Arthur_Beresford,_6th_Baron_Decies

Arthur Beresford, 6th Baron Decies

Arthur Beresford, 6th Baron Decies

Anglo-Irish army officer

Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer Beresford, 6th Baron Decies DFC (15 April 1915 – 7 November 1992) was an Anglo-Irish hereditary peer and soldier.[1]

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Early life

Lord Decies's parents, in 1911

Beresford was born on 15 April 1915. He was the youngest of three children born to John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies (1866–1944),[2] aide-de-camp to the Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and Helen Vivien Gould (1893–1931). From his parents marriage, he had two older sisters, Eileen Vivian de la Poer Horsley-Beresford and Catherine Moya Beresford. After his mother's death in 1931,[3] his father married another American heiress, Elizabeth Wharton Drexel (widow of society leader Harry Lehr),[4] in 1936.[5]

His paternal grandparents were William Beresford, 3rd Baron Decies and the former Catherine Anne Dent. His maternal grandparents were American railroad tycoon George Jay Gould I and, his wife, former actress Edith Kingdon.[3][6][7] Among his extended family were uncles William Beresford, 4th Baron Decies and cricketer Seton Beresford, and aunt Hon. Catherine Beresford (who married Edward J. M. Lumb). From his mother's side, his aunts and uncles included Kingdon Gould I, Marjorie Gwynne Gould, Jay Gould II, Edith Catherine Gould, and Gloria Gould.[8]

Career

Upon the death of his father, he inherited his father's titles and became Baron Decies.[2]

He gained the rank of Flying Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and fought in World War II where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S.[9]

Personal life

On 27 October 1937, Beresford married Ann Trevor in London, England. Ann, a daughter of Sidney Walter Trevor, died on 28 March 1945. They had no children.[9]

On 12 September 1945, Lord Decies married Diana Mary (née Turner-Cain) Galsworthy (1916–2004) at Chapel Royal, Windsor, England. Diana was a daughter of W/Cdr. George Turner-Cain and Jessie Mary Smith and the widow of David William Arthur Galsworthy, a Major with the Royal Fusiliers, City of London Regiment who died in 1944, with whom she had one child, Anna Galsworthy. Together, Arthur and Diana were the parents of three children together:[10][9]

  • Marcus Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford, 7th Baron Decies (b. 1948), who married Sarah Jane Gunnell, daughter of Col. Basil Gunnell, in 1970. They divorced in 1974 and he married Edel Jeannette Hendron, daughter of Vincent Ambrose Hendron, in 1981.[9]
  • Hon. Sarah Ann Vivien de la Poer Beresford (b. 1949), who married Joerg B. Schnapka, son of Dr. Herbert Schnapka, in 1975. They divorced in 1982 she married Lt. Andrew McMeekan, son of Thomas McMeekan, in 1992.[9]
  • Hon. Clare Antoinette Gabrielle de la Poer Beresford (b. 1956), who married Jorge Keochlin, son of Jose Edmondo Keochlin, in 1986. They divorced in 1997.[9]

Lord Decies died on 7 November 1992 at King's Lynn, Norfolk.[11]

References

  1. [1]
    Armourial coat-of-arms
  2. [2]
    "LORD DECIES DIES IN ENGLAND AT 77; Soldier, Sportsman, Friend of Taxpayer--Married Gould Heiress Here in 1911". The New York Times. 2 February 1944. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  3. [3]
    "LADY DECIES DIES AT 38 IN LONDON; Former Helen Vivien Gould Was Principal in Brilliant International Wedding of 1911.WAS NOTED AS HOSTESS Her Entertaining Was a Feature of British Capital--Husband Is Distinguished Irish Peer. LADY DECIES DIES AT 38 IN LONDON". The New York Times. 3 February 1931. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. [4]
    "LADY DECIES, WIDOW OF IRISH PEER, DIES; Former Elizabeth Drexel of Philadelphia Was Once the Wife of Harry Lehr". The New York Times. 14 June 1944. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  5. [5]
    TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (12 May 1936). "DECIES TO MARRY MRS. HARRY LEHR; Widow of New York Leader of Society to Become Bride of Irish Peer on May 23. ANNOUNCEMENT IN PARIS Bride-Elect Member of Drexel Family -- Wrote Book, 'King Lehr and Gilded Age.'". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  6. [6]
    "LORD DECIES DUE HERE.; Widower of Former Vivien Gould Arrives Today on Mauretania". The New York Times. 3 March 1931. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  7. [7]
    Photo, Times Wide World (4 February 1931). "FUNERAL TOMORROW FOR LADY DECIES; Body of Former Helen Vivien Gould, Who Died Yesterday in London, to Be Cremated". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  8. [8]
    MacColl, Gail; Wallace, Carol McD (2012). To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery. Workman Publishing. p. 334. ISBN 9780761171980. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  9. [9]
    Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 1063.
  10. [10]
    "Miss Beresford to Wed". The New York Times. 23 February 1986. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  11. [11]
    "DECIES". The Daily Telegraph. 11 November 1992. p. 24. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
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