John Poo Beresford

An illegitimate son of George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, John was born in Waterford in 1766. He was educated in Yorkshire, before joining the Royal Navy in 1782. He worked his way up the ranks, and when the French Revolution began Lapwing was busily employed in rescuing British citizens living abroad, and Beresford was sent ashore at Genoa and Turin to arrange the escape of a number of these residents. In order to evade capture while doing this, he disguised himself as a peasant. He sailed from the USA to Canada to the Caribbean, and helped to support Wellington off the coast of Portugal. 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 was MP for four different constituencies over the years, and married three times, Mary Molloy, Harriet Elisabeth Peirse, and Amelia Peach respectively.