SIR JOHN POO BERESFORD,
Baronet; Rear-Admiral of the Red; Knight Commander of tke most honorable Military Order of the Bath; Commander-in-Chief at Leith; and Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed.
This officer is a son of George, first Marquis of Waterford, K.P., and elder brother of Lieutenant-General Lord Beresford, G.C.B. Early in 1795, we find him commanding the Lynx sloop of war, on the American station, where he captured la Cocarde, a French corvette, of 14 guns and 80 men. On the 25th June, in the same year, he was promoted to the rank of Post-Captain, some time previous to which he had been appointed to the Hussar, of 34 guns, and assisted at the capture of la Prevoyante, a large frigate, armed en flute, and la Raison, pierced for 24 guns, but only 18 mounted[1].
Captain Beresford’s next appointment was to la Prevoyante, and from her he removed, about the month of May, 1796, into la Raison, the force of which latter vessel had been increased to 30 guns[2], with a complement of 195 men. On the 25th August following, he fell in with the Vengeance, a large 18-pounder French frigate, from which he had the good fortune to escape, after a running fight of considerable duration, in which la Raison had 3 men killed and 6 wounded, besides being much cut up in her sails and rigging.
Our officer subsequently commanded l’Unité, of 38 guns, on the Leeward Islands station, where he captured the Perseverance French privateer, of 16 guns and 87 men, Feb. 2, 1800. From l’Unité he removed into the Diana, another fine frigate, in which he was present at the reduction of the islands of St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, &c. &c, by the forces under Rear-Admiral Duckworth and Lieutenant-General Trigge, in the spring of 1801. On the renewal of hostilities in 1803, he obtained the command of the Virginie, a frigate of the largest class; but that ship being paid off in Aug. 1804, he was then appointed to the Cambrian, of similar force, and sent to the Halifax station, where, in the summer of 1805, he captured the following privateers; Matilda, of 20 guns and 95 men; Maria, of 14 guns and 60 men; and a schooner, of 6 guns and 70 men.
In the spring of 1807, Captain Beresford commanded the Illustrious, of 74 guns, off Cadiz; and in the ensuing summer, the Theseus, another third rate, employed in the blockade of Rochefort. On the 21st Feb. 1809, being off l’Orient in company with three line-of-battle ships, he fell in with a French squadron, consisting of 8 sail of the line, one of them a three-decker; and by his spirited conduct, prevented them forming a junction with the ships in that port ready for sea. The enemy afterwards anchored in Basque Roads, where they were blockaded by Rear-Admiral Stopford’s squadron, of which the Theseus formed a part until the month of April following, at which period an attack was made upon them in Aix Road, to which they had retired, by a division of Lord Gambier’s fleet, preceded by some fire-vessels, under the command of Lord Cochrane, the result of which was the destruction of one 80-gun ship, two 74’s, and one of 56 guns. Several others, from getting on shore, if not rendered altogether unserviceable, were at least disabled for a considerable time.
Early in 1810, the subject of this sketch was appointed to the Poictiers, a new 74, in which ship he served for some time on the Lisbon station, and was then ordered to the coast of North America. He sailed from Portsmouth, in company with Sir John B. Warren and squadron, Aug. 14, 1812; previous to which he had acted as proxy for his brother, at an installation of the Knights of the Bath, and, as is usual on such occasions, received the honor of knighthood prior to the ceremony.
On the 18th of October following, Sir John P. Beresford captured the American ship Wasp, of 20 guns, and retook the British brig of war Frolic, which had been taken by the former a few hours before, after a gallant action of fifty minutes[3]. The Poictiers subsequently assisted at the capture of the Herald letter of marque, mounting 10 guns, with a complement of 50 men, from Bourdeaux bound to Baltimore, with a cargo; the Highflyer, American privateer, of 5 guns and 72 men; and the York-town, of 20 guns and 140 men.
Towards the latter end of 1813, the Poictiers returned to England, and was put out of commission. At the general promotion, June 4, 1814, Sir John P. Beresford, who had been raised to the dignity of a Baronet of Great Britain on the 7th of the preceding month, was advanced to the rank of Rear-Admiral, and soon after hoisted his flag in the Bombay, of 74 guns, from which ship it was subsequently removed into the Duncan, of the same force. About the same period he had the honor of kissing hands on being appointed a naval aid-de-camp to H.R.H. the Prince Regent, then on a visit, in company with the allied sovereigns, to the fleet at Portsmouth.
On the 12th Aug. 1819, Sir John P. Beresford was nominated a K.C.B.; and early in the following year he hoisted his flag in the Dover, of 28 guns, as Commander-in-Chief at Leith. He has recently been elected M.P. for Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Our officer married, first, in 1809, Mary, daughter of Captain A. J. P. Molloy, R.N.; secondly, Aug. 17, 1815, Henrietta, youngest daughter of Henry Peirse, of Bedale, co. York, Esq., by Charlotte Grace, daughter of John, second Lord Monson.
Country-seat.– Bagnall, co. Waterford.
- ↑ See pp. 258, et seq.
- ↑ 20 long 9-pounders, 6 long 6’s, and 4 small carronades.
- ↑ See Captain T. Whinyates, in our next volume.