BERNARD, Hon. Henry Boyle (1812-1895), of Coolmain Castle, co. Cork

Henry Boyle Bernard was born at Grosvenor Street, London, the third son of James Bernard, 2^nd earl of Bandon, and a nephew of Charles Brodrick, 6^th viscount Midleton. Though he was called to the bar in 1839 it is not clear that he ever practised. His family had dominated the representation of Bandon after 1830, and in 1863 he was nominated as Conservative candidate, following the death of his uncle, William Smyth Bernard.1HP Commons, 1820-32: iv. 270; HP Commons, 1832-68: ‘Bernard, William Smyth’. He won the seat after seeing off a Liberal challenge in a disorderly contest. He contested the seat again at the 1865 general election, when he narrowly defeated William Shaw, the future leader of the home rule party.2Daily News, 4 Mar. 1863; The Nation, 15 July 1865.

Possessed of ‘a fine physique’ and in ‘excellent health all through life’, Bernard was said to be a prominent and popular member of London society.3Southern Star, 16 Mar. 1895. While a ‘general supporter’ of Lord Derby, he continued the ‘ultra tradition of his family’, being one of 21 members from noble families then sitting for Irish seats.4Debrett’s House of Commons, and the judicial bench (1867), 21; Leeds Mercury, 8 Aug. 1865. He is not known to have spoken in the House but supported Disraeli’s motion against Palmerston over Schleswig Holstein in 1864 and, during the passage of the reform bill in 1867, voted against amendments to enfranchise lodgers and women and to disenfranchise boroughs with populations under 5,000. He also continued the family tradition of defending the position of the landed and Protestant interests in the south of Ireland. As a representative of the Central Protestant Defence Association, he was part of a delegation (led by his brother Francis, 3^rd earl of Bandon) that waited on Benjamin Disraeli at Downing Street to protest against any future proposals for the disestablishment of the Irish church.5Nation, 13 June 1868. For Disraeli’s efforts in this regard, see P.C. Kennedy, ‘Underhand Dealings with the Papal Authorities’: Disraeli and the Liberal Conspiracy to Disestablish the Irish Church’, in N. LoPatin-Lumis (ed.), Parliamentary History. Public Life and Public Lives: Politics and Religion in Modern British History (2008), 19-29.

At the 1868 general election, Bernard was narrowly defeated by William Shaw after a violent contest. He did not seek re-election there after 1868 and retired to his ‘beautiful seaside residence’ near Bandon, where it is recorded that ‘he discharged the duties appertaining to his position in the county with such rectitude, ability, and kindness that he won a high place in the estimation of all who had the privilege of knowing him’.6Nation, 28 Nov. 1868; Southern Star, 16 Mar. 1895. In 1848 he had married Matilda, the daughter of Major-General Charles Turner, then commander of the southern district of Ireland. She died in 1892 and Bernard died after a brief illness at Coolmain three years later and was buried in Ballymodan churchyard.7Manchester Times, 25 Jan. 1848; The Times, 15 Mar. 1895. His nephew, Capt. Percy Broderick Bernard (1844-1912), who was private secretary to the 7^th duke of Marlborough whilst lord lieutenant of Ireland (1876-80), sat briefly for Bandon in 1880.