J. D. Beresford
British writer (1873–1947)
John Davys Beresford (17 March 1873 – 2 February 1947) was an English writer, now remembered mainly for his early science fiction and some short stories of the horror story and ghost story genres. Beresford was a great admirer of H. G. Wells, and wrote the first critical study of Wells in 1915. His Wellsian novel The Hampdenshire Wonder (1911) was a major influence for the author Olaf Stapledon. His other science-fiction novels include The Riddle of the Tower, about a dystopian, hive-like society.
Life
His father, John James Beresford (1821 – 1897), was a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, and Rector of Castor. His mother was Adelaide Elizabeth Morgan. J. D. Beresford was affected by infantile paralysis, which left him partially disabled. He was educated at Oundle.
After training to become an architect, he became a professional writer, first as a dramatist, and journalist. During early adulthood, he rejected his father's theism and became a "determined but defensive" agnostic.
“J. D. Beresford” enters the record as british writer (1873–1947). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Beresford, British and writer can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3156744. VIAF identifies the subject as 29526072. The Library of Congress control number is n50006853. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1873, 1947, 1915 and 1911.
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This entry incorporates text from “J. D. Beresford” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.