Forthcoming Membership Events

AUTUMN GATHERING, ANNUAL DINNER AND AGM: 15-17 October 2010

Another new venue for this year’s Autumn Gathering, with a new format for the weekend and a central location in Sutton Coldfield, about 8 miles NE of the centre of Birmingham, well served by motorways. We will be based at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel, with B & B available on the Friday night 15th October.

On the Saturday we go by coach to visit the Black Country Museum at Dudley, a 26 acre living history heritage site. We will have a costumed guide to take us round the fascinating 19th Century collection of real old village shops, the school, the chapel, transport and industry. We return to the Ramada Jarvis Hotel for our Annual Dinner.

On the Sunday we will visit Middleton Hall, which dates from the 13th Century, a fitting venue for our 30th AGM. This will be followed by a buffet lunch and a guided tour of the Hall by a member of the BFS.

Past Events for Members

SOCIETY VISITS & TOURS: One of the advantages and most popular aspects of membership of the Society are the many family visits which have been arranged to places of interest, often with Beresford connections. In recent years our programme has included Warwick Castle; Tissington Hall (Derbyshire); Blenheim Palace (Oxfordshire); Sulgrave Manor (the home of George Washington's ancestors); the London Eye; Curragmore (home of the Marquis of Waterford); All Saints Church at Hoby; the tomb of Godfrey Beresford (1513) at Crich; Gala Dinner and tour of the Palace of Westminster; the City of Chester; Nether Winchendon House; St Paul's Cathedral; the Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire; Waterford Crystal tour; Thames river cruise; Chatsworth House; Greenwich World Heritage site; Fenny Bentley (tomb of Thomas and Agnes); historic Stotfold Mill, Herts.

SPRING GATHERING 15-16 May 2010 AT SUDBURY HALL

There was a very good attendance at our 2010 Spring Gathering where we were delighted to welcome a number of new members as well as some from as far away as New Zealand, USA, Australia and Canada.

On the Saturday we met for a buffet lunch in the Coach House of 17th Century Sudbury Hall and then toured the Hall and the Museum of Childhood. Later some of us visited the delightful village of Tissington to see the famous well dressings, before assembling in the evening at the Bluebell Inn for Dinner.

On the Sunday, the church of St Edmunds had full pews for a family service followed by an opportunity to visit the tomb of Thomas and Agnes Beresford and the many memorial panels and stained glass windows. We then went to the Beresford Estate at Beresford Dale, Hartington, for an excellent picnic lunch hosted by Jenny Waters.

Afterwards we climbed up to the Beresford Tower where we planted a tree in memory of Malcolm Beresford. The very successful weekend ended with a visit to the Izaak Walton/Charles Cotton fishing lodge.

Society Visits

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St. Edmunds, Fenney Bentley, Derbyshire ... containing the Beresford chapel, the shrouded tomb of Thomas (d.1473) and Agnes Beresford, who had 21 children. The church contains family stained glass and memorial panels depicting their descendants and coats of arms.

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Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire A World Heritage Site visited by the Society It was a gift by a grateful nation to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough after his victory at the Battle of Blenheim. Set in 2100 acres of beautiful parkland, it is the home of the 11th Duke of Marlborough and was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Lord William Beresford married the widow of the 8th Duke of Marlborough.

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Tissington Hall, Derbyshire (near Fenny Bentley) The Jacobean house of the FitzHerbert family, which the Society has visited twice. Two of the children of Humphrey Beresford, the 6th son of Thomas and Agnes, married FitzHerberts

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Sulgrave Manor, Oxfordshire An interesting visit was made to the ancestral home of the Washingtons in Britain. John Washington c 1635/6 sailed from here to Virginia in 1656. His son, Lawrence, had a son Augustine who married Mary Ball on 6 March 1730. Their first-born son was George Washington 22 Feb 1732.

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The Palace of Westminster, London The Society enjoyed a tour of the Houses of Parliament and held a Gala Dinner on two occasions. Over the years a number of Beresfords have been elected as Members of Parliament, right up to today.

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Chatsworth House, Derbyshire Visited in 2007. Its 1000 acre park was landscaped by 'Capability' Brown. The Duke of Devonshire has Beresford connections through Charles Cotton.

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Westminster Abbey, London Built around 1045-1065 by King Edward the Confessor who is buried here. King Harold and later William the Conqueror were crowned in 1066, and the Abbey has seen the coronation of nearly every King and Queen of England since then. We included a tour during the London section of our last International Gathering.

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Curraghmore House, Portlaw, Waterford, Ireland The magnificent home of our President, the Marquis of Waterford and his ancestors since 1170. The House, with its 2,500 acres estate and gardens, was visited by the Society during the 3rd International Gathering.

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The London Eye, Westminster One of the world’s largest observation wheels, with its magnificent views over London, enjoyed by members during the 3rd Beresford International Gathering.

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Crich Church, Derbyshire Dates from around 1135 during the Norman era, We visited the table top tomb of Godfrey Beresford showing his incised effigy in plate armour. Godfrey, who died in 1513, was the son of Aden Beresford, the eldest of the sixteen sons of Thomas and Agnes at Fenny Bentley.

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Greenwich, London The Old Royal Navy College, with the Queens House in the centre, the Royal Greenwich Observatory (the Greenwich Meridian) on the distant hill and the National Maritime Museum all form the impressive World Heritage Site, which we visited during our 3rd International Gathering.

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All Saints Church, Hoby, Leicestershire One of our AGM weekends was held at Melton Mowbray Leicestershire. During the weekend had a tour of the village of Hoby and its church, which has many Beresford connections, illustrated in the decorative panels and stained glass. There were Beresford rectors here continuously for 250 years.

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St Pauls Cathederal, London Designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1675 and 1710 on the site of the original cathedral, which was built in 604 AD and destroyed in the Great Fire of London 1666.. We also visited the crypt to see the memorial to Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, close to Nelson’s tomb.

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Warwick Castle, Warwickshire The finest mediaeval castle in England, Commenced by Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, in 1086 after the Norman Conquest. It was visited by the Society during one of our Autumn Gatherings.

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River Thames Cruise, London Returning from Greenwich to Westminster by boat on the River Thames and passing the Tower of London during the 2007 International Gathering.

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Nether Winchendon House, Buckinghamshire A Medieval and Tudor manor house, with a 12th Century Great Hall. We held our AGM in its high vaulted barn before being taken on a conducted tour of this historic house, once owned by Jane Beresford.

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Ashwell & Stotford Mill, Hertfordshire Our tour of the picturesque village of Ashwell, its Museum and the14th Century church of St Mary’s was followed by an AGM held in the award-winning Stotfold Mill in an idyllic setting on the river Ivel.

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Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire The historic home of the Earls of Lichfield. The Estate includes the only remaining example of a complete historic estate with its working farm and powerful waterwheel driving the heavy millsones.

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The City of Chester A weekend was spent in the historic city of Chester, including walking round the original Roman Walls, and exploring its medieval streets, the River Dee and its magnificent cathedral.