The son of Marcus Beresford, first Earl of Tyrone; educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he was Bishop of Dromore (1780), Bishop of Ossory (1782) and Archbishop of Tuam (1794). He was raised to the peerage in 1812.

REFERENCES TO William Beresford, first baron Decies:

Emily Butler, Lady Caher, to Lady Morgan, 6 November 1813 in Lady Morgan’s Memoirs: Autobiography, Diaries and Correspondence. Second Edition, Revised 2 vols (London: Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1863)