Sir Thomas Bernard, 3rd Baronet (27 April 1750 – 1 July 1818) was an English social reformer whose father, as governor of the

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherla ...

(1758–1760) and

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...

(1760–1770), played a responsible part in directing the British policy which led to the revolt of the American colonies.

Life

He was born at Lincoln, the younger son of

Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet (bapt. 12 July 1712 – 16 June 1779) was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of the provinces of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay. His uncompromising policies and harsh tactics in Massachus ...

. Rather late in his life, on the death of his elder brother in 1810, Bernard succeeded to the

baronet 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 ...

cy conferred on his father in 1768. His early education was obtained at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, in which his father took a great interest. He then acted as confidential secretary to his father during the troubles which led (1769) to the governor's recall, and accompanied Sir Francis to England, where he was called to the bar, and practised as a

conveyancer In most Commonwealth countries, a conveyancer is a specialist lawyer who specialises in the legal aspects of buying and selling real property, or conveyancing. A conveyancer can also be (but need not be) a solicitor, licensed conveyancer, or ...

. He married a rich wife, and acquired a considerable fortune, and then devoted most of his time to social work for the benefit of the poor. From 1795 to 1806 he was treasurer of the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

for abandoned babies, in the concerns of which he took an important part. After his treasurership, he continued to play a role on the charity's Court of Governors holding the honorary title of Vice President, but resigned when taking on the baronetcy in 1810. He also helped to establish in 1796 the "Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor," in 1800 a school for indigent blind, and in 1801 a fever institution. He was a founding Director of the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it ...

in 1805. He was active in promoting

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

, improving the conditions of

child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

, advocating rural allotments, and agitating against the salt duties. He took great interest in education, and with

Count Rumford Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 175321 August 1814), was an American-born British military officer, scientist and inventor. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, he sup ...

he was an originator of the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He died without issue on 1 July 1818. Sir Thomas was also a Director and leading proponent of the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in ea ...

. He was approached in 1811 by

John Nash (architect) John Nash (18 January 1752 – 13 May 1835) was an English architect of the Georgian and Regency eras. He was responsible for the design, in the neoclassical and picturesque styles, of many important areas of London. His designs were finance ...

, the architect, who was a leading advocate of the canal and was present at the Percy Street Meeting, on 31 May 1811 at which a steering committee was set up to plan the building of a canal across north London. Social reformers favoured canals in this period because they greatly reduced the price of coal for the poor, and at that time gas lighting was also being adopted, using gas made from coal. Gas lighting was cheaper than candles. Sir Thomas played a prominent part in the management of the troubled canal throughout his remaining years. In 1818 it was he who finally settled a long-running acrimonious dispute with William Agar of Elm Lodge, whose determined opposition and clever but awkward behaviour had frustrated the canal's construction. Sadly he died just a few weeks after his moment of greatest success when he had resolved this major difficulty by negotiation, so he did not live to see the canal completed. He was buried beneath the chapel of the Foundling Hospital, London, which was demolished in 1928.

References

Attribution: *

External links

The Regent's Canal

The Foundling Museum
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Thomas, 3rd Baronet English philanthropists Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Harvard College alumni 1750 births 1818 deaths English social reformers