Francis Bernard (lawyer)

Francis Bernard SL (1663 – 30 June 1731)[1] was an Irish lawyer and politician.

He was the son of Francis Bernard of Castle Mahon.[2] Bernard sat as Member of Parliament (MP) in the Irish House of Commons. He represented Clonakilty between 1692 and 1695[1] and subsequently Bandonbridge between 1695 and 1727.[1] He was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland in 1711,<ref name = Burke's/> a post he held until 1714, and Prime Serjeant in 1724.<ref name = Burke's>Burke, John (1832). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. vol. I (4th ed.). London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. p. 74.</ref> Two years later he became a Judge on the Irish Court of Common Pleas.[3]

In 1693, Bernard married Alice Ludlow, daughter of Stephen Ludlow.[4] They had a daughter and several sons.[4] His grandson James was the ancestor of the Earls of Bandon.[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Leigh Rayment - Irish House of Commons 1692-1800". Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  2. "ThePeerage - Francis Bernard". Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  3. Haydn, Joseph (1851). The Book of Dignities: Containing Rolls of the Official Personages of the British Empire. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longman's. p. 455.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Lodge, Edmund (1838). The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage (6th ed.). London: Saunder and Otley. p. 37.
  5. "ThePeerage - James Bernard". Retrieved 28 March 2009.
Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by
Patriot Parliament
Member of Parliament for Clonakilty
1692–1695
With: Percy Freke
Succeeded by
Bryan Townsend
Percy Freke
Preceded by
Sir William Moore, 2nd Bt
Edward Riggs
Member of Parliament for Bandonbridge
1695–1727
With: Edward Riggs 1695–1703
Richard Gorges 1703–1713
Arthur Bernard 1713–1715
Martin Bladen 1715–1727
Succeeded by
George Freke
Stephen Bernard
Legal offices
Preceded by
William Whitshed
Solicitor-General for Ireland
1711–1714
Succeeded by
John Rogerson