Biography

Archdeacon Alfred Richard Beresford (1850 – 1935)
Rector of St. John's Church 1897-1908
Born in Hobart, Beresford attended the Hutchins School, working there as a junior mathematical master before matriculating to Melbourne University where he aimed to study medicine. Instead, he returned to Tasmania, and with the encouragement of Dean Bromby of St. David's Cathedral, took up study towards Holy Orders. His studies may have been in Tasmania.
He was created a deacon in 1876, and ordained in 1877, serving as a curate at St. David’s Cathedral.
He married Annie Hughes in 1879. Little is known of his family, but there was at least one son, Cecil Robert Beresford.
He served at Bothwell from 1878 to 1893, raising funds to build the church of St. Michael and all Angels. He was known for his dedication in riding hundreds of miles each year to minister in the remote settlements and scattered huts and farmsteads of the lake country.
Moving to Forth and Leven in the northwest, he set about recruiting firstly lay readers and then ordained colleagues to build up congregations and built or enlarged a number of churches, as well as again raising funds to clear a debt over church property.
In 1897, Beresford became rector of St. John’s Launceston, and served there until 1908. He presided over one of the most dramatic and challenging periods of the history of St. John’s, during which the massive rebuilding into a cathedral-like structure was planned, funded and begun, with foundations under way early in 1901. It would continue for another 10 years, with funding a constant challenge.
During his incumbency, the of St. John’s Mission house and hall in were built in Canning St, replacing the old Queen’s Head hotel which had been used for that purpose for some years.
Beresford was collated as Archdeacon of Launceston in 1907, perhaps leading to his resignation from the parish of St. John’s in 1908. After leaving St. John’s, he served in the Hagley parish while pursuing his duties as archdeacon, continuing the latter until 1928.
From 1890 to 1913 he was chaplain to the military forces, with the rank of major. 
An obituary in The Advocate listed his achievements… “He was Instrumental in building about 15 churches, and in raising about £25,000 for church buildings, and a like sum for endowments and diocesan purposes.”
A stained glass window was erected in St. Mary’s Church, Hagley, in his memory.
A further linked article published in the Mercury in 1927 gives an even more detailed account of Beresford's life and work.

Source

Wikitree biography based largely on newspaper articles, particularly an obituary in The Advocate newspaper, Burnie, 5th December 1935. A recently discovered newspaper article on the occasion of his 80th birthday is reproduced on this site. It gives a summary of his life's work.

The Advocate newspaper (Trove collection) 5th Dec. 1935 p2
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/86565565
Wikitree entry - Alfred Richard Beresford (1850 - 1935)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Beresford-821
All Saints Historical Resources
https://resources.allsaints.network/documents/History/1931_Archdeacon_Beresford's_life.pdf
article from The Mercury, Hobart, Tas. Monday 22 August 1927, page 5
https://resources.allsaints.network/documents/History/Archdeacon_Beresford-life_and_work-Mercury_article.pdf