John Davys Beresford was an English writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, now remembered for his early science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and some short stories in the horror story and ghost story

Ghost story

A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...

 genres. His Hampdenshire Wonder was a major influence on Olaf Stapledon

Olaf Stapledon

William Olaf Stapledon was a British philosopher and author of several influential works of science fiction.-Life:...

. His other science-fiction novels include
The Riddle of the Tower, about a dystopian, hive-like society.

His father was a clergyman in Castor, now in Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

 near Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

. He was affected by infantile paralysis, which left him partially disabled. He was educated at Oundle

Oundle School

Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...

.

After training to become an architect, he became a professional writer, first as a dramatist, and journalist. He combined a prominent place in Edwardian literary London with time spent in the provinces, in particular Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 where D. H. Lawrence

D. H. Lawrence

David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...

 had an extended stay in his Porthcothan

Porthcothan

Porthcothan is a coastal village in Cornwall, United Kingdom, situated between Newquay and Padstow. It is within the parish of St Eval. The beach is popular with tourists and surfers and is patrolled by lifeguards during the day in the summer; local surf schools sometimes use the beach for tuition...

 cottage. Beresford described himself as a Theosophist and a
pacifist.

Elisabeth Beresford

Elisabeth Beresford

Elisabeth 'Liza' Beresford, MBE was a British author of children's books, best known for creating The Wombles. Born into a family with many literary connections, she worked as a journalist but struggled for success until she created the Wombles in the 1960s...

 (1926–2010), children's writer and creator of The Wombles

The Wombles

The Wombles are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures that live in burrows, where they help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in useful and ingenious ways. Wombles were created by author Elisabeth Beresford, originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968...

, was his daughter.

Works

• The Early History of Jacob Stahl (1911) trilogy of novels includes A Candidate for Truth and The Invisible Event
• The Hampdenshire Wonder
  The Hampdenshire Wonder
  The Hampdenshire Wonder is a 1911 science fiction novel by J. D. Beresford. It is one of the first novels to involve a wunderkind. The child in it is named Victor Stott and he is the son of a famous cricket player. This origin is perhaps a reference to H. G. Wells's father. The novel concerns his...
  
  (1911) novel
• A Candidate for Truth (1912)
• Goslings: A World of Women (1913) novel
• The House in Demetrius Road (1914) novel
• The Invisible Event (1915) novel
• H. G. Wells (1915) criticism
• These Lynneskers (1916) Novel
• William Elphinstone Ford (1917) biography, with Kenneth Richmond
• House Mates (1917) Novel
• Nineteen Impressions (1918) stories
• God's Counterpoint (1918)Novel
• The Jervaise Comedy (1919)Novel
• The Imperfect Mother (1920) Novel
• Signs and Wonders (1921, Golden Cockerel Press
  Golden Cockerel Press
  Golden Cockerel Press was a major English private press operating between 1920 and 1961.The Press was founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920 and was first in Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire where he had unsuccessfully tried fruit farming...
  
  ) stories
• Revolution (1921) novel
• The Prisoner of Hartling (1922) Novel
• The Imperturbable Duchess and Other Stories (1923)
• Monkey Puzzle (1925)
• That Kind of Man, or Almost Pagan (1926)Novel
• The Instrument of Destiny (1928) a mystery novel
• All or Nothing (1928) novel
• Real People (1929) novel
• The Meeting Place and Other Stories (1929)
• Love's Illusion (1930)
• The Next Generation (1932) novel
• The Old People (1932) Novel
• The Camberwell Miracle (1933) novel
• Peckover (1934) novel
• On a Huge Hill (1935) novel
• Blackthorn Winter and other stories (1936)
• The Decoy (1937) Novel
• Cleo (1937) Novel
• What Dreams May Come (1941) novel
• A Common Enemy (1941) novel
• Men in the Same Boat (1943) (with Esme Wynne-Tyson
  Esmé Wynne-Tyson
  Esmé Wynne-Tyson was an English actress and writer. As a child she acted in West End plays, and became a close friend, confidante, and collaborator of Noël Coward. She left the stage in 1920 and wrote a series of novels. A growing interest in religious and moral matters led her into non-fiction...
  
  )
• The Riddle of the Tower (1944) (with Esme Wynne-Tyson)
• The Gift (1947) (with Esme Wynne-Tyson)
• The Prisoner
• Love's Pilgrim

External links