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Beresford family window

This memorial stained glass window is located in the south chancel of All Saints’ Church, Hoby. The memorial is dedicated to the members of the Beresford family killed in World War I. The dedicatory inscription on the memorial is found on the bottom part of the window. The Church is Grade I listed.

In 2010, War Memorials Trust gave a grant of £150 for conservation works to the memorial window and namely its ferramenta. Ferramenta is the iron framework which supports the panels of the window and therefore has a functional role but can also have a decorative role. In this case the ferramenta had rusted and this was causing problems to the stonework on the window which the ferramenta is fixed to. When iron rusts it expands and therefore can cause damage and cracking to stonework due to this increase in size and pressure exerted on the stone. Therefore, the ferramenta was removed and the tips which enter the stone were replaced with stainless steel which will not rust to eliminate the problem recurring. The ironwork was cleaned as all rust needs to be removed prior to any coatings and the ironwork was then treated with micaceous iron oxide paint to a black finish and re-fixed back in place. The paint will act as a protective barrier which if properly maintained will help prevent the rusting of the iron work.

This memorial is a copy of a window in the church in Fenny Bentley, Derbyshire which is the Beresford family’s ancestral home. The listing description for the church advises that the chancel was decorated 1914-1920 as a memorial to the Beresford family and that the stained glass windows form part of this. Other features include a rood screen, floor tiles and choir seating.

Those commemorated on the window are:

Lt. Col. Percy William Beresford D. S. O. He was killed in action at Ypres on 26th October 1917 whilst commanding the 2nd/3rd Battalion, London Regiment. His Distinguished Service Order, (which was handwritten on the field) was “for conspicuous gallantry and ability in command of his battalion during heavy counter attacks. The skills with which he handled his reserves was of the utmost assistance to the division on his right and his determination enables us to hold onto an almost impossible position. He repulsed three counter attacks and lost heavily in doing so”. He is buried in Gwalia Cemetery, Belgium.

Major Arthur Jardine Beresford-Havelock who was in the North Staffordshire Regiment and was killed at Baku, Azerbaijan on 14th September 1918. He is commemorated on the Haidar Pasha memorial.

Major William Cecil Beresford was in the Royal Defence Corps and died of wounds on 9th October 1917 at Burden Military Hospital Weymouth.

Brig. Gen. Sir Hay Frederick Donaldson was married to Selina Beresford. He had a career in engineering and at the request of David Lloyd George he acted as advisor to the Ministry of Munitions. On 5th June 1916 he accompanied Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, on a mission to Russia when their ship HMS Hampshire was sunk by a German mine off the Orkney Islands; he was killed alongside Kitchener.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM3867
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 37695

War Memorials Online: 86741

The National Heritage List for England: 1075004

Leicestershire War Memorials Project ref: WMP0546

If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org

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