Lawyer and colonial governor, born in Nettleham, Lincolnshire, England, in 1712; died at Aylesbury, England, on the 16th of June 1779. He graduated at Oxford, and served in different offices of importance until 1768, when he was appointed governor of New Jersey. He was appointed to the same office in Massachusetts Bay Colony. He administered the office satisfactorily in the former colony, and for the first nine years in the latter place. The library of Harvard College was burned in 1764, and the governor, who took quite an interest in the college (his third son graduated from the institution in 1767), assisted in procuring funds for its restoration. About that time two political parties arose—a royalist faction and a popular party. In trying to strengthen the former, Governor Bernard executed harsh measures and put down popular leaders, thereby arousing great indignation and precipitating the final struggle between the mother-country and her colonies. It is affirmed that he did more to hasten the Revolution than any other man. He had a quick, ungovernable temper—the unhappy faculty of doing just those things which would harass a people already on the brink of rebellion. Conciliatory measures he never tried. The king recalled him, yet he remained nominal governor for two years after his return to England.
