William Beresford, bricklayer and billet master

My 4th great-grandfather William Beresford (1786-1855) was a bricklayer in Huntingdon, England. He had 5 children with his first wife Mary Anne Callow: Two boys who died in infancy (William and Henry) and three girls who survived to adulthood (Mary Ann, Sarah, and Rhoda). I don’t have any photographs of William, but I’ve been able to find quite a lot of information on him through online research, which I supplemented with an in-person visit to the Huntingdonshire Archives in September 2022. 

William’s signature and seal from his will, signed in 1852

Bricklayer

William contributed to the construction and maintenance of numerous buildings in Huntingdon. The following is a list of projects for which William was paid or reimbursed, according to the Huntingdon Borough records (Corporation Accounts) held at the Huntingdonshire Archives:

1814: Bricklaying for Walden’s Charity School

1817: Mending floor at Guard House

1838: Bricklaying, fixing chimney at Town Hall 

1841: Bricklaying at Station House

Huntingdon Town Hall, September 2022

Constable

Around 1830 William took on a side job: He was appointed parish constable for St John’s parish, Huntingdon. This was basically police duty for the northern end of town and was not a full-time position, but it may have been quite time-consuming on occasion. For example, in the summer of 1837, after Queen Victoria ascended to the throne, William received £2.4.0 for “constable expenses re: proclamation of the Queen” (Huntingdon Borough Records, Corporation Accounts). I’m very curious what these duties entailed, but the records do not go into any details.

In 1833, William helped catch a thief named William Douse, aged 24, who was wanted for burglary and for previously escaping from the county gaol (spelling variant of jail). William Beresford’s court testimony on his pursuit and capture of Douse appeared in the local paper. Douse was found guilty and initially sentenced to death but was later transported as a convict to Australia.

William Beresford’s witness testimony reported in the 16 March 1833 issue of the Huntingdon, Bedford, and Peterborough Gazette

As parish constable William was also in charge of quartering troops. He is referred to in Huntingdon Borough Records as “billet master” and in 1841 he received £2 as “½ yrs salary for billeting soldiers.” Based on the Third Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, I’m going to assume this wasn’t an enjoyable task, but at least he received some compensation.

Landlord

In later years William is referred to as a “proprietor of houses” (i.e., landlord) and “yeoman” (land owner) of Huntingdon. His will, written in 1852, mentions five freehold properties in the area of Priory Lane and St Germain Street and four freehold properties in St Mary’s Lane, all occupied by renters. He also refers to a leasehold property in the North End as his own dwelling.

I really wanted to figure out the exact location of William’s house and see if the building is still standing, but I didn’t get very far without a proper address. In his 1841 and 1851 Census records, his location was simply recorded as “The North End.” I walked around the area and looked at a few houses that might have been his.

One of many buildings on Huntingdon’s “North End”

Linens ‘n Things

William died at age 69 of a stroke (death record obtained from the General Register Office, 1855 D Quarter in Huntingdon, Volume 03B, page 153). The Huntingdonshire Archives holds the inventory of his estate, which I have transcribed, word for word, as follows:

Inventory and valuation of household furniture and effects belonging to the late Mr. Wm. Beresford of Huntingdon taken 21 December 1855.

Seven pairs of sheets

Eight pairs pillow cases

Eighteen towels

Six tablecloths

Two counterpanes

Two silver tablespoons

Twelve teaspoons

Two plated sugar bowls

Wainscot bureau 

Ditto dining table

Ditto dressing table

Oval mahogany table

Two elbow chairs

Three chairs

Piece of carpet and rug

Pair window curtains

Two tea trays and waiter

Wheel barometer

Chimney glass

Two pictures and roll blind

Three table cloths

Fender and fire irons

Eight beakers and one decanter

Twelve wine glasses

Two pitchers and crockery ware

Tin broiler etc.

Set of tea china

Six elm chairs

One elbow ditto

Thirty-hour clock

Small round table

Round deal table

Square ditto

Tea tray and waiter

Fender and shovel

Five [can’t decipher] and ten plates

Flat iron and candlestick

Three saucepans etc.

Sundry courseware

Painted double chest of drawers

Four post bedstead and furniture

Mattress

Feather bed bolster and two pillows

Four blankets and quilt

Night conveniency

Mahogany chest of drawers

Three painted chairs

Five pieces carpet and rug

Dressing table and glass

Baton stand

Oak chest

Window curtain and blind

Four post bedstead and curtains

Mattress

Feather bed bolster and two pillows

Four blankets and quilt

Three chairs

Piece of carpet

Window curtain and blind

Oak chest of drawers

Dressing glass

Stair carpet

Large family Bible

Wearing apparel

All the above effects are valued at the sum of twenty-nine pounds fifteen shillings and six pence (£29.15.6) by me George Morris Fox, Licensed appraiser, Huntingdon

A leasehold brick and slated dwelling house situate at the North End of the Borough of Huntingdon thirty-eight years unexpired [i.e., built in 1817] at a ground rent of one pound ten shillings per annum valued at fifty pounds (£50.00) by me George Morris Fox, Licensed appraiser, Huntingdon

It sounds as though William Beresford lived comfortably, in a house with at least two bedrooms, some nice furniture, and plenty of linens. I would love to have seen his decanter, the clock, the wheel barometer, and everything else listed! I have no clue what happened to the family Bible. Maybe it has sadly disintegrated by this point or ended up in a charity/resale shop. But I enjoyed reading the inventory of his household, picturing how the interior might have looked, and gaining more insights into this ancestor.

The Beresfords of Biggleswade and Buckden

One of the “myths and legends” in my family is that we are related to Lord Charles Beresford (1846-1919). Lord Beresford was a British admiral, naval commander, Member of Parliament, and popular public figure descended from a line of Anglo-Irish nobility. I understand the appeal of a connection to nobility, but I haven’t found anything in my family’s paper trail or in our DNA matches to link us to Lord Beresford’s pedigree. This story probably arose from wishful thinking or a comment said in jest.

The Beresford Bear, official symbol of the Beresford Family Society

My grandfather and great-grandfather were both given Beresford as a middle name, and I distinctly remember my grandfather telling me as a child that this name came from his great-grandmother Rhoda Beresford (1828-1892). I’ll delve a little deeper into Rhoda’s life in a future post. For now I want to clear up our Beresford line and share how I busted through a “brick wall” in my research to take our family tree back one additional generation.

A Regency-era marriage

Rhoda’s parents were William Beresford and Mary Anne Callow. They were married in Huntingdon in August of 1811. William was a bricklayer and later a proprietor of houses. According to their marriage record, William was a resident of Long Lane Smithfield, London (near Smithfield Market), while Mary Anne was a resident of St John’s Parish, Huntingdon. 

Source: Pallot's Marriage Index for England: 1780 - 1837

William was not originally from London. On the 1841 England Census, the enumerator (i.e., the census taker) reported that he was born around 1786 in the county of Huntingdonshire, but on the 1851 Census his birthplace is recorded as “Not known.” (England and Wales Census records can be found on Ancestry.com or FindMyPast.) I couldn’t find a baptism record for William in Huntingdonshire nor could I find any Beresfords in the town of Huntingdon pre-1811. To figure out William’s early years I had to look for other Beresfords living nearby and close to him in age who could be his siblings.

The search for Siblings

Samuel Beresford (1789-1872) was a very good candidate for William’s brother. Samuel was a “coach wheelwright” (meaning he made and repaired wooden wheels for coaches) who married and raised children in Huntingdon. He reported Buckden as his birthplace. Buckden is a village 4 mi southwest of Huntingdon and is the site of Buckden Towers, the palace in which Catherine of Aragon was held after her divorce from Henry VIII. Samuel appears in Buckden baptism records with his parents listed as Joseph and Mary Beresford. (Buckden parish records are not in Ancestry.com or FindMyPast but can be obtained from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society.)

When I traveled to Huntingdon in 2022, I was able to visit the grave of William Beresford (1786-1855) located at Priory Road Cemetery. Here he is buried with his second wife, Mary Wilson (1794-1873). The stone reads “Sacred to the memory of William Beresford who departed this life October 14 1855 aged 69 years.” William’s first wife Mary Anne Callow (1789-1837) was buried elsewhere, before Priory Road Cemetery opened. Unfortunately, her exact grave site could not be located as Huntingdon has very few surviving headstones that predate the 1850s.

Right next to William’s grave I found the grave of Samuel Beresford and his wife Hannah Lamb. The fact that William and Samuel were buried in adjoining plots is very good evidence that they were brothers.

In my online research, I came across another potential brother for William: Henry Beresford (1800-1866). In every census record, Henry reported his birthplace as Buckden. I found a baptism record for him in Buckden parish records with his parents recorded as Joseph and Mary (the same couple named earlier in Samuel’s baptism record). Henry briefly worked as a stonemason in Huntingdon before moving to London and starting on a long career in law enforcement, becoming a superintendent of the Metropolitan Police and later a superintendent of the Railway Police. I have very few DNA matches with the surname Beresford in their tree, but I do have two matches who trace back to this same Henry Beresford. Thus, I believe that Samuel and Henry were William’s younger brothers.

The Beresford boys of Buckden

Joseph and Mary Beresford baptized seven children in Buckden, but the Beresford surname doesn’t appear anywhere in Buckden records until 1787. William wasn’t baptized there, so he must have been born elsewhere.

After expanding my search to a wider geographical area, I discovered that William was baptized in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, 20 mi to the south of Buckden. William’s baptism record (found on Ancestry.com in England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975) states that he was born on 13 March, 1786, to parents Joseph and Mary Berisford (alternate spelling of Beresford). Luckily, I found a Biggleswade marriage record for Joseph Berisford and Mary Hinkings with a date of 31 May 1785, exactly nine and a half months before William’s birth (record found on Ancestry.com in England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973). I am confident that Joseph Berisford and Mary Hinkings are William’s parents. 

For whatever reason, Joseph and Mary didn’t stay in Biggleswade for long. They raised their children in Buckden and were buried there in the churchyard of St Mary’s. My next post will focus on the life of their son William, my 4th great-grandfather.

The parents, grandparents, and spouses of Rhoda Beresford (1828-1892)