(586) Bernard (later Gibson) of High Hall

This family traces its origins to a Huguenot (French protestant) emigré called David Bernard, who fled from France to England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and in 1688 made his way to Jamaica, where his descendants became plantation owners and participated in the civil government and the militia. A later David Bernard (1757-1804), who had interests in the Bona Vista, Eden and Hermitage estates in St James' parish in Jamaica, alongside three brothers, married Judith Bowen (d. 1846) and produced a large family of twelve children, almost all of whom were minors when he died. His widow seems to have decided to leave her husband's business interests in the hands of his brothers and to take her children in England. She settled in Bristol, where Charles Edward Bernard (c.1775-1842), her late husband's nephew, was then just establishing himself in medical practice. David's eldest son, Joseph Bowen Bernard (1787-1820) later returned to Jamaica to manage his interests there, but the genealogy below begins with Charles Bernard (1789-1826), the second son, who remained in England. Having been educated at Cambridge, and with an income from his share in the family's Jamaican plantations, Charles adopted the lifestyle of an English gentleman and did not follow a profession. In 1812 he married into an established Worcestershire gentry family, the Bakers of Waresley House, who themselves had Bristol mercantile connections, and produced four sons and three daughters.

Frampton Lodge. Image: Stephen Richards. Some rights reserved.

The Jamaican estates which supported the family may have provided a comfortable income, but they did not provide Charles with any significant capital, and it is probably for this reason that he rented a number of different houses for fairly short periods, including Sufton Court (Herefs.) and Tibberton Court (Glos). The family ended up at Frampton Lodge, Frampton-on-Severn (Glos), a plain three-storey seven-bay house at the north end of the green in an attractive village, which would have provided comfortable accommodation for the growing family.

Like his father, Charles Bernard died young, and soon afterwards his widow made a more permanent home at Over Ross (now Ross Court), Ross-on-Wye, although this was evidently still a rented property. Here her family grew up. The eldest son entered the army in 1832 but left it six years later, on marrying into a Northumberland gentry family; he later farmed in Wiltshire. The second and third sons went to Oxford and pursued careers in the church and the law, while the youngest son, Edward Westland Bernard (1822-98) was articled to a Bristol solicitor and later practised at Stourbridge (Worcs). Both the Oxford-educated sons did well in their chosen careers. After Oxford, Mountague Bernard (1820-82) went to Lincoln's Inn, became a barrister, and from 1859 was back in Oxford as its first professor of international law and diplomacy. His expertise found practical expression in Britain, Europe and America, and he was brought into the Privy Council in 1871. His achievements were notable, but were made at the expense of his health, and he died unmarried of over-work aged 62. Mountague held high church, Tractarian, views, which could not have been more different to those of his elder brother, the Rev. Thomas Dehany Bernard (1815-1904), who was an Evangelical with a particular interest in mission work. 

Thomas seems to have been academically gifted, and won the Ellerton Theological Prize in 1838 and the Chancellor's Prize in 1839 for an essay on 'The Classical Taste and Character compared with the Romantic'. After Oxford, he went straight into the church, and for the next twenty years held livings in Essex. He then secured the living of St Swithin, Walcot (Som.), which included a significant portion of the city of Bath, and soon afterwards was appointed to a canonry in Wells Cathedral. In 1841, he married Caroline, the younger daughter of Benjamin Linthorne, a merchant engaged in the Newfoundland trade who (although bankrupted as a young man) had made enough money by 1833 to buy the High Hall, Pamphill estate in Dorset.  Linthorne had no sons, and bequeathed his estate to his two daughters. High Hall was occupied by the elder daughter, Anne (d. 1885), who remained unmarried but was noted for her generosity in fostering orphaned children, of whom no less than thirteen passed through her hands after her father's death. When Anne died in 1885, her sister Caroline and her husband, the Rev. Thomas Dehany Bernard, inherited her moiety of the High Hall estate. They at once commissioned a remodelling of the house by Crickmay & Son of Weymouth (Dorset), and once that had been completed, Thomas retired from his living at Walcot and came to live at High Hall. He retained his canonry of Wells until 1901, however, and also his position as Chancellor of the Cathedral, which he held until his death in 1904. 

Thomas and Caroline had nine children, but only two sons. The elder, who was heir to High Hall, was the Rev. Edward Russell Bernard (1842-1921), who followed a similar career path to his father, becoming a prebendary at Salisbury Cathedral in 1886, a resident canon in 1889, and Chancellor of the Cathedral, 1894-1911. He also served as a chaplain to Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V, and wrote a volume of essays about what could be learned from the moral teaching of other faiths. He married a daughter of William Nicholson of Basing Park, the distilling magnate, and had three daughters, but his only son died in infancy. At his death, Edward therefore left High Hall to his widow, who survived to the great age of ninety-four, with remainder to their daughters. All three of the daughters married, and two of them went overseas: the eldest, Isabel (1881-1967) to Colombia, where her husband, Frank Tracey (1871-1963), had mercantile interests, and the youngest, Caroline (1889-1961) to Italy. By 1939, however Frank Tracey and his wife had retired to High Hall, where they lived until their deaths in 1963 and 1967 respectively. Since they had no children, the High Hall estate then passed to the last surviving sister, Christina (1885-1973), the widow of Maj. Ralf Sumner Gibson (1882-1954), whose son Charles Edward Dehany Gibson (1917-79) took up residence in the house with his wife, son and daughter, who remain the current owners.

High Hall, Pamphill, Dorset

The core of the house was built about 1670 for Samuel Gilly (d. 1678), who in 1668 married Arabella, the younger sister of Ralph Bankes of Kingston Lacy House. There was such a close stylistic affinity between the two buildings as they were first built that it seems highly probable that High Hall was designed and built by the contractor at Kingston Lacy, Sir Thomas Fitch, or his brother John Fitch (who bought the house in 1691). High Hall was conceived as an elegant freestanding rectangular box of two storeys over a high basement, with a tall tiled hipped roof. 

High Hall, Pamphill: the south front in 2013. Image: © Michael J. Hill

The main south front (now the garden front but originally the entrance side), is of five bays (grouped 1-3-1), with a very fine stone doorcase. The construction was almost entirely of brick, with sparing Portland stone dressings, so that even the angle quoins and the panelled chimneystacks were executed in brick. The house was originally linked to Kingston Lacy by a long avenue, of which some vestiges remain.

High Hall, Pamphill: the north front in 2013. Image: © Michael J. Hill

The north side of the house, originally the garden front, is also of five bays, here evenly spaced, and does not have a central doorcase. Inside, the basic plan of the house has probably not changed very much since it was built, although the functions and decorations of the rooms have been extensively altered. 

High Hall, Pamphill: room functions in the main block in the mid 20th century.

In the 18th century, perhaps in the 1720s, a new staircase was constructed on the south side of the house, almost certainly by the Bastard brothers of Blandford Forum, as it has their distinctive under-curling handrail terminal. The dining room was also redecorated, with two tiers of bolection-moulded panelling. Rather later, c.1750, alterations were made to the windows on the south front, which were enlarged by cutting down through the stone cill bands and giving the ground floor windows blank arched heads, while double-hung sashes replaced the original cross-windows throughout. The brickwork was rendered and lined to suggest the house was built of ashlar blocks. A red brick stable block was also built, with a pedimented central projection and a clock turret. There is said to be a scratched date of 1751 on the plasterwork inside.

Further changes were made to the house in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for Canon Thomas Bernard (1815-1904) and his son, Canon Edward Bernard (1842-1921). In 1885, George R. Crickmay & Son added a single-storey extension onto the west side of the house, with a broad curved bow on the south front and a new entrance on the north side. This allowed the house to be 'turned around' and given a more appropriate orientation, with the original hall on the south front becoming the drawing room, and the former drawing room on the north side becoming a new inner hall. At the same time, Waring & Gillow created new Adamesque interiors in the new wing and main block. A generation later, a tactful new service wing was built onto the east side of the house to the design of Gotch & Saunders in 1909-10.

Descent: Samuel Gilly (d. 1678); to widow, Arabella Gilly (1642-1724), who sold 1691 to John Fitch (1642-1705); to son, William Fitch (d. 1743); to son, Rev. Henry Fitch (d. 1768); to son, Henry William Fitch (c.1742-1807); to Charlotte Poore (1748-1829) of Salisbury; sold 1833 to Benjamin Linthorne (1774-1859); to daughters, Anne Mary Caroline Linthorne (1810-85) and Caroline (1816-88), wife of Canon Thomas Dehany Bernard (1815-1904); to son, Canon Edward Russell Bernard (1842-1921); to widow, Ellen Isobel Bernard (1859-1953); to daughter, Isabel Audrey (1881-1967), wife of Frank Tracey (1871-1963); to sister, Anne Christina (1885-1973), wife of Maj. Ralf Sumner Gibson (1882-1954); to son, Charles Edward Dehany Gibson (1917-79); to widow, Mrs. Susan Gibson (b. 1926).

Bernard and Gibson families of High Hall

Bernard, Charles (1789-1826). Second son of David Bernard (1757-1804)*, planter, of Eden estate, St James (Jamaica) and his wife Judith Bowen (d. 1846), baptised in St James, Jamica, 18 January 1789. His mother brought her large family (of five sons and seven daughters) to England after the death of her husband. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1807). He married, 24 February 1812 at Hartlebury (Worcs), Margaret Anne (1789-1872), daughter and co-heiress of John Baker (1761-1809) of Waresley House (Worcs), and had issue including:

(1) Charles Bernard (1814-85), baptised at Hartlebury, 17 October 1814; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1832; Lt., 1837; ret. 1838); married, 9 August 1838 at St Andrew, Newcastle-on-Tyne (Northbld), Sarah (1811-82), daughter of Col. Robert Bell (1772-1851) of Fenham Hall (Northbld.), and had issue at least three daughters; died 9 May and was buried at Broad Hinton (Wilts), 13 May 1885; will proved 2 July 1885 (effects £2,015);

(2) Rev. Thomas Dehany Bernard (1815-1904) (q.v.);

(3) Margaret Anne Bernard (1817-65), baptised at Arlingham (Glos), 11 April 1817; died unmarried at Over Ross, 24 October 1865; administration of goods granted, 12 April 1866 (effects under £3,000);

(4) Ellen Bernard (1818-98), baptised at Arlingham, 10 July 1818; lived at Over Ross with her widowed mother and unmarried sisters; died unmarried, 16 February 1898; will proved 17 March 1898 (estate £61,510);

(5) Rt. Hon. Mountague Bernard (1820-82), born 28 January and baptised at Tibberton (Glos), 13 February 1820; educated at Sherborne School, Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1838; BA 1842; BCL, 1845; MA 1859; DCL 1870) and Lincolns Inn (admitted, 1842; called, 1846); barrister-at-law; a Tractarian in religion, he was one of the founders of The Guardian newspaper**, 1846; a jurist and international lawyer who was in increasing demand in Britain, Europe and America for his expertise; first Professor of International Law & Diplomacy, University of Oxford, 1859-74; a Professorial Fellow of All Souls College, 1870-82; one of the commissioners who signed the Treaty of Washington, 1871; Privy Councillor, 1871; author of A Historical Account of the Neutrality of Great Britain during the American Civil War (1870), many published lectures and other works; died at Over Ross, 2 September 1882; will proved 9 April 1883 (effects £93,643);

(6) Edward Westland Bernard (1822-98), born 8 October and baptised at Frampton-on-Severn (Glos), 29 October 1822; articled clerk to Cooke & Co. of Bristol, solicitors, 1840; solicitor in Stourbridge, in partnership with William Blow Collis from 1850; married, 4 October 1855 at St Nicholas, Worcester, Henrietta Clifton (1825-77), daughter of Clifton Wintringham Loscombe, of Pickwick House, Corsham (Wilts), but had no issue; lived latterly at The Hermitage, St. Leonards-on-Sea (Sussex) but died at Ahrweiler (Germany), 7 November 1898; will proved 8 December 1898 (estate £33,158);

(7) Mary Caroline Bernard (1827-45), baptised at Frampton-on-Severn, 14 February 1827; died unmarried at Over Ross, 10 December 1845; administration of goods granted 12 April 1872 (effects under £1,500).

He owned a moiety of the Eden estate, St James (Jamaica), but lived at a series of rented houses in England, including Sufton Court (Herefs), Tibberton Court and Frampton Lodge (Glos), and a house at Oldcastle (Carmarthens.). His widow lived latterly at Over Ross near Ross-on-Wye (Herefs).

He died at the house of his cousin, Dr Charles Edward Bernard in Clifton, Bristol (Glos), 28 September 1826, but his burial has not been traced; his will was proved in the PCC, 23 January 1827. His widow died at Hereford, 24 January 1872; her will was proved 18 June 1872 (effects under £3,000).

* David was one of four brothers who were active in Jamaica in the late 18th century, the others being Charles Bernard, William Rhodes Bernard and Daniel Bernard.

** Not to be confused with the Manchester Guardian, founded in 1822, which is the newspaper known as The Guardian today.

Bernard, Rev. Thomas Dehany (1815-1904).  Second son of Charles Bernard (1789-1826) and his wife Margaret Anne, daughter and co-heiress of John Baker of Waresley House (Worcs), born 11 November 1815 and baptised at St Andrew, Clifton, Bristol (Glos), 7 March 1816. Educated privately and at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1833; BA 1837; MA 1840; Chancellor's Prize, 1839). Ordained deacon, 1840 and priest, 1841. Vicar of Great Baddow (Essex), 1841-46; rector of Terling (Essex), 1846-63; rector of Walcot (Som.), 1863-87; a canon of Wells Cathedral, 1868-1901 and Chancellor of the Cathedral, 1879-1904. He belonged to the Evangelical wing of the Church of England, was noted for building churches and schools (paying personally for new buildings for Wells Cathedral Grammar School), and was the author of several religious works. He married, 2 September 1841 at Wimborne Minster (Dorset), Caroline (1816-88), second daughter of Benjamin Linthorne (1774-1859) of High Hall, Pamphill (Dorset), and had issue:

(1) Rev. Edward Russell Bernard (1842-1921) (q.v.);

(2) Harriet Anne Bernard (1845-1912), baptised at Gt Baddow, 5 October 1845; married, 2 June 1898 at Hinton Parva (Dorset), as his second wife, Ven. Edward Henry Winnington-Ingram (1849-1930), archdeacon of Hereford, 1910-23, eldest son of Rev. Edward Winnington-Ingram of Ribbesford House (Worcs), rector of Stanford-on-Teme (Worcs), but had no issue; died 8 February 1912; will proved 18 March 1912 (estate £14,021);

(3) Caroline Emma Bernard (1847-1930), baptised at Harrow (Middx), 4 July 1847; died unmarried at Sway (Hants), 6 March 1930; will proved 5 May 1930 (estate £10,454);

(4) Margaret Alice Bernard (1850-1934), baptised at Terling (Essex), 1 September 1850; died unmarried at Sway (Hants), 15 July 1934; will proved 25 August 1934 (estate £6,775);

(5) Arthur Montague Bernard (1851-1927), of The Lodge, Copdock (Suffk), born 25 December 1851 and baptised at Terling, 7 March 1852; educated at Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1871; BA 1875) and Inner Temple (admitted 1875; called 1878); barrister-at-law; JP and County Alderman for Suffolk; married, 2 June 1881 at Feniton (Devon), Katharine Mary (1853-1927), daughter of Rev. William Francis Gore of Sydney (Australia), and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 22 January 1927; will proved 12 March 1927 (estate £18,111);

(6) Evelyn Mary Bernard (1853-1939), baptised at Terling, 4 December 1853; married, 3 February 1876 at St Andrew, Walcot (Som.), Lt-Col. Arthur Clitheroe Ward (1841-1928), son of Lt-Gen. William Crofton Ward, and had issue one son and two daughters; died at Sway (Hants), 15 June 1939; will proved 4 September 1939 (estate £1,592);

(7) Agnes Jane Bernard (1855-1937), baptised at Terling, 6 May 1855; married, 17 January 1882 at St Andrew, Walcot (Som.), Ven. Charles d'Aguilar Lawrence (1847-1935), archdeacon of Suffolk, 1901-17 and canon of Bury St Edmunds, 1917-35, but had no issue; died at Sway, 24 February 1937; will proved 10 May 1937 (estate £8,191);

(8) Katharina Ellen Bernard (1856-1938), baptised at Terling, 3 August 1856; amateur artist; died unmarried, 27 June 1938; will proved 5 September 1938 (estate £13,016);

(9) Mary Elizabeth Bernard (1858-1939), baptised at Terling, 7 March 1858; amateur artist; died unmarried at Sway, 5 January 1939; will proved 13 March 1939 (estate £23,556).

He inherited a moiety of High Hall in right of his wife in 1859, and made his home there.

He died 7 December 1904 and was buried at Wells Cathedral; his will was proved 3 January 1905 (estate £62,808). His wife died 9 September 1888; her will was proved 29 October 1888 (effects £11,342).

Bernard, Rev. Edward Russell (1842-1921). Elder son of Rev. Thomas Dehany Bernard (1815-1904) of High Hall, Pamphill, born 12 July and baptised at Gt. Baddow (Essex), 4 September 1842. Educated at Harrow and Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1861; BA 1866; MA 1868). Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1866-78 and an examiner in theology at both Oxford and Cambridge, 1889-91. Ordained deacon, 1867 and priest, 1869. Vicar of Tarrant Monkton (Dorset), 1870-76 and of Selborne (Hants), 1876-89; prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral, 1886; canon residentiary of Salisbury Cathedral, 1889-1911 and Chancellor of the Cathedral, 1894-1911. He was at least twice offered more senior ecclesiastical preferment, but declined advancement. A chaplain in ordinary to Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V. Author of Great Moral Teachers (1906). He married, 4 September 1878 at Privett (Hants), Ellen Isabel (1859-1953), eldest daughter of William Nicholson DL of Basing Park (Hants), and had issue:

(1) Isabel Audrey Bernard (1881-1967), born and baptised at Froxfield (Hants), 8 November 1881; founder of the British Club in Bogotá; appointed MBE, 1920; she and her husband retired to High Hall on leaving Colombia before 1939; married, 14 February 1914 at Wimborne Minster (Dorset), Frank Tracey (1871-1963) of Bogotá and Medellín (Colombia), merchant, son of Michael Tracey of Sale (Ches.), merchant, but had no issue; buried at Hinton Parva (Dorset), 24 May 1967; will proved 30 June 1967 (estate £30,628);

(2) Anne Christina Bernard (1885-1973) (q.v.); 

(3) Caroline Mary Bernard (1889-1961), born 6 September and baptised at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster (Middx), 9 October 1889; married, 27 January 1923, Romeo Spani-Molella (1878-1960), barrister, and had issue one son; died 12 July 1961 and was buried at Campo Cestio Cemetery, Rome (Italy); will proved 5 September 1961 (estate in England, £13,313);

(4) Charles William Bernard (b. & d. 1891), privately baptised by his father, 4 February 1891; died in infancy.

He inherited High Hall from his father in 1904, and at his death left it to his widow for life. He built the service wing on the east side of the house in 1909-10.

He died 22 April 1921; his will was proved 9 August 1921 (estate £25,905). His widow died 27 November 1953 and was buried at Wells, 30 November 1953; her will was proved 9 June and 14 August 1954 (estate £36,291).

Bernard, (Anne) Christina (1885-1973). Second daughter of Canon Edward Russell Bernard (1842-1921) and his wife Ellen Isabel, eldest daughter of William Nicholson of Basing Park (Hants), born 5 September and baptised at Selborne, 11 October 1885. She married, 27 June 1916 at Wimborne Minster, Maj. Ralf Sumner Gibson (1882-1954) of Bracken Hill, Wrington (Som.), third son of Rt. Rev. Edgar Charles Sumner Gibson, Bishop of Gloucester, and had issue:

(1) Charles Edward Dehany Bernard (1917-79) (q.v.);

(2) Anne Barbara Gibson (1921-97), born 5 November 1921; died unmarried, 17 June 1997; will proved 27 August 1997.

She was co-heir of High Hall, Pamphill on the death of her mother in 1953.

She died 4 July 1973; her will was proved 21 November 1973 (estate £38,577). Her husband died 11 March 1954; his will was proved 7 May 1954 (estate £12,963).

Gibson, Charles Edward Dehany (1917-79). Only son of Maj. Ralf Sumner Gibson (1882-1954) and his wife (Anne) Christina, second daughter of Canon Edward Russell Bernard, born 19 April 1917. Founder of Wimborne Minster Civic Society. He married, 1964, Susan Veronica Whitelegge (b. 1926), and had issue:

(1) Jonathan Ralf Dehany Gibson (b. 1965); educated at St. John's College, Oxford (MA) and University College, London (PhD 1998); senior lecturer in English department at Open University; married, 1994, Lindsey D. Clarke (b. c.1975), and had issue two sons;

(2) Charlotte Jane M. Gibson (b. 1969); married, 2001, Michael R. Burleigh (b. 1962), and had issue one daughter.

He inherited High Hall, Pamphill on the death of his mother in 1973.

He died 9 April 1979; administration of his estate (with will annexed) was granted 12 December 1979 (estate £421,213). His widow is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p. 166; M. Hill, East Dorset country houses, 2013, pp. 366-67; M. Hill, J. Newman & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset, 2nd edn, 2018, p. 443.

Location of archives

It is likely that papers remain in the possession of the family.

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 18 October 2024 and updated 19 October 2024.