Forthcoming Membership Events

SPRING GATHERING 15-16 May 2010 in Derbyshire

This year we will visit another new venue, Sudbury Hall (N.T.) in addition to our annual visit to Beresford and our family service at Fenny Bentley. Sudbury Hall is only 20 minutes drive South from Ashbourne. Details and booking form will be in the April Magazine.

Sudbury is a late 17th Century house with sumptuous interiors. These were featured in the BBC’s drama Pride & Prejudice. It has one of the grandest long galleries and staircases in England. Discover also life ‘below stairs’. An additional attraction is the £2.2 million redevelopment project including the unique Museum of Childhood, which covers childhood experiences from the 19th Century to the present day.

On Saturday, we will meet around midday and have a one course buffet meal before touring the House and the Museum in the afternoon. In the evening we will all meet for a Dinner at the Bluebell Inn , Tissington.

On the Sunday morning we will meet the new Vicar at our family Service at Fenny Bentley. Then we all go to the Beresford Estate for the traditional picnic lunch at the Tower and a visit to the famous fishing lodge.

2009 AUTUMN GATHERING: ASHWELL & STOTFOLD MILL, HERTS.

Continuing the policy of holding our Gatherings around the country, we met this time in Hertfordshire. On the Friday evening we enjoyed a barbecue feast hosted by John (BFS 343). On the Saturday 16th October we met in the Bushel & Strike pub in Ashwell, Herts, to hear an interesting talk by a local historian, David Short, about the origins of Ashwell village and its Beresford connections. This was followed by tours around the village, including St Mary’s Church (14th Century) and the village Museum, which was crammed full of interesting exhibits. An enjoyable Annual Dinner was held in the evening at the Letchworth Hall Hotel.

On the Sunday we went to the award-winning Stotfold Watermill in its idyllic setting on the River Ivel. There was a Mill on this site recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086. On this historic site we had a good attendance for our 29th AGM, followed by an excellent home-made buffet lunch and a tour of the impressive working mill in the afternoon.

2009 SPRING GATHERING: SHUGBOROUGH Hall.

Another new venue was chosen for this year's Gathering on 16-17 May 2009 and we were glad to welcome some new members on both days. We visited the Shugborough Estate, just South of Stafford, which is the historic home of the Earls of Lichfield. We were reminded that Lady Clodagh Beresford, daughter of the 5th Marquis of Waterford, married the Hon. Claud Anson, 5th son of the 2nd Earl of Lichfield. After lunch, we had a conducted tour of the main features of the mansion and were then free to explore in more depth and see the many interesting exhibits, including the photos of Patrick Lichfield.

The Estate provides the only remaining example of a complete historic working estate. The very interesting working farm, complete with a newly born litter of ten piglets and other farm animals, contains an impressive display of farming implements used over the centuries. We saw the estate's powerful waterwheel, which was driving the mill mechanism and the heavy millstones grinding the corn into flour.

In the evening we had a good attendance at the Dinner at the Bluebell Inn, near Tissington. On the Sunday we enjoyed the generous hospitality of Jenny Waters in her home, on the Beresford Estate, whilst some braved the showery weather to visit the Beresford Tower and the Fishing Lodge.

28th AGM, DINNER & VISIT to NETHER WINCHENDON HOUSE. For our AGM on 18th October 2008, we were in the Aylesbury area. This medieval and Tudor Manor House, with its 12th century Great Hall, was once owned by Jane Beresford, who died in 1771. After a well attended AGM in the 18th century barn, we enjoyed a splendid lunch prepared by a volunteer team of ladies from the parish and were then treated to a fascinating and informative private tour of the house by our hosts Robert and Georgianna Spencer Bernard. In the evening, our Annual Dinner was held in the Holiday Inn, Aylesbury.

27th AGM, DINNER & TOUR OF BLENHEIM PALACE: This enjoyable weekend on 13/14 October 2007, was based in Oxford and included a fascinating tour of the magnificent Blenheim Palace, at Woodstock. The Palace, which is the home of the 11th Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, is a World Heritage site set in 2100 acres of beautiful parkland designed by Capability Brown.

2007 BERESFORD INTERNATIONAL GATHERING (2-13 MAY 2007): This Gathering, held every ten years, was our third. Over 120 members were involved in the various parts of the programme, some travelling from as far as Canada, Australia and USA.

The first phase was based in Buxton, Derbyshire with visits to places with Beresford connections. These included the impressive Chatsworth House and a visit to Crich church to see the armour-suited tomb of Godfrey Beresford (the son of Thomas & Agnes's eldest son Adam) who died in 1513. We also had a ride on the nearby Tram Museum track, our tram having the original destination 'Beresford Square'.

On the following morning we visited Tissington Hall, the home of Sir Richard FitzHerbert, for an interesting tour of the house and gardens. In the afternoon we travelled to the Beresford Estate for a picnic lunch hosted by Jenny Waters. This was held by the imposing Tower overlooking the River Dove, after which we visited the fishing lodge made famous by the fishing classic The Complete Angler.

On the Sunday, a family service was held in St Edmund's Church, Fenny Bentley, led by our Chaplain, Rev Christopher Harrison. Members were able to see the tomb of Thomas and Agnes Beresford together with the beautiful stained glass windows and memorials depicting Beresfords who had worshipped here for generations.

The second phase of the programme took us to Manchester for a flight to Dublin and a coach journey to stay in the ancient Viking city of Waterford. The next day we visited Curraghmore House, the stately home of our President, the Marquis of Waterford, and were entertained to lunch in the Dining Room by Lady Waterford.

We were also shown round Clonegam Church, built in 1741. Inside is the memorial to Sir Marcus Beresford, Earl of Tyrone and Countess Katherine, by whose marriage the Beresford and de Poer families were united. In the grounds of the church are the tombs of twenty ancestors of the Beresford and de Poer families. We also toured the extensive gardens with rhododendrons in full flower and the famous shell house, before returning to Waterford for a Gala Dinner to host our President and Lady Waterford.

On the following day we went on two local tours. The first was to see the famous Waterford Glass being produced in all its many fascinating shapes and then etched and decorated. The second visit was to the spectacular Congreve Gardens, which were a blaze of colour.

On the following day we flew back to Manchester and then travelled by coach to our London hotel by Lancaster Gate for two days visiting the sights of the city. We began with the London Eye, the world's highest observation wheel. From here we visited Westminster Abbey, the Cabinet War Rooms (the wartime underground bunker from which WWII was directed) and the award winning Churchill Museum. The next stop was St Paul's Cathedral where we found the memorial to Admiral Lord Charles Beresford close to Nelson's tomb in the crypt. From here we went to Tower Hill to walk alongside the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge to St Katherine's Dock, the city's hidden marina.

On the last day of the Gathering, we travelled by underground to the financial and commercial centre of Docklands, built on the totally destroyed bombed area of London's docks. After a ride on the elevated Docklands Light Railway we spent the day at Greenwich, a World Heritage Site, with its former Naval College, Observatory, Queens House and Maritime Museum. Finally we enjoyed a one hour river cruise back up the Thames to Westminster.

Our final evening was spent in the Palace of Westminster, preceded by tours of both Houses of Parliament and Westminster Hall before enjoying our Farewell Dinner in the Churchill Room hosted by Sir Paul Beresford MP.

Although we enjoyed the busy programme visiting such a wide variety of places, the main feature of BIG2007 was the unique opportunity it gave us all to meet many old and new Beresfords . We all had a fantastic time together.

26^th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, DINNER AND VISIT TO CHESTER OCTOBER 2006: Few cities can match the 200-year old history of the City of Chester, with the rectangular outline of the original Roman walls built in 79 AD, the Roman amphitheatre, the castle started by Hugh Lupus, the Civil War and the black and white facades of Bridge Street and Eastgate.

On the Saturday, members were able to enjoy open-bus tours of the city highlights, visit the splendid Cathedral, stroll beside the river Dee and walk round the Roman walls before enjoying our Annual Dinner.

The AGM was held on the Sunday. In his report the Chairman, Peter R Beresford, highlighted the importance of the website, which had brought in 47 new members during the year, and the success of the Magazine which had celebrated its 100th edition.

2006 SPRING GATHERING AT BERESFORD DALE IN DERBYSHIRE, 20 MAY : A number of members enjoyed a visit to the Craft Fair at Fenny Bentley before joining others for a magnificent buffet lunch in the village hall at nearby Alstonfield (which has won the award for the best kept village in Staffordshire). This was followed by a visit to the Beresford estate for tempting tea and cakes, after which we walked up to Beresford Tower and then descended to the River Dover to see the fishing lodge made famous in 'The Compleat Angler' by Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton (see Facts File). On the following day, members attended a family service at St Edmunds, Fenny Bentley, which contains the 15th century tomb of Thomas and Agnes, plus stained glass and other tablets commemorating their descendants. The weekend ended with a buffet lunch at the Bluebell Inn near Ashbourne.

2005 AGM & DINNER, MELTON MOWBRAY & HOBY: Apart from its famous pork pies and cheeses, Melton Mowbray is connected with the infamous antics of the 3rd Marquis of Waterford and his high-spirited friends, who actually painted some of the town's doorways and inn signs red, thus creating the famous phrase. The weekend included our 25th AGM and Annual Dinner at the Quorn Hotel, followed on the Sunday by a very interesting visit to the nearby church of All Saints and the village of Hoby, which has many Beresford connections.