(588) Bernard (later Spencer-Bernard) of Nether Winchendon, baronets

Bernard of Nether Winchendon 

This family are a cadet branch of the Bernards of Abington and Brampton, baronets: Thomas Bernard (c.1560-1628), with whom the genealogy below begins, being the fourth son of Francis Bernard (c.1526-1602) of Abington. Like the families of many younger sons, they at first showed a tendency to drift down the social scale. Thomas settled at Reading (Berks), where the family had held a small property on the outskirts of the town since the late 15th century, according to Mrs. Napier Higgins. The nature of this property is not clear, although it sounds like a small farm rather than anything grander. Thomas' son, Francis Bernard (1614-80) regarded himself as a gentleman (and was probably using his coat of arms), since he was summoned to attend the heralds' visitation of Berkshire in 1665/6, but his address was then given as 'the sign of the Bear', where he was presumably the innkeeper. The Bear, then in Castle St., Reading, was one of the chief inns of the town (Cromwell stayed there in 1648 and Queen Mary of Modena in 1686), so the landlord would have been a figure of some status, even if 'in trade'. During the Civil War, Reading was garrisoned by the Royalists, who in the winter of 1642-43 constructed fortifications around the previously undefended town, and demolished the nave of the former abbey church to provide stone for the purpose. In 1643 the town was besieged by the Parliamentarians and briefly bombarded, before the Royalists agreed to surrender it and retreat to Oxford. The collective impact of these events was to leave the town extensively damaged and the lives of its citizens considerably disrupted. Francis Bernard was probably one of those most affected, for the impact of billeting fell particularly heavily on innkeepers. The fact that he seems not to have married until the 1650s may also be evidence of the financial impact of the Civil War. His only surviving son was the Rev. Francis Bernard (1660-1715), with whom the pendulum of fortune began to swing back in favour of the family. He was probably educated at Reading Grammar School and in 1677, he was admitted to St John's College, where a kinsman, Edward Bernard, the astronomer and Hebrew scholar, had recently been a fellow and may have exerted some influence on his behalf. Having taken his first degree and his MA, he was elected to a fellowship in about 1685, and ordained the following year. He served as one of the University proctors in 1690 and remained a fellow of the college until 1698, after which he was appointed rector of Codford St. Peter (Wilts) and then in 1701, rector of Brightwell (Berks), which had been held by his kinsman Edward Bernard until his death in 1697. Brightwell was conveniently situated between Oxford and Reading, where he may still have had interests, and its location may have been one of its attractions.

In 1701, the Rev. Francis Bernard was still unmarried, but in 1711 he married Margaret Winlow, the daughter and co-heiress of a landowner from Lewknor in south Oxfordshire. They had one son, later Sir Francis Bernard (1712-79), 1st bt., but the Rev. Francis died in 1715. His widow then married the man appointed to succeed her husband as rector of Brightwell, the Rev. Anthony Alsop (c.1672-1726), but she died of smallpox in 1718 without having further children. Alsop continued to bring up his stepson, who in 1725 was sent to Westminster School, but when Alsop was accidentally drowned in 1726, Francis was left orphaned and probably became the responsibility of his uncle, the Rev. Moses Terry (c.1682-1757), who was then living in Oxford but became rector of Leadenham (Lincs) from 1729. He went straight on from Westminster to Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degrees, and then to the Middle Temple, from which he was called to the bar in 1737. He then took himself to Lincoln, where he drew on his family connections to establish a successful practice as a provincial counsel, gradually accumulating a range of legal appointments in the diocese and across the region. He was married in 1741 to the daughter of a Derbyshire landowner, and settled down in a house in the close at Lincoln, where he and his wife raised a large family, eventually of seven sons and five daughters. By the mid 1750s, his income as a successful provincial lawyer was barely able to support his large family, and as they grew up, he faced the prospect of needing to provide portions for his daughters and to establish his sons in careers. He therefore sought to exchange his settled way of life for a riskier but potentially higher reward career in colonial administration. Through his wife, he was closely related to, and on terms of personal friendship with, William Wildman Barrington (1717-93), 2nd Viscount Barrington, a prominent political figure, who was able to secure him the post of Governor of New Jersey in America, which he took up in 1758. This seems to have been regarded as a sort of 'starter post' and having discharged his duties there satisfactorily, he was moved on to the much more challenging post of Governor of Massachusetts Bay, which covered a much larger area than the later state of Massachusetts. He was in post there from 1760-70, a period which saw rapidly escalating tensions between the British government and the colonists in America. Although not uncritical of government policy, he saw it as his role to ensure that the laws determined in London were implemented, and his ability to work with the provincial assembly gradually broke down. A further account of his time in America can be found in Mrs Napier Higgins' book and a more modern summary here. By 1769 he was no longer able to govern effectively and he was recalled to London but rewarded with a baronetcy and a pension. He at first left his wife and family in America (perhaps indicating that he hoped to return, if only to manage the estates he had acquired in New England), but after he resigned his appointment in 1770, his wife and family rejoined him in England, making a harrowing winter voyage across the Atlantic in a barely seaworthy vessel.

Prebendal House, Aylesbury

A stroke in 1771 left him subject to epileptic fits and prevented him undertaking any further employment, although he did continue to advise the Government on colonial matters. Happily for his financial position, the death in 1771 of his cousin, Jane Beresford, brought him the Nether Winchendon estate in Buckinghamshire. The house was evidently then in poor repair and after a short-lived experiment in occupying it, he settled at the Prebendal House in Aylesbury, recently occupied by the turbulent MP, John Wilkes, which he leased from his friend Sir William Lee, and which remained his home for the rest of his life.

Sir Francis seems to have intended that the family's relocation to America should be permanent, but his personal unpopularity and the drift towards the American war of independence made this untenable. His eldest son, Francis (1743-70), was intended to inherit and manage his estates in America, but died while his father was in England in 1770. His second son, later Sir John Bernard (1745-1809), 2nd bt., was established as a merchant and port official in Boston, Massachusetts, roles which put him at the epicentre of the seething resentment felt by the colonists towards British taxation and customs duties, and after the Boston Tea Party in 1773 he too left America. Little is known of his later career but after briefly returning to England he probably moved to the Caribbean, where he died in 1809. Sir Francis' third surviving son, later Sir Thomas Bernard (1750-1818), 3rd bt., became a successful lawyer in London and through his career and his marriages acquired a sufficient capital to give up legal practice and devote himself to philanthropic works. He had no children, however, so on his death the baronetcy passed to the youngest and last surviving son of Sir Francis, Sir Scrope Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1758-1830), 4th bt. Perhaps because he was the youngest son, and not yet committed to a career, it was to Scrope that his father chose to bequeath the Nether Winchendon estate in 1779. For much of the next decade, Scrope was in Ireland, acting as Private Secretary to the Marquess of Buckingham while he was Lord Lieutenant. On his return to England, Buckingham found him a seat in Parliament controlled by the Grenville family (Aylesbury until 1806, and then St Mawes) which he held almost continuously until his death, and from 1789-92 he held a junior ministerial post in the Home Office. In 1785 he had married a banker's daughter and he subsequently became a partner in his father-in-law's firm. He therefore had the means to improve his house and estate at Nether Winchendon, and from about 1790 he devoted himself to improvements in a slightly dated Gothick style which he designed himself. In 1803 he also bought an estate at Great Kimble, where he had plans to build a new house which never came to fruition.

Sir Scrope Bernard-Morland had five sons and two daughters. His two eldest sons died in his lifetime, and he was therefore succeeded by Sir Francis Bernard-Morland (1790-1876), 5th bt., who was left two-thirds of his father's banking interests and the estate at Great Kimble. Unfortunately, the bank (Duckett, Morland & Co.) failed in 1832, and although the assets of the partners exceeded their liabilities and they were not bankrupted, Sir Francis was obliged to sell Great Kimble (retaining only a small house called Askett Lodge) and was thereafter in greatly reduced financial circumstances, and he remained unmarried and without issue. On his death, the title therefore passed to his next brother, Sir Thomas Tyringham Bernard-Morland (1791-1883), 6th bt., who had been left the Nether Winchendon estate and a smaller share in the family bank, which meant his share of the bank's losses was a more manageable £8,000.  He was the Liberal MP for Aylesbury, 1857-65, and was twice married. By his first wife he had two sons and two daughters, but the only one to survive him was his younger daughter, Sophia Elizabeth Charlotte (1829-1919), who was married to Joseph Napier Higgins (1826-99), an Irish barrister. Sophia had strong historical interests, and was very aware of her position as the last of the Bernards, and this led her to compile an admirable family history, published in two volumes in 1903, which drew not just on the records in her own possession but also on documents in the hands of her relatives and official records such as wills and parish registers. Much of the genealogical detail below is taken from her books, although I have cross-checked it with other sources where possible.

Sophia and Joseph Napier Higgins had only one surviving son, Lt-Col. Francis Tyringham Higgins (1864-1935), who took the additional surname Bernard by deed poll in 1897. He qualified as a barrister but seems to have given up the law to pursue a military career, which was ended when he was wounded in the First World War. When he inherited Nether Winchendon in 1919 it was rather neglected, as his elderly mother had wanted it kept unchanged. Col. Higgins-Bernard brought in Philip Tilden to give the house a thorough but self-effacing makeover in 1921-24, and lived there with his wife. Much feted as an all-round sportsman in his youth, it is rather ironic that he should have died of a heart attack while playing tennis in 1935. As he had no children or siblings or Bernard cousins, he left Nether Winchendon to his widow for life, and then to Dr. John Gray Churchill Spencer (1907-77), a great-grandson of the 6th baronet's younger sister, Mary Anne Spencer (later Glanville) (1797-1882). Dr. Spencer came into his inheritance in 1954, and took the additional name Bernard in 1955, as Col. Higgins-Bernard had wished. After many years when maintenance had been difficult if not impossible, the house was again in need of a major overhaul, which was undertaken in 1954-58. This time the work was less sympathetic than Tilden's had been, and one of the two 'cloister' arcades built by Sir Scrope Bernard was pulled down, together with the Gothick porch on the west front.

With a view to avoiding future death duties, Dr. Spencer-Bernard handed over much of the Nether Winchendon estate to his elder son, Charles Francis Churchill Spencer-Bernard (1942-2016) on his coming of age in 1963, with the intention of making over the house and its immediate grounds later. However, Charles subsequently married and settled in France, and made it known that he did not intend to return to England. Dr Spencer-Bernard therefore handed over the house to his younger son, Robert Vere Spencer-Bernard (b. 1944), who is the present owner. This has had the unfortunate effect of separating the house from the estate which supported it, and the house has been sustained, and in recent years restored, only by income from commercial activities and earned income.

Nether Winchendon Manor, Buckinghamshire

The house has a long and complex history, although much of its current external appearance is due to the improvements of Sir Scrope Bernard (1758-1830), 4th bt., between 1790 and 1815. It is essentially an L-shaped building, comprising a main south range and a subordinate west range set at right-angles to it. The core of the house, in the centre of the south range, is a 14th or 15th century timber-framed hall which belonged to Notley Abbey (Bucks). This was leased from 1527 to Sir John Daunce (d. 1545), a London goldsmith who was one of Henry VIII's privy councillors and surveyor-general of Crown lands. It was then apparently in poor condition, and over the next decade Daunce repaired and extended it, adding a chamber wing that forms the east end of the south range. His work was constructed of close-studded timbering (now largely concealed by later work), with brick chimneystacks, and four of his finely ornamented brick chimneys survive. The long west range of the house was probably added in the late 16th century for the Tyringham family, and the bay windows at either end suggest it may have been created as a series of lodgings for guests, although it was later repurposed as a service wing.

Nether Winchendon House: simplified ground plan

Thus the house remained until after 1779, when Scrope Bernard inherited the estate from his father (the family baronetcy only devolved on him in 1818 after the death of two of his brothers). Alongside a notable career in public affairs and banking, Scrope was a passionate antiquarian and an enthusiast for the Gothick style. Indeed, there was a lot of Gothick in his family, for he was cousin to both the 2nd Viscount Barrington, who remodelled Beckett Park to the designs of Sanderson Miller in 1766-69, and to Shute Barrington, the Bishop of Durham for whom James Wyatt remodelled Auckland Castle in the 1790s. Scrope's work at Nether Winchendon was much closer in spirit to the pre-archaeological whimsical Gothick of Miller than it was to the more contemporary simplicity of Wyatt. He concentrated his efforts on making the exterior of the old house more picturesque, and hinting at monastic origins through the construction of two arcades at right-angles to one another, suggesting they were part of a former cloister. Scrope was his own architect, but the work was carried out under the direction of Thomas Harris of Ashenden, mason, who no doubt helped with the practical realisation of his ideas. The different materials of which the house was composed were concealed beneath a unifying coat of white painted stucco, which contributed to the delicate cake-icing quality of the Gothick decoration: this, sadly, was removed in the 1920s.

Nether Winchendon House: engraving of the house c.1820, soon after the completion of Scrope Bernard's alterations.

Work continued at intervals over a period of some 25 years, between 1790 and 1815, but began in the former year with the construction of towers at either end of the south range, which were formed by wrapping a skin of stone around the existing chimneystacks and end walls of the chamber block and the kitchen. The south-east tower was also given bartizans, one with a tall pepperpot top. 

Nether Winchendon House: the east end of the south range

Scrope also replaced the cupola in the centre of the south range, giving it an ogee top. On the rear (north) elevation of the chamber block, he added a two-storey extension, and in 1797-99 he extended this across the back of the hall to connect with the west range. His new work has a battlemented parapet, with mock machicolation under it and pointed windows set between slender, closely-spaced, buttresses. 

Nether Winchendon House: view from the north in 2011, looking through the surviving 'cloister' screen to Scrope Bernard's additions to
the south and west ranges of the 1790s. Image: Nick Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

Attention then turned to the west range of the house. The east side of this was given a similar treatment to the north face of the south range, but as the two ranges are of different heights there is a slightly awkward step in levels where they meet. The west side of the west range was less altered, but was given a new single-storey Gothick portico with ogee arches in the centre. At the same time, a screen of Gothick arches was built to connect the north end of the range with an 18th century pavilion to its east, and a few years later, in 1802, a similar arcade was built connecting the pavilion to the south range. These additions were clearly intended to suggest the survival of two ranges of the cloister garth of a monastery, and led to the house being known locally as 'The Priory'. Finally, on this side of the house, in 1810-12 the 18th century pavilion between the arcades was replaced with the present Garden Tower, which has a large Gothick window echoing the form of that in the north end of the west range.

Nether Winchendon House: the house from the north-west in the late 19th century. Image: Historic England.

Nether Winchendon House: the south front in 1979.  Image: Nick Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

Once work on the arcades was complete, Scrope Bernard turned his attention to the main south front of the house and the rooms within. In 1802-06 the south front was remodelled with a crenellated parapet and false machicolations like those on the north side of the range. In 1805, the medieval roof of the Great Hall was removed and replaced by a simple ribbed plaster vault, similar in form to those installed earlier in the entrance hall and the gallery above it. The screens passage was also removed and the space it occupied at the west end of the hall was added to a room behind to create the present Justice Room. Finally, in 1812-15 the pretty first-floor verandah towards the south-east corner of the house was created.

In addition to designing and building his own Gothick exteriors, Scrope Bernard was an enthusiastic collector of salvaged materials such as panelling and chimneypieces from old houses in his neighbourhood which were being pulled down or remodelled, such as Eythorpe Park, where there was a major demolition sale in 1810. As a result it is sometimes difficult to be sure which fittings are indigenous to the house and which are pieces that Bernard brought in. The panelling of the hall is 17th century and probably imported, but a doorway at the east end of the hall has Sir John Daunce's name on it and is presumably in situ. The hall chimneypiece, which has a frieze of grotesques, also looks like Daunce's work. 

Nether Winchendon House: ceiling decoration of c.1530 in the drawing room, photographed in 1979.  Image: Nick Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

The drawing room, at the east end of the south range, has fine linenfold panelling and a frieze and ceiling decoration of foliage, candelabra, grotesques and mermaids holding medallions with heads in profile and Daunce's initials and arms. This is high quality work of c.1530 and similar in style to decoration in the Abbot's Parlour at nearby Thame Park (Oxon) (c.1530-39) and formerly at Notley Abbey (now at the Manor House, Weston-on-the-Green (Oxon)), and it seems likely that Daunce brought Royal craftsmen to the area to execute it, who were then further employed locally. The alterations Scrope Bernard made to the exterior of the house necessitated some rearrangement of the panelling in this room, and he inserted some replica panels which bear his arms and those of the Tyringhams. The fireplace is 18th century, and was perhaps imported by Scrope, while the stained glass in the windows is a mixture of new work (with his arms) and old glass reused.

Nether Winchendon House: the house from the south-east today. 

The collapse of the bank in which the family had a stake in 1832 meant that for much of the 19th century the family was in financial difficulties, and a lack of ready money no doubt saved the house from radical Victorian interventions. By the time Lt-Col. Francis Tyringham Napier Higgins-Bernard (1864-1935) inherited the house from his mother in 1919, however, the house was rather run-down, dark and gloomy, and he brought in Philip Tilden to carry out some modernisation in 1921-24. His most visible contribution was to add the porch on the north side of the south range, but he also created bedrooms in the roof space, allowing rooms on the floor below to be released for service use, and remodelled the entrance hall. It seems probable that Tilden also removed the Gothick portico from the west front, but this may have been done as part of a further programme of work in 1954-58 by F. Russell Cox of Burford (Oxon), when the arcade between the Garden Tower and the south range was also removed, destroying the illusion of a cloister garth, but bringing more light into the house.

Descent: Notley Abbey; leased 1527 to Sir John Daunce (d. 1545); when the Abbey was dissolved in 1539 the freehold passed to the Crown, which continued Daunce's lease until his death; granted 1547 to John Russell, Baron Russell of Chenies and later 1st Earl of Bedford, who sold 1559 to William Goodwin; sold 1571 to Thomas Tyringham, who settled it 1578 on his younger son, Thomas Tyringham (d. 1629); to son, Thomas Tyringham (d. 1656/7); to brother, Francis Tyringham; to son, John Tyringham (d. 1704); to brother Francis Tyringham (d. 1727); to son, Francis Tyringham (d. 1735); to sisters, Parnell, wife of Charles Pilsworth and Mary Tyringham (d. 1745); to cousin, Jane (d. 1771), wife of Christopher Beresford; to cousin, Sir Francis Bernard (1712-79), 1st bt.; to brother, Sir Scrope Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1758-1830), 4th bt.; to son, Sir Francis Bernard-Morland (1790-1876), 5th bt.; to brother, Sir Thomas Tyringham Bernard (1791-1883), 6th bt.; to daughter, Sophia Elizabeth Charlotte (1829-1919), wife of Joseph Napier Higgins QC (1826-99); to son, Lt-Col. Francis Tyringham Napier Higgins-Bernard (1864-1935); to kinsman, John Grey Churchill Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard) (1907-77); to younger son, Robert Vere Spencer-Bernard (b. 1944).

Bernard (later Spencer-Bernard) family of Nether Winchendon

Bernard, Thomas (c.1560-1628). Fourth son of Francis Bernard (c.1526-1602) [for whom see my post on the Bernards of Abington and Brampton] and his wife Alice (d. 1612?), daughter of John Haslewood of Maidwell (Northants), born about 1560. He married Sarah [surname unknown] (d. 1640) and had issue:

(1) Abigail Bernard (b. 1608), baptised at St Mary, Reading, 28 February 1607/8; married, 15 January 1637/8, Thomas Marsh (d. 1661) of Reading, and had issue at least one son and one daughter;

(2) Barbara Bernard (1613-14), baptised at St Mary, Reading, 15 October 1613; died in infancy and was buried at St Mary, Reading, 4 February 1613/4;

(3) Francis Bernard (1614-80) (q.v.);

(4) Mary Bernard (b. 1620); baptised at St Mary, Reading, 2 September 1620; perhaps died in Reading during the Civil War;

(5) George Bernard (1623-34), baptised at St Mary, Reading, 28 September 1623; died of smallpox and was buried at St Mary, Reading, 19 October 1634. 

He lived at Reading (Berks).

He was buried at St Mary, Reading, 14 December 1628. His widow was also buried at St Mary, Reading, 9 January 1639/40.

Bernard, Francis (1614-80). Elder son of Thomas Bernard (c.1560-1628) and his wife Sarah [surname unknown], baptised at St Mary, Reading, 28 December 1614. He may have been the innkeeper of The Bear in Reading, which was the address from which he was summoned to appear at the heralds' visitation in 1665/6. He married, Sarah [surname unknown], and had issue:

(1) James Bernard (c.1658-65), probably born about 1658; died young and was buried at St Mary, Reading, 4 October 1665;

(2) Rev. Francis Bernard (1660-1715) (q.v.);

(3) Ann Bernard (b. 1662), baptised at St Mary, Reading, 6 April 1662;

(4) Martha Bernard (b. 1663), baptised at St Mary, Reading, 14 December 1663;

(5) Elizabeth Bernard (1666-68), baptised at St Mary, Reading, 27 September 1666; died in infancy, 14 August 1668.

He lived at Reading.

He was buried at St Mary, Reading, 10 October 1680. His widow is usually said to have died in 1685 and been buried at St Mary, Reading, but there seems to be no such entry in the register and her son's will suggests she was still living in 1715; she may be the 'Sarah Barnard' of Reading, widow, whose will was proved in the Berkshire Archdeaconry Court in 1716.

Bernard, Rev. Francis (1660-1715). Second, but only surviving, son of Francis Bernard (1614-80) and his wife Sarah [surname unknown], baptised at St Mary, Reading, 31 December 1660. Educated at Reading Grammar School and St John's College, Oxford (matriculated 1677; BA 1681; MA 1685; BD 1691). Ordained deacon, 1686 and priest, 1689. Fellow of St John's College, Oxford, c.1685-98; University Proctor, 1690. Rector of Codford St Peter (Wilts), 1698-1703; rector of Brightwell (Berks), 1702-15. JP for Berkshire. He married, 17 August 1711 at Lewknor (Oxon), Margery alias Margaret (1681-1718), daughter of Richard Winlow (d. 1709) of Lewknor, and had issue:

(1) Sir Francis Bernard (1712-79), 1st bt. (q.v.).

He lived in Oxford, and later at Codford St Peter and Brightwell. It is not known when he sold his Reading property. Through his marriage he acquired his father-in-law's property at Lewknor.

He died 14 December 1715 and was buried at Lewknor; his will was proved in the PCC, 8 May 1716. His widow married 2nd, 31 December 1716 at Brightwell, Rev. Anthony Alsop (c.1672-1726), who succeeded her first husband as rector of Brightwell; she died of smallpox and was buried at Lewknor, 22 May 1718.

Sir Francis Bernard, 1st bt. 

Bernard, Sir Francis (1712-79), 1st bt. Only child of Rev. Francis Bernard (1660-1715) and his wife Margery alias Margeret, daughter of Richard Winlow of Lewknor (Oxon), baptised at Brightwell, 10 July 1712. Educated at Westminster (admitted 1725), Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1729; BA 1733; MA 1736) and Middle Temple (admitted 1733; called 1737). Barrister-at-law, who settled at Lincoln as a provinicial counsel and was admitted a notary public, 1738. Commissioner of Bails for Lincoln, York, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, 1740. Steward of the City of Lincoln, 1744; Deputy Recorder of Boston, 1744; Receiver-General of the Dean & Chapter of Lincoln, 1745; Proctor of the Consistory Court of Lincoln, 1750; Commissary General of the Peculiars in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, 1756. Through the influence of the 2nd Viscount Barrington, and in order to provide for his large family, he was appointed Capt-Gen. and Governor of New Jersey, 1758-59 and subsequently of Massachusetts Bay, 1759-70. As a reward for the firmness with which he implemented the decisions of the British government in the colony, he was created a baronet, 5 April 1769, but simultaneously was ordered to return to England, where he resigned the appointment the following year, being subsequently awarded a pension of a rather paltry £500 a year, later increased to £800 a year. His appointment to the Board of Commissioners for Ireland was announced in 1771 but before it could take effect he suffered a severe stroke from which he recovered only partially, being left subject to epileptic fits. He married, December 1741, Amelia (1717-78), daughter of Stephen Offley of Norton Hall (Derbys), and had issue:

(1) Francis Bernard (1743-70), baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 26 September 1743; educated at Westminster (admitted 1757), where he suffered serious head injuries through being tossed in a blanket as part of an initiation ritual, and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1761; BA 1766); after taking his degree he joined his family in America, where his father seems to have trained him to act as agent for his American estates; died, possibly as a result of the brain injury he had suffered in 1757, 5 November 1770 and was buried at the King's Chapel, Boston;

(2) Sir John Bernard (1745-1809), 2nd bt. (q.v.);

(3) Jane Bernard (1746-1823), born 23 August and baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 15 September 1746; did not accompany her parents to America but remained with her father's cousin, Jane Beresford, at Nether Winchendon; married, 22 December 1774 at Aylesbury (Bucks), Charles White (c.1728-1810) of Lincoln, barrister-at-law, son of Fitzwilliam White of Louth (Lincs), and had issue one son and three daughters; died 2 February 1823;

(4) Joseph Bernard (b. & d. 1747), baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 19 August 1747; died in infancy, reputedly on 22 August 1747;

(5) Amelia Bernard (b. & d. 1749), baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 14 January 1748/9; died in infancy, 4 November 1749;

(6) Sir Thomas Bernard (1750-1818), 3rd bt. (q.v.);

(7) Shute Bernard (1752-67), born 26 July and baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 22 August 1752; probably educated in Boston (Mass.); died young, 5 April 1767, and was buried at the King's Chapel, Boston;

(8) Amelia Bernard (1754-95), born 16 September and baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 18 October 1754; married, 28 April 1783 at St Mary Magdalene, Lincoln, Benjamin Baker of Lincoln, and had issue at least two sons; died 18 January 1795;

(9) William Bernard (1756-76), born 27 May and baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 25 June 1756; educated at Harrow (admitted 1771); an officer in the army (Ensign, c.1775; Lt. 1776); drowned off Charmouth (Dorset) while proceeding to Canada with his regiment, March 1776;

(10) Frances Elizabeth (k/a Fanny) Bernard (1757-1821), born 25 July and baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 27 August 1757; did not accompany her parents to America but remained with her father's cousin, Jane Beresford, at Nether Winchendon; author of Female Scripture Characters exemplifying female virtues which ran through at least twelve editions; married, 17 August 1782 at St Anne, Soho, Westminster, Rev. Richard King (c.1749-1811), vicar of Steeple Morden (Cambs), 1782-1811, and rector of Worthen (Shrops.), 1784-1811, son of Henry King of Bristol; died 28 December 1821; will proved in the PCC, 1 February 1822;

(11) Sir Scrope Bernard (1758-1830), 4th bt. (q.v.);

(12) Julia Bernard (1759-1834), born 19 November 1759; educated at Berkhamsted (Herts); married, 7 August 1779 at Aylesbury (Bucks), Rev. Joseph Smith (c.1748-1825), rector of Saltfleetby St Peter (Lincs), 1774-1802, vicar of Wendover (Bucks), 1777-1802, Aston Abbotts (Bucks), 1790-1802 and of Melksham (Wilts), 1801-25; prebendary of Salisbury, 1802-25, and had issue one son; died at Grantham (Lincs), 10 December 1834; will proved in the PCC, 12 January 1835.

He inherited his grandfather's lands at Lewknor but sold them to All Souls College, Oxford in 1742 and 1744. He settled at Lincoln and lived there until his appointment to New Jersey in 1758. He returned to England on being recalled from his Governorship in 1769 and rented a house at Hampstead (Middx). His wife and most of the family remained in America in 1769, but she rejoined her husband in England in 1771. Later in 1771 he inherited the Nether Winchendon estate from his first cousin, Mrs. Jane Beresford. He moved there after recovering from his stroke, but found the situation too remote, and instead leased the Prebendal House at Aylesbury (Bucks) from Sir William Lee.

He died 16 June 1779 and was buried at Aylesbury; his will was proved in July 1779. His wife died 26 May 1778 and was buried at Aylesbury (Bucks); administration of her goods was granted 11 May and 6 July 1779.

Bernard, Sir John (1745-1809), 2nd bt. Second, but eldest surviving, son of Sir Francis Bernard (1712-79), 1st bt., and his wife Amelia, daughter of Stephen Offley of Norton Hall (Derbys), born 26 January and baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 27 January 1744/5. Probably educated at Lincoln GS. He then followed his father to America, where he was a member of the Boston Corps of Cadets by 1765. He became a merchant in Boston and Naval Officer to the port of Boston until the outbreak of the War of Independence; it is thought that he was one of those worst affected by the 'Boston Tea Party' of 1773, and by the close of 1774 he had been driven out of Boston. He then journeyed to England but returned to America later in 1775, probably intending to employ himself in developing his father's lands in America. These were confiscated after the Revolution although half the lands were later returned to him and then sold. He is said to have later held administrative posts in Barbados and St. Vincent. He was unmarried and without issue.

He lived in Boston and later in the Caribbean.

He died on the island of Domenica, 16 August 1809.

Sir Thomas Bernard, 3rd bt. 

Bernard, Sir Thomas (1750-1818), 3rd bt. Fourth, but second surviving, son of Sir Francis Bernard (1712-79), 1st bt., and his wife Amelia, daughter of Stephen Offley of Norton Hall (Derbys), born in Lincoln, 27 April and baptised at St Margaret-in-the-Close, Lincoln, 25 July 1750. Educated at a school in New Jersey and Harvard University (AB 1770), although his studies were interrupted by acting as private secretary to his father. He returned to England with his father in 1769 and against his father's wish, continued his education at the Middle Temple (admitted 1772; called 1780). He was appointed a Commissary of Musters, c.1772, and this helped to fund his studies. Barrister-at-law, but because of a speech impediment he practiced chiefly as a conveyancer. Chancellor of the Diocese of Durham, 1801, where he initiated the foundation of a teacher training college. Having, through his marriage and a successful legal practice, acquired a modest fortune, he retired from the law and devoted himself to philanthropic activities. He was a Governor of the Foundling Hospital, London (Treasurer, 1795-1806), where he oversaw the development of the charity's estates to increase its revenue, and introduced reforms to the feeding and heating of the institution first suggested by Count Rumford, which were subsequently widely adopted. He was also a promoter of many other charitable institutions, including the School for the Indigent Blind, 1800; the Royal Institution, 1800; the Fever Institution, 1801; the Albert Club; and the Royal Society for the Promotion of the Arts, 1806. He was the author of several works, and was awarded honorary degrees by the Archbishop of Canterbury (MA, 1801) and Edinburgh University (LLD, 1801). He succeeded his brother as 3rd baronet, 16 August 1809. He married 1st, 11 May 1782 at St Anne, Soho, Westminster (Middx), Margaret (1755-1813), daughter and co-heir of Patrick Adair, and 2nd, 15 June 1815 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Charlotte Matilda (1766-1846), fifth daughter of Sir Edward Hulse, 2nd bt., but had no male issue.

After returning to England, he lived in London.

He died at Leamington Spa (Warks), 1 July, and was buried 10 July 1818, in the chapel of the Foundling Hospital; his will was proved in the PCC, 27 July 1818. His first wife died 6 January 1813 and was buried in the chapel of the Foundling Hospital. His widow died 20 July 1845, and her will was proved in the PCC, 4 August 1846.

Bernard (later Bernard-Morland), Sir Scrope (1758-1830), 4th bt. Seventh and youngest son of Sir Francis Bernard (1712-79), 1st bt., and his wife Amelia, daughter of Stephen Offley of Norton Hall (Derbys), born at Pestel Amburg (New Jersey), 1 October 1758. Educated at Harrow (admitted 1771) and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1775; BA 1779; MA 1781; DCL 1788). Private Secretary to the Marquess of Buckingham as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1782-83, 1787-89; Secretary of the Commission of Enquiry into Public Offices, 1785; an officer in the Buckinghamshire militia (Capt., 1786) and the Aylesbury Volunteers (Capt., 1803); Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, 1787-89. He was an advocate at Doctor's Commons in London, 1789-1801, and was Chancellor of the Durham Consistory Court, 1795-1818. MP for Aylesbury, 1789-1806 and for St Mawes, 1806-08, 1809-30, in both cases with the support of the Grenville interest; Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office, 1789-92. A partner in Ransom, Hammersley & Morland (the bank of his wife's father), c.1792-1819 and later of his own bank, Morland, Auriol & Co. (later Duckett, Morland & Co.), 1819-30. He had royal licence to take the surname Tyringham Bernard, 8 May 1789, though his name never seems to be recorded in this form, and then to take the name Bernard-Morland, 15 February 1811. He succeeded his elder brother as 4th baronet, 1 July 1818. He had a reputation for honesty, sincerity and modesty, and for his concern with philanthropic legislation. He married, 26 July 1785 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Hannah (1762-1822), only child of William Morland of Lee (Kent), surgeon, banker and MP for Taunton, and had issue:

(1) William Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1786-1820), born 7 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 26 July 1786; educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1804; MA 1807); High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, 1811-12; died unmarried at Caen (France), 21 November, and was buried at Great Kimble, 27 December 1820;

(2) Thomas Bernard (b. 1787), born 15 October and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 28 November 1787; said to have died in infancy;

(3) Margaret Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1788-1859), born 22 December 1788 and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 13 January 1789; married, 18 January 1816 at St James, Westminster, Capt. Henry Pigott (1780-1864) of Eagle Hill (Co. Galway), and had issue one son; died 7 June 1859 and was buried at Loughrea (Co. Galway); administration of her goods was granted to her brothers, 23 May 1863;

(4) Sir Francis Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1790-1876), 5th bt. (q.v.);

(5) Sir Thomas Tyringham Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1791-1883), 6th bt. (q.v.);

(6) Richard Scrope Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1793-1833), born 13 August and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 11 September 1793; educated at Westminster School and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; joined the Royal Navy but left after his first voyage and became an officer in the Bengal Army (Cadet, 1810; Fireworker, 1811; Lt., 1817; Capt., 1827); died unmarried at Dum-Dum (India), 15 October 1833, where he was commemorated by a memorial in the cemetery;

(7) Mary Anne Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1797-1882) [for whom see below].

He inherited the Nether Winchendon estate on the death of his father in 1779, and purchased the manor of Great Kimble (Bucks) in 1803 for more than £18,000. He lived partly at Great Kimble, which his wife preferred. He remodelled Nether Winchendon and intended to build a new house at Great Kimble, but apparently did nothing there.

He died 18 April 1830 and was buried at Gt. Kimble; his will was proved August 1830. His wife died 4 March 1822, and was buried at Gt. Kimble.

Bernard (later Bernard-Morland), Sir Francis (1790-1876), 5th bt. Third, but eldest surviving, son of Sir Scrope Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1758-1830), 4th bt., and his wife Hannah, only child of William Morland of Lee (Kent), surgeon, banker and MP for Taunton, born 7 June and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 7 July 1790. Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1806). He joined the family banking business, Duckett Morland & Co., which failed in 1832, when his share of the liabilities was £18,950. He succeeded his father as 5th baronet, 18 April 1830. JP and DL for Buckinghamshire. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited the Great Kimble estate from his father in 1830, but sold most of it after the collapse of Duckett, Morland & Co. in 1832.

He died at Askett Lodge, Gt Kimble, 23 January, and was buried at Gt. Kimble, 28 January 1876; his will was proved 26 February 1876 (effects under £600).

Bernard (later Bernard-Morland), Sir Thomas Tyringham (1791-1883), 6th bt. Fourth son of Sir Scrope Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1758-1830), 4th bt., and his wife Hannah, only child of William Morland of Lee (Kent), surgeon, banker and MP for Taunton, born 15 September and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 11 October 1791. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1810). A partner in Duckett, Morland & Co. of Westminster, bankers, until it failed in 1832, when his share of the liabilities was £8,000. High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, 1816-17; Lt-Col. of the Buckinghamshire Militia; Liberal MP for Aylesbury, 1857-65. He succeeded his elder brother as 6th baronet, 23 January 1876. He married 1st, 26 July 1819 at Aston Clinton (Bucks), Sophia Charlotte (1795-1837), daughter of [Sir] David Williams of Sarratt (Herts), [soi disant 10th bt.]; 2nd, 12 October 1840, at St Pancras (Middx), Martha Louisa (1799-1855), second daughter and coheir of William Minshull of Kentish Town (Middx); and 3rd, 28 July 1864 at St Paul, Hampstead (Middx), Ellen (1832-69), daughter of Isaac Nott of Castle Combe (Wilts), shopkeeper, and widow of Henry Elwes of Marcham Park (Berks), and had issue:

(1.1) Letitia Charlotte Bernard-Morland (1820-65), born 11 September 1820 and was baptised at Sarratt; married, 5 September 1850, as his first wife, her cousin Francis Bernard Pigott (d. 1872) of Eagle Hill (Co. Galway), but had no issue; died at Neufchatel (France), 17 December 1865;

(1.2) Sophia Elizabeth Charlotte Bernard-Morland (1829-1919) (q.v.);

(1.3) David Williams Bernard-Morland (1830-53), born 5 December and baptised at St James, Westminster, 23 December 1830; died unmarried in the lifetime of his father, 23 December 1853, and was buried at Nether Winchendon;

(1.4) Edward Stanley Bernard-Morland (1835-45), born 3 May 1835; died young, 21 April 1846.

He inherited the Nether Winchendon estate from his father in 1830.

He died aged 91 at Cadogan Lodge, Carlyle Sq., Chelsea, 8 May 1883, when his baronetcy became extinct; his will was proved 24 July 1883 (effects £48,000). His first wife died 15 May 1837. His second wife died 18 April 1855; administration of her goods (with will annexed) was granted in the PCC, 23 May 1855. His third wife died 6 November and was buried at Brompton Cemetery, 13 November 1869; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 4 December 1869 (effects under £12,000).

Bernard-Morland, Sophia Elizabeth Charlotte (1829-1919). Second daughter, but only surviving child, of Sir Thomas Tyringham Bernard-Morland (1791-1883), 6th bt., and his first wife, Sophia Charlotte, daughter of [Sir] David Williams of Sarratt (Herts), soi-disant 10th bt., born 8 July, and baptised at St James, Westminster, 6 August 1829. A historian, she was author of Women of Europe of the 15th and 16th centuries (1885) and a two volume history of her family, The Bernards of Abington and Nether Winchendon (1903). She married, 13 June 1861, at Lower Winchendon, Joseph Napier Higgins (1826-99), barrister-at-law (QC 1872), third son of Joseph Higgins of Clonmel (Co. Tipperary), and had issue:

(1) Lt-Col. Francis Tyringham Higgins (later Higgins-Bernard) (1864-1935) (q.v.);

(2) Edward Stanley Higgins (b. & d. 1866), baptised at St Paul, Hampstead (Middx), 15 February 1866; died in infancy and was buried at Kentish Town & Highgate Cemetery (Middx), 10 April 1866.

She inherited the Nether Winchendon estate from her father in 1883. She and her husband also had a town house at 24 The Boltons, South Kensington (Middx).

She died 20 January 1919; her will was proved 18 March 1919 (estate £78,172). Her husband died 17 December 1899; his will was proved 1 May 1900 (estate £245,070).

Higgins (later Higgins-Bernard), Lt-Col. Francis Tyringham (1864-1935). Son of James Napier Higgins QC (1826-99) and his wife Sophia Elizabeth Charlotte, second daughter but only surviving child and heir of Sir Thomas Tyringham Bernard-Morland, 6th bt, born 22 July and baptised at St Paul, Hampstead (Middx), 20 August 1864. Educated at Westminster,  Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1883; BA 1887; MA 1890; Football blue) and Lincoln's Inn (called 1889). Barrister-at-law. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in the St Austell division, 1910, and in Buckinghamshire North later the same year. An officer in the Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars (Capt., 1889) and later in the Rifle Brigade (Capt., 1897; Major, 1904) and the militia battn, Oxfordshire Light Infantry (Maj., 1905; Lt-Col. 1912; retired 1916), who served in the First World War (wounded). JP for Buckinghamshire and County Councillor; High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, 1924-25; DL for Buckinghamshire from 1922; twice Master of the Worshipful Company of Skinners in London. He assumed the additional name of Bernard by deed poll in 1897. An all-round sportsman, he displayed particular prowess at cricket and football, having the highest public school batting average in 1882 and being captain of the Christ Church cricket XI. He was also winner of the Officers' Sabre Competition at the Military Tournament of 1904 and of the Bar point-to-point in 1900 and 1908. He married, 27 April 1897 at Kingsey (Bucks), Evelyn Georgiana (1872-1954), daughter of Philip James Digby Wykeham of Barnsley Park (Glos) and later of Tythrop House, Kingsey, but had no issue.

He inherited the Nether Winchendon estate from his mother in 1919 and remodelled the house to the design of Philip Tilden. At his death he left the house to his widow for life, with remainder to his kinsman, Dr John Gray Churchill Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard) (1907-77).

He died of a heart attack while playing tennis, 13 July, and was buried at Lower Winchendon, 16 July 1935; his will was proved 14 October 1935 (estate £256,989). His widow died 19 June 1954; her will was proved 13 August 1954 and 11 January 1955 (estate £87,636).

---

Bernard (later Bernard-Morland), Mary Anne (1797-1882). Younger daughter of Sir Scrope Bernard (later Bernard-Morland) (1758-1830), 4th bt., and his wife Hannah, only child of William Morland of Lee (Kent), surgeon, banker and MP for Taunton, born 11 February and baptised at St John, Smith Sq, Westminster (Middx), 24 March 1797. She married 1st, 6 October 1823 at Lower Winchendon (Bucks), Rev. Frederick Charles Spencer (1796-1831), rector of Wheatfield (Oxon), 1820-31, son of John Spencer (1767-1831), and maternal grandson of George Spencer (1739-1817), 4th Duke of Marlborough, and 2nd, 25 July 1835 at St Marylebone (Middx), Rev. Edward Fanshawe Glanville (1807-78), rector of Wheatfield, 1833-78, third son of Francis Glanville (d. 1846) of Catchfrench (Cornwall), and had issue:

(1.1) Harriett Frances Spencer (1824-99), born 7 October 1824; died unmarried, 29 June, and was buried at St Giles, Oxford, 1 July 1899; will proved 29 July 1899 (estate £9,373);

(1.2) Rev. Charles Vere Spencer (1827-98) (q.v.);

(1.3) George Bernard Spencer (1829-53), born 27 July 1829; died unmarried at Little Kimble (Bucks), 2 November 1853.

She died in Oxford, 21 January 1882; her will was proved 21 February 1882 (effects £3,414). Her first husband died 2 October 1831. Her second husband died in Oxford, 9 August 1878; his will was proved 26 November 1878 (effects under £3,000).

Spencer, Rev. Charles Vere (1827-98). Elder son of Rev. Frederick Charles Spencer (1796-1831), rector of Wheatfield (Oxon) and his wife Mary Anne, younger daughter of Sir Scrope Bernard (later Tyringham-Bernard and then Bernard-Morland), 4th bt., born 17 May 1827. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1845; BA 1849; MA 1852). Ordained deacon, 1851, and priest, 1852. Curate of St Peter, Northampton (Northants), 1851-52 and Adwell (Oxon), 1852-66; rector and patron of Wheatfield (Oxon), 1852-98. JP for Oxfordshire. A freemason from 1850. He married, 22 June 1852 at Bathwick (Som.), Emma Frederica (1834-1907), daughter of John Robert à Court Gray (d. 1872) of Kingweston (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Aubrey John Spencer (1853-1935), born 18 June 1853; educated at Marlborough, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1872; BA 1877; MA 1884) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1876; called 1879); barrister at law; JP for Oxfordshire; married, 9 April 1885 at Chislehurst (Kent), Florence Mary (1862-1952), daughter of Frederick Halsey Janson, of Chislehurst, solicitor, and had issue one son and three daughters; died 19 June 1935; will proved 8 August 1935 and 6 January 1936 (estate £4,158);

(2) George Trevor Spencer (1855-1931), born 6 February 1855; joined the Royal Navy (midshipman, 1869) but later became a civil engineer; died unmarried, 8 February 1931; will proved 29 June 1931 (estate £128);

(3) Mildred Frances Spencer (1856-1923), born 5 April 1856; died unmarried; 16 May 1923; will proved 27 July 1923 (estate £3,659);

(4) Frederica Marion Spencer (1858-1951), born 6 July 1858; died unmarried, aged 93, on 3 August 1951; will proved 13 November 1951 (estate £2,884);

(5) Edmund Vere Spencer (1866-1944), born 13 November 1866; educated at Haileybury and Keble College, Oxford (matriculated 1885; BA 1889); an officer in the Royal Engineers (2nd Lt., 1900; Lt., 1901; Capt., 1906; ret. 1921); died unmarried, 7 February, and was buried at Hendon Cemetery, 10 February 1934; administration of goods granted 12 May 1944 (estate £182);

(6) Sir Charles Gordon Spencer (1869-1934), kt. (q.v.);

(7) Rev. Frederick Augustus Morland Spencer (1878-1962), born 23 July 1878; educated at Bradfield Sch and Brasenose College, Oxford (BA 1901; MA 1902; DD 1929); ordained deacon, 1905, and priest, 1906; curate at Bishop Monkton (Co. Durham), 1905-06, St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, 1906-12 and Habergham Eaves, Burnley (Lancs), 1912-14; chaplain in diocese of Melbourne, 1914-17 and to Australian Imperial Forces, 1917-19; chaplain to Brasenose College, 1929-34 (asst chaplain, 1920-29); rector of Great Rollright (Oxon), 1935-48; author of religious and ethical works, including The meaning of Christianity (1912) and Human Ideals (1917); married, 3 June 1913 at the Savoy Chapel, London, Gertrude Lucie MA (1880-1970), university lecturer, daughter of George John Burke of St Kilda, Melbourne (Australia), engineer, and had issue two daughters; died 28 September 1962; will proved 18 February 1963 (estate £10,443).

He died 27 May 1898; his will was proved 12 July 1898 (estate £14,167). His widow died 20 January 1907; her will was proved 5 March 1907 (estate £15,864).

Spencer, Sir Charles Gordon (1869-1934), kt. Fourth son of Rev. Charles Vere Spencer (1827-98) and his wife, Emma Frederica, daughter of John Robert à Court Gray, born at Wheatfield (Oxon), 23 February 1869. Educated at Marlborough and Keble College, Oxford (matriculated 1888). Served in the Madras Civil Service, 1890-1927, and was a High Court judge there, 1914-27. Knighted, January 1925. He married, 13 January 1903 at South Stoneham (Hants), Edith Mary (1881-1936), daughter of Col. Hugh Pearce Pearson (1839-97), and had issue:

(1) Cynthia Mary Spencer (1904-94), born 16 March 1904; married, 5 January 1928 at South Leigh (Oxon), William Heydon Peppercorn (1898-1983), merchant, son of William Peppercorn, merchant, and had issue one son; died at Marlborough (Wilts), 11 February 1994; will proved 11 April 1994 (estate £440,923);

(2) Dr John Gray Churchill Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard) (1907-77) (q.v.);

(3) Charles Bernard Spencer (1909-63), born 9 November 1909; educated at Marlborough and Corpus Christi College, Oxford (BA 1932); poet and British Council employee with postings across Europe and in Egypt; married 1st, 1 August 1936, Nora Kathleen (1909-47), actress, daughter of Frederick Gibbs, and 2nd, 29 September 1961, Anne Margaret Helen (b. 1939) (who m2, Apr-Jun 1965 (div.), Lt-Cdr. Colin Alastair Eldin-Taylor RN and m3, 1969, Rock Noel Humphreys (b. 1939), and had further issue two sons), daughter of Alan George Marjoribanks, by whom he had issue one son; died in mysterious circumstances in Vienna (Austria), 11 September 1963; administration of goods granted to his widow, 10 January 1964 (estate £3,587).

In retirement, he lived at Tarwood House, South Leigh (Oxon).

He died 17 November 1934; administration of his goods (with will annexed) was granted 6 February 1935 (estate £6,051). His widow died 18 December 1936; her will was proved 2 April 1937 (estate £323).

Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard), Dr. John Gray Churchill (1907-77). Elder son of Sir Charles Gordon Spencer (1869-1934), kt. and his wife, born 26 May and baptised at Ootacamund, Madras (India), 26 July 1907. Educated at Marlborough, Magdalene College, Cambridge (matriculated 1926; BA 1930; MA 1935; MD 1938). Doctor of medicine (LRCP and MRCS, 1933; FRCS 1940), specialising in pathology. He took the additional name Bernard in 1955, after inheriting the Nether Winchendon estate. He married, 31 August 1933 at Witney (Oxon), Elsie Phyllis (1907-2001), daughter of Ferrand Edward Corley (1877-1937) of Woodside, Witney, and had issue:

(1) Julia Diana Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard) (1936-2001), born 20 April 1936; educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford; married, 12 September 1959, John Simon Baskerville Cadwallader Hopton (1934-2010), son of Maj. Otho Cadwallader Adams (later Hopton), and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 1 July 2001 and was buried at Nether Winchendon; will proved 13 December 2002;

(2) Clare Rosemary Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard) (b. 1938), born 1 November 1938; married, 10 August 1963, Rio Tyrell Arthur Hohler, son of Henry Arthur Frederick Hohler, and had issue one son and three daughters;

(3) Charles Francis Churchill Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard) (1942-2016), born 23 January 1942; educated at Marlborough and Magdalene College, Cambridge (BA 1964); his father made over the Nether Winchendon estate except for the house and immediate grounds on his coming of age in 1963, and intended that the house should follow later, but he settled in France and made it clear that he did not intend to return to the UK; married, Oct-Dec 1974, Rosalyn Ann (k/a Lindy) (b. 1947), second daughter of Maj. Patrick T. Plunkett of Haselbury House, Haselbury Plucknett (Som.), and had issue three daughters; died 2 February 2016; will proved 8 December 2016;

(4) Robert Vere Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard) (b. 1944) (q.v.).

He lived and worked in Shrewsbury (Shrops.) before he inherited the Nether Winchendon estate from the widow of Lt-Col. F.T. Higgins-Bernard in 1954. He made over the bulk of the estate to his elder son in 1963, but bequeathed the house to his younger son.

He died 28 March 1977 and was buried at Nether Winchendon; his will was proved 29 September 1977 (estate £251,239). His widow died aged 93 on 14 March 2001; her will was proved 15 October 2001.

Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard), Robert Vere (b. 1944). Second son of Dr John Gray Churchill Spencer (later Spencer-Bernard) (1907-77) and his wife Elsie Phyllis Corley, born 1 December 1944. Educated at Marlborough, Trinity College, Oxford and the Inner Temple (called 1969). Barrister-at-law. He married 1st, 1975 (div. 2003), Katherine Margaret (1946-2008), daughter of Lt.-Col. Claud Everard Walter Montagu-Douglas-Scott (1915-94) of Bourton Hill House (Glos), and 2nd, 1 May 2003, as her second husband, Georgianna Sarah Preston (née Tomkins) (b. 1955) of Apethorpe (Northants), and had issue:

(1.1) Edmund Robert Spencer-Bernard (b. 1991), born 25 September 1991; educated at St Edward's School, Oxford and London Metropolitan University.

He inherited Nether Winchendon House from his father in 1977.

Now living. His first wife died 1 November 2008. His second wife is now living.

Principal sources

P. Tilden, True remembrances, 1954, pp. 67-69; G. Lipscombe, The history and antiquities of Buckinghamshire, 1847, vol. 1, pp. 514-35; S.E.C. Napier Higgins, The Bernards of Abington and Nether Winchendon, a family history, 1903 (2 vols.); A. Oswald, 'Nether Winchendon House', Country Life, 28 April-12 May 1960; Sir N. Pevsner & E. Williamson, The buildings of England: Buckinghamshire, 2nd edn., 1994, pp. 449-52.

Location of archives

Bernard, Bernard-Morland, Higgins-Bernard and Spencer-Bernard families of Nether Winchendon: deeds, family and estate papers, 13th cent-1921 [Buckinghamshire Archives, D/SB]

Bernard, Sir Francis (1711-79), 1st bt.: American papers, 1758-79 [Harvard University; Library of Congress, MSS Division]

Coat of arms

Bernard-Morland: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, azure, semée of leopard's faces, jessant de lis, a griffin segreant or [for Morland]; 2nd and 3rd, argent, a bear rampant sable, muzzled and collared or [for Bernard]

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide portraits or photographs of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 4 November 2024 and was updated 5 November 2024.

(587) Bernard of Castle Bernard now Kinnitty Castle (Co. Offaly)

The origins of this family are obscure, but they seem not to be related to the Bernards of Castle Bernard (Co. Cork); certainly not closely. They were evidently settled in Co. Carlow by the early 17th century, and there are references in deeds and other documents to members of the family living in or around the town of Carlow (then known as Catherlough) from 1619 onwards at properties including Straw Hill, Clonmulsh (spelled in a bewildering variety of ways) and Oldtown. It seems, however, not to be possible to construct a coherent genealogy before the time of Thomas Bernard (c.1655-1720), who served as High Sheriff of Co. Carlow in 1708, by which time the family clearly had gentry status. Thomas married, about 1688, a widow called Deborah Humfrey, who was the daughter of Matthew Sheppard of Killerick (Co. Carlow) and his wife Mary Franck. Deborah already had five sons from her first marriage, but together they produced three more sons and two daughters over the next decade or so. Thomas seems also to have owned land in Queen's County (now Co. Leix*), and his eldest son, Charles Bernard (c.1688-1732) settled there. His two younger sons, Franks (c.1689-1760) - who derived his name from his maternal grandmother's maiden name - and Joseph (1694-1763), shared the Carlow property between them. Franks Bernard subsequently leased an estate called Castletown at Kinnitty in King's County (now Co. Offaly*), which became the nucleus of the later Castle Bernard estate, but he lived mainly in Carlow and probably sold Castletown to his nephew, Thomas Bernard (c.1719-88), the eldest son of his brother Joseph. It was probably this Thomas or his son and namesake, Thomas Bernard (c.1747-1815), who replaced the ancient tower house at Castletown with a more modern residence, changed the name to Castle Bernard, and commenced the landscaping of the grounds. 

Thomas (d. 1815), 'a gentleman of large fortune' was succeeded by his only son, another Thomas Bernard (1769-1834), who was active in the militia during the 1798 uprising and became MP for King's County in 1802, holding the seat for thirty years until the extension of the franchise at the Great Reform Act weakened his hold on the constituency. He was married twice, and on both occasions his bride was of higher social status, his first wife being the daughter of a baron and his second wife the sister of an earl. After being rejected by the electorate in 1832 he seems to have decided to devote his energies to the rebuilding of Castle Bernard, and he obtained designs from the Pain brothers for a substantial and fashionably Gothic house. Unfortunately he did not live to enjoy it, for he died in 1834, barely a year into construction, and the house had to be completed under the direction of his widow, Lady Catherine Bernard, who was also left to bring up four sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Thomas Bernard (1816-82), pursued a career in the army which was cut short after the explosion of a gun while he was out shooting occasioned the amputation of his right hand. He was initially regarded as a benign landlord, but his reputation deteriorated over time as he sought to reduce the population of his estates. In 1867 he became the Lord Lieutenant of King's County, an appointment which he retained until his death. He never married, and his death precipitated something of a crisis in the affairs of the family. 

Thomas had had three younger brothers, all of whom predeceased him. Francis (1818-46) died unmarried; Richard Wellesley (1822-77) had no children; and John Henry Scroope (1820-56) died from the effects of his service in the Crimea, having produced a son and daughter. However, by the 1880s it was clear that the son, Thomas Scroope Wellesley Bernard (1850-1905) was unlikely to be a good steward of the family estate, since he had dissipated a not inconsiderable inheritance, and his uncle chose instead to leave Castle Bernard to his niece, Margeurite (1852-1910), and her husband, Capt. Caulfeild French (1839-1910), although T.S.W. Bernard was in remainder in the event of their having no issue. Capt. French proved to be a harsh and adversarial landlord, who paid a lower wage for a longer day than was usual on neighbouring estates, on one occasion prompting a general strike by his labourers. He and his wife died without issue within a couple of months in the summer of 1910, whereupon the remainder in the will of Thomas Bernard (d. 1882) came into effect. Although T.S.W. Bernard had died five years earlier, he had left his entire estate to his widow, Monica Gertrude Bernard (1857-1948), with remainder to their four daughters, and the family now came to live at Castle Bernard. During the troubled years of the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, Mrs Bernard became alarmed for their safety and arranged for troops to be stationed at the house to offer them some protection. Unfortunately in 1922 the troops were withdrawn and irregular republican forces took advantage of the opportunity to burn the house down in July 1922. Compensation was subsequently claimed and the house was successfully rebuilt in 1928-30, the Bernards coming back into residence until shortly before Mrs Bernard's death, but in 1946 it was sold to Lord Decies, subsequently passing into public ownership and being converted to institutional use in the 1950s.

* The historic names of these two counties were changed in the 20th century for political reasons. I have used the modern names where they describe geographical locations, but retained the contemporary names where they refer to public offices, since to talk about the 'High Sheriff of Co. Offaly' would be anachronistic.

Castle Bernard, Kinnitty, Co. Offaly (now Kinnitty Castle)

The site has a long occupation history, going back to an Anglo-Norman motte and bailey castle, which stood about 200 yards south of the present house. This was destroyed in 1207 and rebuilt, possibly in stone, in 1213. It later became one of the five chiefry castles of the O'Carroll family, and probably took the form of a tower house. It has long been demolished, but several ogee-headed windows inserted into the stableyard wall in the 19th century may be survivals from it. 

The Bernard family became associated with the site, then known as Castletown, in the early 18th century, when Franks Bernard leased a small estate here. Either he or more probably his nephew Thomas Bernard (d. 1788) acquired the freehold and built the modest T-plan house which forms the south-east corner of the present building. This property, which was already called Castle Bernard by the beginning of the 19th century, was described by Arthur Atkinson in The Irish Tourist (1815) as 'one of the most interesting romantic villas in that part of Ireland', though his praise seems to have been based less on the architecture than on its 'retired beauties', notably its setting on a plain below the Slieve Bloom mountains next to the River Camcor, and 'the planting which forms an embroidery to this demesne'.

Castle Bernard: the north front of the house in the early 20th century. Image: National Library of Ireland.

A later Thomas Bernard (1769-1834), who was MP for King's County for thirty years, greatly expanded the estate and decided at the end of his life to enlarge and entirely transform the house into a Tudor Gothic mansion better fitting the name 'Castle Bernard'. He chose as his architects the Pain brothers (James and George Richard) from Limerick and Cork, whose designs were influenced by both the castle-style buildings they had erected for John Nash in the 1810s, and the Tudor Gothic buildings of Sir Richard and William Vitruvius Morrison. It

Quinville House, Co. Clare

seems likely that George Richard Pain was chiefly responsible for the design of Castle Bernard. The elevations are taller and more compact than some of the Pain brothers' earlier houses, such as Dromoland (Co. Clare) or Mitchelstown (Co. Cork), and are very similar in overall effect to the house they built at Quinville (Co. Clare) in 1827, although they were working here on a rather larger scale. Thomas Bernard died only a year after construction began, and the house was completed for his widow, as their eldest son did not come of age until 1837. The Georgian house was retained but the new house, which was nearly twice as wide, was built in front of its main elevation. The new north front was the focus for the stylistic impact: it was given battered basement walls, canted bays, steeply-pitched gables and a complex roofline with pinnacles and tall chimneystacks. At the north-west corner the house sprouted an octagonal tower crowned with machicolation and pinnacles that has Guy's Tower at Warwick Castle in its distant ancestry and Charleville Castle as a closer relation. The side elevations by contrast are fairly plain, with only hood-moulds over the large mullioned and transomed windows and crenellated parapets that are raised into a gable in the middle. All the new elevations were executed in a fine blue-grey limestone that is attractive in sunshine but rather dour in wet or gloomy weather. The older part of the house at the back was given a Gothic dress and rendered to mask the red sandstone of which it was originally built. It is thought that the house was built by Henry, Mullins & MacMahon, whose archive (now in the Irish Architectural Archive) includes some alternative designs, including one with a porte-cochère and another with a circular rather than a polygonal tower.

Castle Bernard: the house after the fire, 1922.

On 23 July 1922 the house was burnt by irregular republican forces, who gave the occupants half an hour to leave but only allowed them to remove personal possessions. Seven fires were then set in different parts of the building, and the interiors, furniture and pictures were completely destroyed, although the external walls largely remained standing. The Bernard family sought compensation of £42,000 for their losses but were eventually awarded a total of £24,000, which they thought would allow a 'partial reinstatement'. In the event, the whole house was restored in 1928-30 to the designs of Joseph John Bruntz (1881-1954) of Edenderry (Co. Offaly), but no attempt was made to recreate the lost decorative schemes, and the simplest new internal decoration was applied. 

Kinnitty Castle: the reconstructed house in 2007. Image: Sarah777 on Wikimedia

Entering through the porch on the north front, the visitor ascends to the level of the principal rooms by a flight of steps the full width of the entrance hall, and passes through a screen of three narrow arches into a central vestibule lit by a stained glass window, which acts as the central circulation space of the house. The rooms to the west of the hall and vestibule were entirely reshaped by Bruntz, who created a new double-aspect drawing room here (now used as a dining room). On the other side of the vestibule is the top-lit staircase hall, which has a new timber staircase of the 1920s, and also the entrance to the former billiards room (now the main drawing room). The room in the north-east corner of the house is now furnished as a library but used as a bar area. Here and in the central vestibule the walls are panelled with robust oak panelling which has the look and feel of 1830s work and may have been salvaged after the fire. The room functions and decoration have been much altered to suit the present use of the house as an hotel.

Kinnitty Castle: the former billiards room (now drawing room). Image: Trip Advisor

Kinnitty Castle: the library/bar. Image: Trip Advisor

As noted above, development of the grounds began in association with the 18th century house. A map of 1809 shows a small area around the house had been landscaped, but this was greatly expanded later, and by 1859 the estate was receiving so many picnic parties that visitors were  required to obtain a ticket in advance. Much of the attraction of the demesne is due to the way the River Camcor or Castletown River winds through the estate, passing just to the east of the house, where it is crossed by a (now derelict) suspension footbridge built between 1838 and 1850 for Thomas Bernard (1816-82). Another bridge, further south, carries an approach drive from the north entrance to the estate, where there is a grand carriage archway flanked by curtain walls which conceal a porter's lodge on one side and contain a postern gate on the other. On stylistic grounds, this north lodge is likely to be by the Pain brothers. The entrance screen replaced an earlier pair of lodges, which may have been contemporary with the main (south) lodge. This is thought to date from about 1811, and to be associated with a scheme by Samuel Beazley for a school and park entrance, for which he exhibited designs at the Royal Academy in that year. The lodge was extended to either side with additional gables c.1885, but the original building was a rather pretty Gothick design with a pair of blank quatrefoils either side of an ogee-headed doorcase set in a concave surround with clustered colonnettes that derive ultimately from the pattern books of Batty Langley. 

Kinnitty Castle: the south lodge, perhaps originally of 1811 but extended in 1885. Image: Buildings of Ireland.

Kinnitty Castle: the pyramidal mausoleum.

South-east of the village of Kinnitty, Thomas Bernard (1769-1834) built a mausoleum in the form of a crisp four-sided pyramid, supposedly influenced by his travels in Egypt.

Descent: Franks Bernard (c.1689-1760); sold? to nephew, Thomas Bernard (c.1719-88); to son, Thomas Bernard (c.1747-1815); to son, Thomas Bernard MP (1769-1834); to son, Thomas Bernard (1816-82); to niece, Margeurite (1852-1910), wife of Capt. Caulfeild French (1839-1910); to her brother's widow, Monica Gertrude Bernard (1857-1948); who sold 1946 to Arthur George Marcus Douglas de la Poer Beresford (1915-92), 6th Baron Decies; sold 1951 to Irish Government for conversion to an Agricultural College; sold 1995 for conversion to an hotel. 

Bernard family of Castle Bernard (now Kinnity Castle)

Bernard, Thomas (c.1655-1720). Parentage unknown, born about 1655. High Sheriff of Co. Carlow, 1708. He married, c.1688, Deborah (d. 1732), daughter of Matthew Shepherd (d. 1663)* of Killerick (Co. Carlow) and widow of Edward Humfrey (d. 1686) of Clonagh (Co. Carlow), and had issue:

(1) Charles Bernard (c.1688-1732), of Bernard's Grove (now Blandsfort, Co. Leix); High Sheriff of Co. Carlow, 1718; married, 12 December 1711 at Marton (Ches.), Rachel Stringer of Nantwich (Ches.), and had issue three sons and three daughters; will proved in 1732;

(2) Franks Bernard (c.1689-1760) (q.v.);

(3) Elizabeth Bernard (c.1690-1755); married 1st, 1712, Henry Rudkin, and had issue two or three sons and five daughters; married 2nd, 1738, William Doyle (d. 1758); died 1755;

(4) Joseph Bernard (1694-1763) (q.v.);

(5) Ann Bernard (d. 1737); married 1st, 1722, Gayton Mainwaring and had issue one son; married 2nd, Thomas Barnes of Grange (Co. Kilkenny); died 1737.

He lived at Oldtown and Clonmulsh (Co. Carlow).

He died in 1720; his will was proved 19 May 1721. His widow died about 1732; her will was proved 5 May 1732.

* Matthew Sheapheard married Marie Franck at Saxelby (Leics) on 27 October 1654 and emigrated to Ireland soon afterwards. This explains how the unusual forename Franks entered the family.

Bernard, Franks (c.1689-1760). Second son of Thomas Bernard (c.1655-1720) of Oldtown and Clonmulsh (Co. Carlow) and his wife Deborah, daughter of Matthew Shepperd of Killerick (Co. Carlow) and widow of Edward Humfrey of Clonagh (Co. Carlow), born about 1689. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1705). He married, c.1708?, Elizabeth [surname unknown] (fl. 1761) and had issue:

(1) Franks Bernard (c.1708-82); married 1st, c.1727, Susanna (d. c.1735), probably the daughter of Thomas Bunbury, and had issue six sons and two daughters; married 2nd, 1735, Mary Grantham (d. 1742) and had further issue two sons*; will proved 1782;

(2) Susan Bernard;

(3) Mary Bernard; married, 1737, James Butler, and had issue one son;

(4) Anne Bernard (d. 1762); married Edward Pickering of Carlow; died 1762;

(5) Deborah Bernard.

He leased a small estate at Castletown (later the nucleus of the Castle Bernard estate) in the early 18th century, but seems to have lived chiefly at Clonsmulsh (Co. Carlow), and probably sold Castletown to his nephew Thomas Bernard (c.1719-88).

His date of death is unknown; his will was proved in 1760. His widow was living in 1761 but her date of death is unknown.

* It is uncertain whether a further marriage in 1750 between Franks Bernard jr. and Margaret Bonham was a third marriage of Franks (d. 1782) or a first marriage of his son Franks (c.1730-96). 

Bernard, Joseph (1694-1763). Third son of Thomas Bernard (c.1655-1720) of Oldtown and Clonmulsh (Co. Carlow) and his wife Deborah, daughter of Matthew Shepperd of Killerick (Co. Carlow) and widow of Edward Humfrey of Clonagh (Co. Carlow), born 1694. High Sheriff of Co. Carlow, 1730. He married, 1717 (licence 5 December), Mary (fl. 1763), daughter of John Edwards (d. 1728) of Old Court (Co. Wicklow), and had issue:

(1) Thomas Bernard (c.1719-88) (q.v.);

(2) John Bernard (c.1720-89); an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1745; last recorded service, 1752); settled at Carlow (Co. Carlow); married, 20 July 1767 at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), his cousin Frances, daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering, 3rd bt., and had issue one son and three daughters; he also had an illegitimate son, born prior to his marriage; died at Carlow, 19 November and was buried there, 26 November 1789; will proved in the PCC, 31 October 1791;

(3) William Bernard (d. c.1790), of Straw Hill (Co. Carlow); High Sheriff of Co. Carlow, 1773-74; married, perhaps c.1755, his cousin Mary Bernard, and had issue at least two sons and two daughters; died after 8 February 1789; will proved 2 June 1790;

(4) Jane Bernard (c.1724-98); married, c.1744, William Galbraith (c.1704-54) of Carlow, merchant, and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 30 April 1798 and was buried at Carlow, where she is commemorated by a headstone erected by her daughter;

(5) Mary Bernard (c.1733-1804); married 1st, 1759 (settlement 28 November), Thomas Bennett (c.1732-78), of Ballynloghan and Viewmount (Co. Carlow), and had issue two sons and six daughters; married 2nd, 1782 (settlement 27 April), Mathew Humphrey (b. c.1730?) of Ratheadon (Co. Carlow); died 6 January 1804 and was buried at Loram Cemetery, Carlow;

(6) Deborah Bernard (fl. 1763); married, c.1759, William Rourke, and had issue at least two sons and one daughter; living in 1763;

(7) Jemma Bernard (fl. 1782); married, 1774 (licence 28 September), Rev. Robert Moffat (c.1745-c.1819) of Park Place (Co. Longford), vicar & rector of Cashel and Rathcline, 1780-c.1813 and of Tashinny and Abbeyshrule, c.1813-19?, and had issue one son and five daughters; living in 1782 but death not traced;

(8) Elizabeth Bernard (fl. 1789); married [forename unknown] Latrys and had issue five sons and one daughter; living in 1789;

(9) Ann Bernard (c.1731-1801); married, 1765, Humphrey Mitchell (fl. 1801), possibly the man of this name who was Clerk of the Barrow Navigation in 1787, and had issue one son; died suddenly, while at cards, 17 November 1801, and was buried at Carlow.

He lived at Clonmulsk (Co. Carlow) and inherited Straw Hill from his father.

He died about October 1763; his will was proved 26 November 1763. His widow's date of death is unknown.

Bernard, Thomas (c.1719-88). Eldest son of Joseph Bernard (1694-1763) of Straw Hill (Co. Carlow) and Castletown (Co. Offaly), and his wife Mary, daughter of John Edwards of Old Court (Co. Wicklow), born about 1719. He married 1st, 1740 (settlement 26 May), Jane, daughter of Adam Mitchell of Rathgibbon and widow of Joseph Palmer, and 2nd, c.1762, Mary, widow of Thomas Bernard (d. 1757) of Cloghristick (Co. Carlow), and had issue:

(1.1) Mary Bernard (b. c.1741), born about 1741; married 1st, 1759 (settlement 21 March), James Dillon (d. 1778) of Carlow (Co. Carlow) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, before 1789, Rev. Edward Palmer;

(1.2) Grace Bernard (c.1744-1836); married, 1767, Philip Going (1741-1820) of Monaquil, son of Robert Going of Traverston, and had issue two sons and three daughters; died March 1836;

(1.3) Susannah Bernard (1745-1819); married, 1769, Bigoe Armstrong (1745-73), son of Archibald Armstrong (b. 1716), and had issue two sons; died July 1819;

(1.4) Thomas Bernard (c.1747-1815) (q.v.);

(1.5) Barbara Bernard (c.1749-90), born about 1749; married, 1769 (contract 19 September) at Birr (Co. Offaly), Robert Lauder of Moyclare (Co. Offaly), High Sheriff of King's County, 1775-76, and had issue two sons and three daughters; died October 1790;

(1.6) Jane Bernard (b. c.1750), born about 1750; married, 1772, Rev. John Smith (d. 1813), vicar of Ballingarry and Uskean (Co. Tipp.), 1776-1809, and had issue three sons and five daughters;

(1.7) Jemima Bernard (c.1755-1825); married George Clarke of Birr; died in Dublin, December 1825.

He probably purchased Castletown from his uncle.

He died in 1788; his will was proved in 1788. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His second wife died before 1768, leaving four children by her first husband, to whom Franks Bernard was appointed guardian.

Bernard, Thomas (c.1747-1815). Only son of Thomas Bernard (c.1719-88) and his wife Jane, daughter of Adam Mitchell of Rathgibbon and widow of Joseph Palmer, born about 1747. High Sheriff of King's County, 1785-86. He married 1st, 15 April 1768, Mary, second daughter of Jonathan Willington of Castle Willington (Co. Offaly) and 2nd, 16 April 1780 at St Mary, Dublin, Margaret (c.1740-1811), daughter and co-heir of Nicholas Biddulph (d. 1762) of Rathrobin and Portal, and widow of Alexander Cornewall (d. 1779) of Lishmote (Co. Limerick), and had issue, with two further daughters who died young:

(1.1) Thomas Bernard (1769-1834) (q.v.);

(1.2) Mary Bernard (c.1770-1804); married, 29 April 1796, as his first wife, Col. Sir Robert Waller (1768-1826), 2nd bt., but had no issue; died 16 July 1804;

(1.3) Barbara Bernard (c.1772-1845) married, 1800 (against her father's wishes, and was disinherited as a result), John Poe (c.1773-1857) of Solsborough (Co. Tipp.), but had no issue; died at Avranches (France), 24 June 1845.

He inherited Castletown from his father and renamed it Castle Bernard.

He died at Birr (Co. Offaly), 8 May 1815; his will was proved in 1815. His first wife died before 1780. His second wife died 31 March 1811.

Bernard, Thomas (1769-1834). Only son of Thomas Bernard (c.1747-1815) and his first wife Mary, daughter of Jonathan Willington of Castle Willington (Co. Offaly), born 1769. High Sheriff of King's County, 1798-99; MP for King's County 1802-32; Colonel of the King's County (Offaly) Militia, 1823; Governor of King's County, 1828-31. He married 1st, 10 September 1800 at Kilboy (Co. Tipp.), Elizabeth (d. 1802), daughter of Henry Prittie (1743-1801), 1st Baron Dunalley, and 2nd, 29 July 1814 at St Michan, Dublin, Lady Catherine Henrietta (c.1792-1844), second daughter of the Hon. Francis Hely-Hutchinson MP (1769-1827) and sister of John Hely-Hutchinson (1787-1851), 3rd Earl of Donoughmore, and had issue:

(2.1) Frances Margaret Bernard (1815-50), eldest child, born 1815; married, 17/18 September 1846 at Kinnitty, as his first wife, Samuel Hamilton Goold-Adams (c.1814-84) of Salisbury (Co. Tipp), fourth son of Michael Goold-Adams (1778-1817) of Jamesbrook (Co. Cork), and had issue one daughter; died March 1850;

(2.2) Thomas Bernard (1816-82) (q.v.);

(2.3) Margeurite Bernard (1817-42), third child, born 1817; died unmarried at Leamington Spa (Warks), 12 October 1842, and was buried in the family mausoleum at Kinnitty;

(2.4) Francis Bernard (1818-46), born December 1818; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1836) King's Inns, Dublin (admitted 1838) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1842); died unmarried in Rome (Italy), 27 December 1846; will proved, 1847;

(2.5) John Henry Scroope Bernard (1820-56) (q.v.); 

(2.6) Richard Wellesley Bernard (1822-77), born 25 March or 10 June 1822; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1838; BA 1844), Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1840) and King's Inns, Dublin (called to the Irish bar, 1844); barrister-at-law; served as a volunteer officer in the Austrian service; in the 1850s he was noted as a sportsman and particularly for his prowess in steeplechasing, but he sold his stud of horses on joining the army at the outbreak of the Crimean war, where he fought at Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman; an officer in the King's County Militia Rifles (Ensign, 1846; Lt., c.1848; Capt., 1855; Maj. c.1870; Lt-Col, 1872-77; Deputy Ranger of the Curragh of Kildare, 1868-77; JP for Co. Kildare; Chamberlain at the Vice-Regal Courts of the Dukes of Abercorn and Marlborough, c.1872-77; married, 31 August 1859 at Cheltenham (Glos), Ellen Georgina (1826-1907), daughter of Lt-Col. Henry Williams and widow of Col. the Hon. Henry Handcock (d. 1855), but had no issue; died following a heart attack at Straffan station (Co. Kildare), 24/25 September 1877 and was buried at Kinnitty, where he is commemorated by a memorial brass; will proved 19 February 1878 (effects under £5,000).

He inherited Castle Bernard from his father in 1815, and rebuilt the house after 1832, the works being completed by his widow.

He died in Dublin, 18 May 1834. His first wife died 20 April 1802. His widow died in London, 21 June and was buried at Weedon Lois (Northants), 29 June 1844.

Bernard, Thomas (1816-82). Eldest son of Thomas Bernard (1769-1834) and his second wife, Lady Catherine Henrietta, second daughter of the Hon. Francis Hely-Hutchinson MP and sister of John Hely-Hutchinson, 3rd Earl of Donoughmore, born September 1816. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1835; Lt., 1839; Capt. 1844; retired on half-pay, 1847); Col. of King's County Royal Rifles, 1855-82; High Sheriff of King's County, 1837-38, 1842-43; Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of King's County, 1867-82 (DL from 1842). In 1845 he was injured by the explosion of a gun he was reloading, which necessitated the amputation of his right hand. A Conservative in politics, he stood unsuccessfully for election to Parliament in King's County. in 1841 and 1852. Although initially regarded as a benevolent landowner and employer, he became increasingly unpopular because of measures to depopulate his estate. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Castle Bernard from his father in 1834. At his death the estate passed to his niece and her husband, Capt. & Mrs. Caulfeild French, with remainder to her brother, T.S.W. Bernard.

He died 13 December and was buried at Kinnitty, 18 December 1882.

Bernard, John Henry Scroope (1820-57). Third son of Thomas Bernard (1769-1834) and his second wife, Lady Catherine Henrietta, sister of John Hely Hutchinson, 3rd Earl of Donoughmore, born May 1820. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1839; Lt., 1840, Capt. c.1846) who served with the Turkish Contingent in the Crimea (Maj.). He married, 31 May 1849 at St Peter, Dublin, Maria Eveline Cecile Nathalie Claire Di Chiarmonte Manfredonia D'Altamura (c.1826-83), daughter of Edouard Racine, and had issue:

(1) Thomas Scroope Wellesley Bernard (1850-1905) (q.v.);

(2) Margeurite Adeline Bernard (1852-1910), born 24 December 1852; married, 15 June 1875 at the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle, Capt. Caulfeild French JP DL (1839-1910) of Castle Bernard, High Sheriff of King's County, 1887-88; eldest son of William John French of Ardsallagh (Co. Meath), but had no issue; died 18 July 1910 and was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin; will proved in Dublin, 24 August 1910 (estate £14,052).

His widow went by the name of Cecile Clyde, was bankrupted in 1873, and later became the headmistress of a private school for girls in Hove (Sussex), which was wound up after her death.

He died in Dublin, 12 September 1857, of a fever caught while serving in the Crimea. His widow died 7 October and was buried at Brompton Cemetery (Middx), 12 October 1883.

Bernard, Thomas Scroope Wellesley (1850-1905). Only son of John Henry Scroope Bernard (1820-57) and his wife Maria Eveline Cecile Nathalie Claire Di Chiarmonte Manfredonia D'Altamura, daughter of Edouard Racine, born at Youghal Lodge, Nenagh  (Tipperary), 18 October 1850. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1868; Lt., 1871; Capt., 1880; retired 1882) and later in the Essex Militia (Capt., 1882; retired 1883) and South Lancashire Regiment militia battalion (Capt., 1890; Maj., 1893); JP for Co. Offaly. A Unionist in politics, he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in the Birr constituency in 1885 and 1886. A freemason from 1876. As a young man, he evidently lived considerably beyond his means and eroded his fortune, to the point where his uncle decided not to entrust him with the Castle Bernard estate. He married, 2 December 1880 at Gowran (Co. Kilkenny), Monica Gertrude (1857-1948), sixth daughter of William Henry Darby (d. 1880) of Leap Castle (Co. Offaly), and had issue:

(1) Margeurite Cecil Elizabeth Bernard (1882-1958), born 11 October 1882; married, 25 October 1906 at St James, St Peter Port (Guernsey), Charles Johnston Alexander (1873-1946) of Marina, Norton, Yarmouth (Isle of Wight), eighth son of Robert Henry Alexander (1838-1901) of Stoke Newington (Middx), and had issue one daughter; died 9 January 1958; will proved 4 March 1958 (estate £31,174);

(2) Monica Charlotte Emily Bernard (1886-1975), born at Nenagh (Co. Tipp.), 9 May 1886; married, 1922, as his second wife, Leonard Cornwall Maguire (b. 1887) of Stow-on-the-Wold (Glos), veterinary surgeon (bankrupt 1934), son of James Maguire, but had no issue; died 24 August 1975; will proved 12 December 1975 (estate £32,505);

(3) Kathrine Anne Bernard (1889-1954), born at Nenagh (Co. Tipp.), 11 March 1889; married, 20 October 1923 at St Philip, Kensington (Middx), Lt-Col. James Stuart Harper MC (1885-1943), son of Joseph Harper of Ceylon, and had issue one daughter; died 26 June 1954; will proved 22 September 1954 (estate £43,292);

(4) Maude Mary Gertrude Bernard (1900-65), born at St Peter Port (Guernsey), 6 May 1900; died unmarried in Dublin, 16 January 1965; will proved 28 June 1965 (estate £20,874).

He was in remainder to the Castle Bernard estate after the death of his uncle in 1882, but lived in a cottage at Nenagh (Tipperary) and later at Weston House, Thames Ditton (Surrey) and in St Peter Port. Castle Bernard was occupied by his sister and his brother-in-law, Capt. French. At his death he left his entire property to his widow, who subsequently inherited Castle Bernard on the deaths of Capt & Mrs French in 1910.

He died 1 February, and his body was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, 10 February, but later moved to Thames Ditton, where it was reinterred, 11 March 1905; his will was proved in Dublin, 10 May 1905 (estate £14,759). His widow died 6 May and was buried at Thames Ditton, 8 May 1948; her will was proved in Dublin, 10 August 1948 (estate in Ireland, £145) and in England, 24 September 1948 (estate in England, £9,642).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912, p. 41; J.A.K. Dean, The gate houses of Leinster, 2016, pp. 310-11; R. McKenna, Flights of fancy: follies, families and demesnes in Offaly, 2017, pp. 310-29; A. Tierney, The buildings of Ireland: Central Leinster, 2019, pp. 426-29; 

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~marlow95/genealogy/bernard/;

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to have survived, and many records may have been lost in the fire at Castle Bernard in 1922.

Coat of arms

None recorded.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 25 October 2024.