William Carr Beresford

The illegitimate son of George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, William was born in 1768, and initially educated in Yorkshire before being sent to a French military academy in Strasbourg. After a few months of military academy, William joined the British Army, and was stationed first in Ireland, then in Canada, where he was partially blinded in a hunting accident. William worked his way through the ranks, and fought through the French Revolutionary Wars. He helped Corsican patriots to invade Corsica, was blown offcourse when attempting to join the West Indies Campaign, garrisoned Jersey for several years, and was sent to both India and Egypt. He recaptured the Cape of Good Hope in the Napoleonic Wars, invaded the River Plate region (Argentina), and decided to attack Buenos Aires in Spanish South America. No attempt was made to gain authorisation from the Crown for this undertaking. In the invasion of the River Plate, Buenos Aires was occupied for 46 days. However, the British force could not maintain itself against the army gathered by Santiago de Liniers. After a relentless two-day fight with the Buenos Aires and Montevideo militias between 10 and 12 August 1806, the British were defeated and forced to capitulate. Beresford had to surrender, remaining prisoner for six months; in the end, he managed to escape and arrived in England in 1807. Having been sent to Madeira, he was appointed the Commander in Chief of the Portuguese Army.

After peace was declared he went to England on leave and came back again to Lisbon to reassume the command of the Portuguese Army. He did not limit himself, however, to that role, and intended to intervene in the general politics of the country, from this he came into conflict with the Regency. He then determined to go to the Court in Rio de Janeiro. He was made Governor of Jersey in 1821 and held the position till 1854, the last titular Governor of Jersey.

In Portugal, Beresford had a romantic involvement with his military secretary António Lemos Pereira de Lacerda and his wife Dona Maria da Luz Willoughby da Silveira. Beresford recognised two of Maria’s children, Guilherme and Maria Effigenia. He also had a child with an unknown mother, Maria. He had a childless marriage in 1831 with the Honourable Louisa, widow of Thomas Hope, and his own first cousin.