Lord William Beresford

Lord William Beresford
Lord William Beresford, c. 1880
Born	20 July 1847 Mullaghbrack, County Armagh
Died	30 December 1900 (aged 53) Dorking, Surrey
Buried	Clonagem Churchyard, County Waterford
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant-Colonel
Unit	9th Queen's Royal Lancers
Battles/wars	Anglo-Zulu War
Awards	Victoria Cross Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire

Lieutenant-Colonel Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford VC KCIE (20 July 1847 – 30 December 1900) born Mullaghbrack, County Armagh, Ireland was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

William Leslie de la Poer Beresford was born on 20 July 1847, the second son of John de La Poer Beresford, 4th Marquess of Waterford. Beresford was sent to Eton in 1858. When he was sixteen he left Eton and went to Bonn, where he studied French and German at the home of a tutor. In 1867, at the age of twenty, he joined the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers as a cornet. In 1875, the regiment was sent to India, where it was stationed at Sialkot. Later that year he was appointed A.D.C. to Lord Northbrook, the retiring Viceroy, in Calcutta. He did some racing, and won the Corinthian Purse at a meet attended by the Prince of Wales.

Beresford became a captain in the 9th Lancers during the Zulu War of 1879. On 3 July 1879 at Ulundi, Zululand, South Africa, during the retirement of a reconnoitring party, Captain Lord William Beresford went to the assistance of Sergeant Fitzmaurice of the 24th Regiment, whose horse had fallen and rolled on him. The Zulus were coming in great numbers, but Lord William, with help from Sergeant Edmund O'Toole of the Frontier Light Horse., managed to mount the injured man behind him. He was, however, so dizzy that Sergeant O'Toole, who had been keeping back the advancing Zulus, gave up his carbine and, riding alongside, helped to hold him on until they reached safety.