had a previous love affair with one of Bertie's friends, Lord Charles Beresford. An enmity sprang out between the two friends when Bertie tried to recover a compromising letter that Lady Brooke had written to Beresford, and which was in the hands of the latter's wife. Lady Beresford. The quarrelled last until Prime Minister Lord Salisbury interfered and both parts reached an agreement. Nevertheless, the relations between Bertie and Beresford remained weak forever.

When Bertie's relation with Lady Brooke began, Alix was in Denmark and the news of the whole affair reached her. She decided to visit her sister Dagmar in Russia instead of coming back to England. She returned until on November 12, 1891, she received the news that her son, Prince George, had fallen ill with typhoid fever. Bertie and Alex's mutual anxiety for their son's health led to their reconciliation; nevertheless it was more difficult for Alix to accept Lady Brooke as her husband's lover as she had done with Lillie Langtry

Try looking on the Times Online website something like this may have been in the newspaper.
You have to pay a fee to read the whole articals but you can search the articals first by subject.

It may help.

Regards
Vicky House

Charle Beresford had an affair with Lady Brooke (Daisy ) who later became a mistress of the then Prince of Wales. I read that some letters were exchanged..something to do with blackmail I think ,am not sure ...anyway , there was a court case and the P of W was involved to a degree.. The only other thing was a court case about somebody cheating playing Baccarart but am not sure if Beresford was involved..He and the P of W were good friends Both events are pretty well- documented in books. Joyce

See also thread on Records Office board.

can anyone help me found out how to get information on this im not to sure what year.My relative took him to court over gambling and this happened in London