Sir Francis Bernard was educated at St. Peter's College, Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford (M.A. 1736). Admitted to the bar (Middle Temple, 1737), he was a successful provincial lawyer in Lincoln, England. He was appointed royal governor of New Jersey in 1758, during which term he negotiated a treaty with the Delaware Indians and successfully argued for providing troops for the campaign against Canada during the French and Indian War. Two years later, he was appointed royal governor of Massachusetts. While he initially gained a measure of favorability in the Province, his insistence that British law must be followed in the wake of the Stamp Act led to his becoming fairly unpopular and Bernard was recalled to London in 1769. That same year, he was awarded a baronetcy. Later he became a customs commissioner for Ireland but retired in 1774.
Sir Francis Bernard was educated at St. Peter's College, Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford (M.A. 1736). Admitted to the bar (Middle Temple, 1737), he was a successful provincial lawyer in Lincoln, England. He was appointed royal governor of New Jersey in 1758, during which term he negotiated a treaty with the Delaware Indians and successfully argued for providing troops for the campaign against Canada during the French and Indian War. Two years later, he was appointed royal governor of Massachusetts. While he initially gained a measure of favorability in the Province, his insistence that British law must be followed in the wake of the Stamp Act led to his becoming fairly unpopular and Bernard was recalled to London in 1769. That same year, he was awarded a baronetcy. Later he became a customs commissioner for Ireland but retired in 1774.
Inscription
In memory of
Sir Francis Bernard, Bart.,
Late Governor of Massachuset's Bay;
He married Amelia, daughter of Stephen Offley,
Esq., of Norton Hall, Derbyshire,
by whom he left issue,
Three sons, John, Thomas, and Scrope;
And four daughters,
Jane, Amelia, Frances, Elizabeth and Julia.
He died the XVI. day of June,
MDCCLXXIX.
In the LXVII. year of his age.
Family Members
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
