Beresford was born on 5 December 1866 at Newcastle upon Tyne.[3] He 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.[4]
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 seconded to the Staff,[5] and appointed an Aide-de-camp to the Duke of Connaught, Commander-in-Chief of Ireland.[6][7] In early February 1902, he was appointed in command of the 37th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel,[8][9] and the following May left Aldershot with his Battalion for service in South Africa.[10] The battalion arrived after hostilities ended in early June, and left for home again on the SS Avondale Castle in late December 1902.[11] From 1903 to 1904 he served in Somaliland. After retiring from the Regular Army, he became commanding officer of the South Irish Horse (Special Reserve) on 20 January 1912.[12]
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 to 1919 he was Chief Press Censor for Ireland.[13]
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. ..."[14]
^"'Time May Have Come ...'". Time. 5 May 1930. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2007. 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. . . ."
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