Sir John Beresford, 1st Baronet

Admiral Sir John Poo Beresford, 1st Baronet, GCH (1766 – 2 October 1844) was an officer in the Royal Navy who rose to the rank of Second Sea Lord. He was a Tory (subsequently Conservative) politician in the United Kingdom.

Naval career
Beresford was an illegitimate son of George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford, and the brother of William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford. He joined the Royal Navy in 1782.

During the War of 1812, he served as captain of HMS Poictiers, during which time he ineffectually bombarded the town of Lewes, Delaware. More importantly, Poictiers participated in an action where, four hours after USS Wasp (1807), commanded by Jacob Jones, captured HMS Frolic (1806), Capt. Beresford hove in sight, captured Wasp and recaptured Frolic, and brought both to Bermuda. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1830.

He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Coleraine (1809–1812 and 1814–1823), Berwick-upon-Tweed 1823–1826, Northallerton (1826–1832), and Chatham 1835–1837.

Beresford was knighted in 1812, and made a baronet in 1814, of Bagnall in the County of Staffordshire, and on his death was succeeded to the title by his son from his first marriage to Mary Molloy, the daughter of Captain Anthony James Pye Molloy. He married secondly to Harriet Elizabeth Peirse, who died on 28 February 1825, and had issue who later inherited the Baronetcy.