Arthur Edgar Beresford was born near Aldersley Edge, Cheshire, England on 27 February 1881. He was articled as a builder’s apprentice to Thomas Massey of Isaac Massey and Sons in Aldersley Edge in 1895 and had remained with them as an assistant for some years.
In 1905 he entered the office of Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott (1865-1945) in Bedford, Bedfordshire as an assistant and worked in that capacity until 1919 when Baillie Scott took him into partnership as Baillie Scott & Beresford. He assisted Baillie Scott in the second edition of his book Homes and Gardens, published in 1933. The book contains details of the partnership's work from 1919 to 1933.
Baillie Scott & Beresford's office was located at 12 South Square, Gray's Inn, London. In 1941 the office was destroyed by bombing and the firm's records were lost. Shortly after Baillie Scott & Beresford closed. Beresford produced little architectural work of note after this date. He died in Newquay, Cornwall on 11 April 1952
During the years 1919-39 Baillie Scott & Beresford designed some 130 buildings, most of which were constructed. These included The Tudors, 19 South Park Crescent, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire (1919-20); 'Buckleberry Grange' at Buckleberry Common, near Reading in Berkshire (1919-20); North Point and Wytch House, Old Mill Lane, Bray, Berkshire (1920); 29 Storey's Way, Cambridge (1922); Three Elms, 142 Kippington Road, Sevenoaks, Kent for D.L. Wallis (1923); Casa Patis, 20 Yorrick Road, Mersea, Essex (1923); Blue Bonnets, 138 Kippington Road, Sevenoaks, Kent (1924); Beresford Court, Westerham Road, Limpsfield, Surrey (1924); The Gate House, Ballards Lane, Limpsfield, Surrey (1924); Cory Lodge in the University Botanical Gardens in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire (1924); New Hall at Bembridge School in Bembridge School, Isle of Wight (1924-27); Hadleigh in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, for Professor Sir Frank Engledon (1926); Ashwood, Ashwood Road, Woking, Surrey (1929); Wickhurst, King's Avenue, Sandwich Bay, Sandwich, Kent (c.1929); 'Casey Barn' in Esher, Surrey for Messrs G.E. Wallis (1931-32); Stonerwood Park, Steep, Hampshire (c.1932); Wychden, Wildernesse Avenue, Seal, Kent (1932); 64 Meadway, London (1929-30); and 'Clobb Copse'in Beaulieu, Hampshire, for John Ehrmann (1936-38); 50 Oakhill Road, Sevenoaks, Kent (1937); Bennington, Rectory Lane, Saltwood, Hythe, Kent (1920s); Raspit Hill, Stone Street Road, Ightham, Kent (1920s); Oak End, High Street, Sevenoaks, Kent (1920s); 19 Ashley Drive, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (1930s).
Baillie Scott, M. H. and Beresford A. Edgar. Houses and Gardens. London: Architecture Illustrated, 1933
Beresford. A. Edgar. 'Architectural reminiscences'. The Builder 10 August 1945 pp. 144-149
Beresford. A. Edgar. 'Building craftsmanship'. The Builder 4 September 1931 pp. 376-377
Beresford. A. Edgar. 'Building for everyman'. The Builder 9 January 1931 pp. 55-57
Beresford. A. Edgar. 'Cottage architecture'. The Builder 13 February 1925 pp.257-259
Beresford, A. Edgar. 'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 168, 16 February 1945 p. 137
Beresford, A. Edgar. 'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 168, 25 February 1945 p.159
Beresford. A. Edgar. 'The place of building in nature'. The Builder 8 January 1932 p. 50
Beresford. A. Edgar. 'Poetry in building'. The Builder 10 January 1930 p. 58
Beresford. A. Edgar. 'Reminiscences'. The Builder 8 January 1937 pp. 60-62
Beresford. A. Edgar. 'The value of precedent'. The Builder 19 September 1930 pp. 475-476
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Kornwolf, James D. M.H. Baillie Scott and the Arts and Crafts movement: pioneers of modern design. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins Press, 1972
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 182, 18 April 1952 p. 582
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 182, 18 July 1952 p. 86
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 59, August 1952 pp. 385-386