John MacKay Bernard of Dunsinnan and Buttergask

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1857–19 April 1919) was a Scottish

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

and noted amateur

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

. He was President of the

Scottish Meteorological Society The Scottish Meteorological Society was founded in 1855 by David Milne-Home with private funding, particularly from wealthy landowners who wished to compile meteorological records in order to improve agriculture. The Society founded the observato ...

1912 to 1915.

Life

He was born the son of Thomas Bernard (d.1874) of the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

brewing company of Thomas and James Bernard Brewers Ltd. founded in 1840. They operated from 71 North Back in the

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...

. The family lived in a luxurious house at 8 Leopold Place. On his father’s death in 1874 he inherited the company along with his older brother Daniel. He decided to attend university to better his knowledge and graduated with a BSc from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1887. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1887 due to his contributions to meteorology. His proposers were Sir Thomas Jamieson Boyd,

Andrew Peebles Aitken Andrew Peebles Aitken FRSE FBSE (1843-1904) was a Scottish agricultural chemist remembered primarily for his research into fertiliser response times. He laid the foundations of modern understanding of increased crop yields through the use of art ...

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown FRSE FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildings complex is named after him. Early life and education Crum Brown was born at 4 Bellev ...

and

David Alan Stevenson David Alan Stevenson (21 July 1854 in Edinburgh – 11 April 1938) was a lighthouse engineer who built 26 lighthouses in and around Scotland. Life He was born on 21 July 1854 the son of David Stevenson and his wife, Elizabeth Mackay. His ...

. At this time he was living at 25 Chester Street in Edinburgh’s West End. In 1888 they relocated to Slateford Road to a custom built brewery designed by the Edinburgh architect

Hippolyte Blanc Hippolyte Jean Blanc (18 August 1844 – 17 March 1917) was a Scottish architect. Best known for his church buildings in the Gothic revival style, Blanc was also a keen antiquarian who oversaw meticulously researched restoration projects. ...

in 1887. A dispute with his brother Daniel in 1889 caused Daniel to set up alone in a new brewery at Gorgie. The Slateford premises were then renamed Thomas and James Bernard Brewery Ltd (the original brewery name) in 1895 The company survived until 1960 when it was taken over by Scottish Brewers Ltd. He owned estates in

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

near

Dunsinane Hill Dunsinane Hill ( ) is a hill of the Sidlaws near the village of Collace in Perthshire, Scotland. It is mentioned in Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth'', in which Macbeth is informed by a supernatural being, "Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until ...

(Dunsinnan House). His family

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...

was a rampant bear, muzzled. He died on 19 April 1919. He is buried in

Collace Collace () is a parish in Perthshire, Scotland, northeast of Perth, in the Carse of Gowrie district. The parish boundary includes the neighbouring villages of Kinrossie and Saucher. The traditional industries of the area are farming, quarry ...

churchyard close to his Dunsinnan estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, John MacKay 1857 births 1919 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Businesspeople from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish brewers Scottish meteorologists Philanthropists from Edinburgh 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century Scottish businesspeople Scientists from Edinburgh