From the Illustrated
London News of October 23rd, 1897:
The Marriage of the Marquis of
Waterford
The marriage
of the Marquis of Waterford to Lady Beatrix Fitzmaurice, younger daughter of
the Marquis of Landsdowne, which was celebrated at St. George’s, Hanover
Square, on Oct. 16th, was the most fashionable ceremony that London has seen
for a long time, involving the interests of many of our greatest families.
The Marquis,
who was born in 1875, succeeding his father at the age of twenty, represents on
the paternal side those fighting Beresfords who, in the persons of Lord Charles
and Lord William Beresford, are, perhaps, the aristocratic idols of the man in
the street; while his mother, who died only recently, was the daughter of the Duke
of Beaufort, who stands for all that sport implies to the well-bred
Englishman. The bride represents the
statesmanlike Landsdownes, while her mother is one of the beautiful Hamiltons
who claim the Duke of Abercorn as chief.
The church was beautifully decorated, and the magnificence of the twenty
tall troopers of the Blues (the bridegroom’s regiment) varied a lively scene.
The Prince
of Wales, who had just come from the christening in St. James’s Chapel of the
bride’s second cousin, the little Marlborough baby – for Lady Blandford, its
grandmother, is Lady Waterford’s aunt – was present, and there were Dukes and
Duchesses galore – Abercorn, Atholl, Beaufort, Buccleuch, Devonshire, Leeds,
Marlborough, Newcastle and St. Alban’s.
After the ceremony a reception was held at Landsdowne House, which the
host of presents had converted into a veritable treasury, and in the afternoon
Lord and Lady Waterford left for Coates Castle, Pulborough, the seat of the
Dowager Duchess of Abercorn.
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The Marquis in question was
Henry de la Poer Beresford, the 6th Marquis/Marquess of Waterford,
who was born on April 28th, 1875. His father was John Henry de la
Poer Beresford, the 5th Marquis of Waterford; his mother being Lady
Blanche Elizabeth Adelaide Somerset.
His bride, Lady Beatrix
Frances Petty-Fitzmaurice, was daughter of Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, the
5th Marquis of Landsdowne and Lady Maud Evelyn Hamilton, whom he married
on October 16th1897. On December 1st 1911, he passed away
at the young age of 36.
The marriage produced three
daughters and three sons, as follows:
(1) Lady Blanche Maud de la Poer
Beresford (1898-1940); (2) Lady
Katherine Nora de la Poer Beresford (born 1899);
(3) Lady Beatrix Patricia de la Poer Beresford (born 1902); (4) John Charles de la Poer Beresford (later
7th Marquis of Waterford) (1901-1934); (5) Lord William Mostyn de la Poer Beresford (1905-1973)
and (6) Lieut-Commander Lord Hugh Tristram de la Poer Beresford (1908-1941).
Lord Hugh enlisted in the
Royal Navy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander. During World War II, whilst serving aboard
the HMS
Kelly, he was killed in action off the island of Crete. He was buried
in Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt, on June 27th, 1941. There is a memorial to him and his sister, Lady Blanche Maud in Clonagam
church.. . . image No. 093 on this website.
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N.B. The accompanying image, reproduced here as a single image with difficulty because of quality,
was originally two separate images in the ILN article.
The photo of Lady Beatrix was by Pooles Photographic Studio, Waterford.
