infused into all his books; the charm of his boyish enthusiasm won him a welcome everywhere; his friendships were fervent; but they were none too lasting when he lost interest, save within his family where the influence of his mother remained paramount with him. Athirst for experience, he used fully every lesson he had learned, yet his piety remained childlike and his faith fierce. In 1911 he was made private chamberlain to Pope Pius X. His death was due to pneumonia supervening on false angina, and to the ruin of his nervous system by feverish yet systematic overwork. He died at Salford 19 October 1914, in the presence of his brother, Arthur Christopher Benson, to whom he was devoted,
[C. C. Martindale, The Life of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, 1916; A. C. Benson, Hugh, 1914; letters; private information.]
BERESFORD, Lord CHARLES WILLIAM DE LA POER, Baron Beresford (1846-1919), admiral, was born at Philipstown, King’s county, 10 February 1846, the second son of the Rev. John de la Poer Beresford, fourth Marquess of Waterford, by his wife, Christiana, fourth daughter of Charles Powell Leslie, M.P., of Glaslough, county Monaghan. He was educated at Bayford School, Hertfordshire, and at Stubbington House, near Fareham. He entered the Britannia as a naval cadet in December 1859, and in March 1861 was appointed to the Marlborough, flagship in the Mediterranean and one of the finest of the old wooden line of battleships. He was rated midshipman in June 1862. He was transferred in July 1863 to the Defence, a new ironclad, and after less than a year was appointed as senior midshipman to the Clio, corvette, in which he made a voyage to the Falkland Islands and round Cape Horn to Honolulu and Vancouver. In December 1865 he was transferred to the Tribune at Vancouver, promoted sub-lieutenant 1866, and in the following February transferred to the Sutlej, flagship on the Pacific station. In the following June he returned home in her and joined the Excellent, gunnery school ship. After eight months in the royal yacht Victoria and Albert, which gave him his promotion to lieutenant in October 1868, he was appointed to the Galatea, frigate (captain, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh), in which he made a voyage of two and a half years, visiting the Cape, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, India, and the Falkland Islands. In November 1872 he was appointed flag lieutenant to Sir Henry Keppel, commander-in-chief at Plymouth, and remained there till August 1874, when he was sent for a few months to the Bellerophon, flagship of the North American station. At the general election of 1874 Lord Charles was returned to parliament for Waterford in the conservative interest, and retained the seat until 1880. In September 1875 he went as aide-de-camp to the Prince of Wales on his tour in India and was promoted commander in November of that year. In May 1877, after a short period in the Vernon for torpedo instruction, he was appointed commander to the Thunderer, Channel squadron, till June 1878. A year later he was appointed to the command of the royal yacht Osborne, a post which he retained till November 1881. During these years, 1874-1881, he was chiefly known as a dashing sportsman, a personal friend of the Prince of Wales, and a prominent popular figure in smart society.
At the beginning of 1882 Lord Charles took command of the Condor, gunboat, under Sir Beauchamp Seymour (afterwards Lord Alcester), commander-in-chief of the fleet that bombarded Alexandria (11 July) during the Egyptian crisis; he took the leading part in engaging and silencing Fort Marabout in that operation. After the bombardment he was sent ashore under Captain John (afterwards Lord) Fisher and appointed provost-marshal and chief of police, and restored order with admirable efficiency, nerve, and tact. He was promoted captain and mentioned in dispatches for gallantry for these services. He was offered an appointment on the staff of the khedive and also that of war correspondent of the New York Herald, but Sir Garnet (afterwards Viscount) Wolseley refused to release him. He then returned home and remained on half-pay till August 1884, when he was appointed to the Alexandra, to act on the staff of Lord Wolseley during the Nile expedition for the relief of Khartoum. He was afterwards placed in command of the naval brigade on the Nile, with which he took part in the battle of Abu Klea on 17 January 1885. He also commanded the expedition which went to the rescue of (Sir) Charles William Wilson [q.v.] in the Safieh, when he kept his ship steadily engaged under heavy fire while his engineer, Mr. Benbow, repaired her disabled boiler (4 February). He was commended in the House of Commons, and described by Lord Wolseley in his dispatch as ‘an officer whose
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