John Brodribb Bergne (1800–1873) was an English official, numismatist and antiquary.
Life
Bergne was born at
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, and entered the
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* Unit ...
in January 1817. He was attached as clerk to the treaty department, of which he became superintendent in 1854. A trusted adviser of successive secretaries of state, his reputation was as an authority on matters connected with treaties. In 1865 he was a member of the commission appointed to revise the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
instructions. He remained the head of the treaty department till his death, early in 1873.
Numismatist
Bergne was also an antiquary and numismatist, one of the founders of the
Numismatic Society
The Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II.
Membership
Foremost collectors and researchers, b ...
, of which he was treasurer from 1848 to 1857, and then a vice-president, He was fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of London
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
. As a numismatist, Bergne concentrated on Roman and English coins, his collection of which was dispersed at his death, when many were purchased for the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. The following are his contributions to the ''Numismatic Chronicle'' from its first publication in 1838:
*''Pennies of William the Conqueror'';
*''Additions to Mr. Walpole's Account of the Family of Roetiers'';
*''Irish Penny of Edward I'';
*''Remarks on the Pennies of Henry with the Short and Long Cross'';
*''Half-crowns of Charles II of Uncertain Mints'';
*''Unpublished Exeter Half-crowns of Charles I'';
*''Numismatic Sermon preached in 1694'';
*''Unpublished Coins of Guthred, Baldred, and William the Conqueror'';
*''Coin of Cerausius of a New and Unpublished Type'';
*''Another coin of Baldred'';
*''Denarius of Pescenninus Niger'';
*''Coin Pedigrees'';
*''Unpublished Coins'';
*''Foreign or Counterfeit Sterlings''.
Family
The diplomat
John Henry Gibbs Bergne was his eldest son.
References
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergne, John Brodribb
1800 births
1873 deaths
19th-century English people
English numismatists
English antiquarians
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
People from Kensington
English people of French descent