Julius Beresford

British rower

Julius Beresford

Personal information

Birth name| Julius Bernard Wiszniewski
Nickname(s)| Berry, The Old Berry
Born| 18 July 1868
Died| 29 September 1959(1959-09-29) (aged 91)
Sport
Sport| Rowing

Medal record

Representing  United Kingdom
Olympic Games
| 1912 Stockholm | Coxed Four

Julius Beresford (Wiszniewski) (18 July 1868 – 29 September 1959), also known as Berry or The Old Berry, was a British rower and coach. Beresford competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.[1]

## Life

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Beresford was the son of Julius Bernard Wiszniewski, an emigrant from Danzig and his wife Stella Louisa Davey.[2] In 1871, the family was living in Tottenham.[3] Julius Beresford dropped his father's surname "Wiszniewski" in 1914. Outside rowing, he was a partner in a furniture-making business, Beresford & Hicks.[4]

Beresford initially sculled at Kensington Rowing Club in Hammersmith with some success, winning many trophies although failing in attempts at the Wingfield Sculls in 1902 and 1903[5] and in the London Cup at the Metropolitan Regatta. By 1904, he had decided that he had reached his limits as a single sculler and moved to Thames Rowing Club in order to row seriously in crew boats. He remained a member of Thames for the rest of his life. In 1909 and 1911, he was in the crew that won the Stewards Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. Also, in the 1911 regatta, he partnered Arthur Cloutte to win the Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup.[6] In a heat of this event he and Cloutte dead heated against Bruce Logan and Charles Rought to set a course record which lasted until 1934.[7] Rought and Logan joined Beresford who was the bowman, in the Thames Rowing Club coxed four which won the silver medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1912 Summer Olympics.[8]

Beresford served as captain of Thames Rowing Club in 1914 and again in 1926. In 1922, he was appointed as vice president of the club. He was a dedicated coach with strong opinions. Despite holding similar views on techniques, Beresford clashed with Steve Fairbairn, and a dispute between the two was an underlying cause of Fairbairn's move from Thames to London Rowing Club in 1927.[9]

As a coach at Thames, Beresford's greatest successes came in 1927 when Thames won four events at Henley Royal Regatta and in 1928 when the club repeated the feat.[citation needed]

Beresford's son Jack Beresford was also a rower and won medals at five successive Olympics.[10] His grandson Michael Beresford also became an Olympic rower.[11]

## Achievements

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### Olympic Games

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* 1912 – Silver, Coxed Four

### Henley Royal Regatta

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* 1909 – Stewards' Challenge Cup
* 1911 – Stewards' Challenge Cup
* 1911 – Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup
* 1919 Victory Regatta – Fawley Cup

## References

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1. ^ "Julius Beresford". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
2. ^ Office for National Statistics – Birth and marriage indices
3. ^ British Census 1871
4. ^ "Beresford & Hicks (1891-1995) | BIFMO". bifmo.history.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
5. ^ Wingfield Sculls Record of Races
6. ^ Henley Royal Regatta Results of Final Races 1839–1939 Archived 9 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Henley Royal Regatta When they prayed for rain 29 June 2009 Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Julius Beresford". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
9. ^ "Julius Beresford and others track racing progress at Henley - Thames Rowing Club Archive". www.thamesrcarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
10. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jack Beresford". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
11. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Michael Beresford". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2018.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Julius Beresford.

* Julius Beresford at World Rowing
* Julius Beresford at Olympics.com