Sir John Bernard, 2nd Baronet (November 163025 June 1679) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1654 and 1660. Bernard was born at Northampton, the son of Sir Robert Bernard, 1st Baronet and his first wife Elizabeth Tallakerne, daughter of Sir John Tallakerne.Arthur Collins ''The English baronetage: containing a genealogical and historical account''
/ref> His father had been MP for Huntingdon in 1640. Bernard was educated at Huntingdon and was admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

on 21 January 1645 and at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

on 12 April 1646. In 1654 Bernard was elected Member of Parliament for

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the H ...

. He was re-elected in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

and in 1659 for the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

. History of Parliament Online - Bernard, John
/ref> In 1660, he was re-elected MP for Huntingdon in the Convention Parliament. Bernard succeeded to the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on the death of his father in 1666. As lord of the manor, he made himself highly unpopular, using his legal knowledge to eject small freeholders from their property. Bernard died at the age of 48 and was buried at

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

church,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, where he is commemorated on a marble monument, against the south wall. Bernard married firstly Elizabeth St John, daughter of

Oliver St John Sir Oliver St John (; c. 1598 – 31 December 1673) was an English barrister, judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640-53. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War. Early life St John was the son o ...

Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the common pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the other two common la ...

, by whom he had one son,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

, his successor, and eight daughters, of whom Joanna, the fifth, married the Rev. Dr.

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenis ...

, archdeacon and prebendary of Ely, and master of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. Her portrait, by

William Wissing Willem Wissing, known in England as William Wissing (1656 – 10 September 1687), was a Dutch portrait artist who worked in England. Biography He was born in either Amsterdam or The Hague, and studied at The Hague under Willem Doudijns (1630� ...

, is in the College's collection. Bernard married secondly Grace Shuckburgh, daughter of Sir Richard Shuckburgh, of Shuckburgh,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

and his wife Grace Holte, daughter of Sir

Thomas Holte Sir Thomas Holte, 1st Baronet (c. 1571 – 14 December 1654) was an English landowner, responsible for building Aston Hall, in the parish of Aston in Warwickshire. The "Holte End" stand of Villa Park, the stadium of Aston Villa Football Clu ...

, 1st Baronet. They had no children. After his death, she married secondly Thomas Mariet. She died in 1721.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, John 1630 births 1679 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Huntingdonshire