Charles William de la Poer Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford, GCB GCVO (1846-1919) was a British Admiral and a Member of Parliament. He was the second son of John Beresford, 4th Marquess of Waterford.

He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 13 as a cadet and became a Lieutenant in1874. He became aide-de-camp to the Prince of Wales and was later captain of HMS Condor. He became a popular hero at the bombardment of Alexandria during the Egyptian war of 1882, where he took his ship in close to the defending forts and engaged them with conspicuous gallantry.

In 1882 Lord Charles led the naval bridgade on General Wolseley’s attempt to rescue General Gordon from Khartoum. He navigated boats over cataracts of the Nile, and transported them overland, but the relief force still arrived too late to save Gordon. Nevertheless, Lord Charles became a public hero and was awarded the C.B. for his efforts.

He was promoted to Admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet in 1903 and was in command of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1905-07. He served as a Member of Parliament representing County Waterford and later the constituencies of Marylebone East, York, Woolwich and Portsmouth.