John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies

The Lord Decies
Lord Decies with his first wife Helen, 1911.
Born	5 December 1866
Died	31 January 1944 (aged 77)
Title	Baron Decies
Spouse(s)	Helen Vivien Gould Elizabeth Wharton Drexel

John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, 5th Baron Decies PC (5 December 1866 – 31 January 1944), styled The Honourable John Beresford until 1910, was an Anglo-Irish army officer and civil servant.

Biography

Early life

Beresford was the second son of William Horsley-Beresford, 3rd Baron Decies, by Catherine Anne Dent, daughter of Commander William Dent. He was educated at Eton before joining the army in 1887.

Career

Beresford joined the 7th Hussars as a Second lieutenant in February 1887, was promoted to Lieutenant on 10 April 1889, and to Captain on 7 October 1896. He saw military service mainly in Africa, first during the Second Matabele War in 1896 and later during the Second Boer War. In January 1900 he was appointed a Aide-de-camp to the Duke of Connaught, Commander-in-Chief of Ireland.^[1] In early February 1902, he was appointed in command of the 37th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel,^[2][3] and the following May left Aldershot with his Battalion for service in South Africa.^[4] From 1903 to 1904 he served in Somaliland.

In 1910 he succeeded his elder brother in the barony. This was an Irish peerage and did not entitle him to an automatic seat in the House of Lords. However, in 1912 he was elected as an Irish Representative peer and was able to take a seat in the upper chamber of Parliament. From 1916-19 he was Chief Press Censor for Ireland.^[5]

Time magazine on 5 May 1930 reported his stance on British taxation:

"The time may have come," said Lord Decies ominously, "when our wealthy men should seriously consider whether they must send their money out of this country." As Director of the British Income Taxpayers' Association, he vowed that he would suggest to them that "the time may have come. ..." ^[6]

Polo

In 1908, he played in the first international polo match between England and Argentina at the Hurlingham Club in Hurlingham, Buenos Aires alongside Alexander Godley.^[7]

Family

Lord Decies married Helen Vivien Gould on 7 February 1911. They had three children:

• Eileen Vivien de la Poer Beresford (1912–?) who married an O'Brien.
• Catherine Moya de la Poer Beresford (1913–1967).
• Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer Beresford, 6th Baron Decies (1915–1992).

Lady Decies died on 3 February 1931, and following her death he married Elizabeth Wharton Drexel, the daughter of Joseph William Drexel, on 25 May 1936. Elizabeth had previously been married to Harry Lehr.

Asked how to say his name, Lord Decies told The Literary Digest: "With ci as in conscience it is dee-shees, and Beresford is berysford." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

References

1. "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Saturday, 20 January 1900. (36044), p. 12.
2. The London Gazette: no. 27405. p. 845. 11 February 1902.
3. The London Gazette: no. 27415. p. 1733. 11 March 1902.
4. "The War - The Reinforcements" The Times (London). Wednesday, 28 May 1902. (36779), p. 9.
5. "Lord Decies dies in England at 77. Soldier, Sportsman, Friend of Taxpayer. Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911.". New York Times. 2 February 1944. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911.
6. "'Time May Have Come ...'". Time (magazine). 5 May 1930. Retrieved 2007-07-21. The British Treasury collected a death duty (inheritance tax) of $5,620,000 last week on the estate of $13,985,000 left by Major Andrew Coats, of the famed Paisley thread-spinning family. This and the increased taxes of all sorts provided in Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden's Budget (TIME, April 21), stirred to wrath and protest the Englishman who married Miss Helen Vivien Gould (daughter of Jay) and her millions: John Graham Hope de la Poer Beresford, fifth Baron Decies, D. S. O., lately of the 7th Hussars, onetime Chief Press Censor for Ireland (1916-19). "The time may have come," said Lord Decies ominously, "when our wealthy men should seriously consider whether they must send their money out of this country." As Director of the British Income Taxpayers' Association, he vowed that he would suggest to them that "the time may have come. . . ."
7. Horace A. Laffaye, Polo in Britain: A History, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2012, p. 37