Thomas Bernard, 1665-1720. Was the eldest son of Charles and Elizabeth Bernard.


 The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland and II of Ireland) by a union of Parliamentarians with an invading army led by the William III of Orange who, as a result, ascended the English throne as William III of England. 
Clapham could refer to Clapham, Surrey (now part of London); Clapham, a village in North Yorkshire (previously in the West Riding of Yorkshire); or to a village in Sussex.

No evidence confirming this marriage has been found but Thomas and Deborah's second son was named Franks.  Thomas also mentioned Deborah, his wife, in his will (although this was probably a reference to his second wife, also Deborah).

Thomas Bernard lived in Oldtown & Clonmulsh, Carlow (alternately spelled Clonmulsk, Clonmelsh) and was Sheriff of Co. Carlow in 1708. Although Thomas was a wealthy man (as will be seen by his will) he was living at a time of war and strife in Ireland. The war between the Jacobites (Catholic supporters of James II) and the Williamites (Protestant supporters of William of Orange) started in March 1689 and lasted for two and a half years. Thomas died in 1720.



Thomas and Deborah (Franks) Bernard had three sons and two daughters:

• Charles Bernard born about 1688,

• Franks Bernard born about 1689 
  

• Elizabeth Bernard 1690-1755. Married (1) Henry Rudkin in 1712. The marriage settlement is recorded in the Registry of Deeds (1) .  Henry was the second son of Henry Rudkin (Sen) of Wells in Co Carlow. There is much misinformation about the marriages between the Bernards and the Rudkins. Notes from a court case clearly describe the correct pairings
  

• Elizabeth Rudkin, b. 1713 married 1733, her cousin Henry Rudkin
• Mary Rudkin 1715 married Gilbert Pickering
• Deborah Rudkin 1716, Married Oliver Cramer, son of Oliver Cramer of Ballyfoyle, County Kilkenny, by his wife Hester Coghill
• Bernard Rudkin 1725, married Sarah Roth. He died in 1760
• Anne Rudkin 1727, married William Ward of Wells (He was a Catholic she a Protestant, and as the ceremony appears to have been solemnised by a Roman Catholic priest, the marriage was, in the then state of the law, wholly void. Consequently she was described as a "spinster" in the Bill in Chancery filed in 1760, referred to subsequently, and in her will dated 20th October 1761, as an unmarried woman). She died 1761 
• William Rudkin, married 1759 Diana Barnes
• Harriet Rudkin died in 1739, an infant “of a few years”
• Henry Rudkin (Jun) ?

• Joseph Bernard b. 1692 or 1694, in Clonmulch, Co. Carlow. (d. 1764)
  

• Anne Bernard was probably born before 1700. Anne married Gayton Manwaring in 1722 (3). He was the son of William and Mary Manwaring of Moneen in Co. Kilkenny. He died in 1723. He left one son:
  
• Gayton Manwaring (Jun) who would have been born in 1722/23. There is a record in the Exchequer Court of Gayton Manwaring (a minor) and Ann  Manwaring als. Bernard as plaintiffs against Mary Manwaring (Gayton (sen)'s mother)

---

In January 1697 Thomas and Deborah Bernard were plaintiffs (along with others) against James Earl of Tyrone and Richard Gumbleton, in the Exchequer Court.

After the death of Deborah (Franks) Bernard circa 1700, Thomas Bernard married Deborah (Sheppard) Humfrey, widow of Edward Humfrey of Clonagh, Co. Carlow in 1708.   She was the daughter of Mathew Shepperd of Killerick (who died in 1663) and sister of  Jonathan Shepperd, Esq. of Derryvowles.

There are various sources that confirm this marriage:

• Documentation obtained from the Mormon Church Records,(FamilySearch.org)
  

• Burke's A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. 
  

• In the1894 edition for the Bernards of carlow - "Thomas Bernard, of Oldtown and Clonmulsh, co. Carlow, High Sheriff 1708; m. Deborah, dau. of Matthew Shepperd, of Killerick, co. Carlow, and sister of Jonathan Shepperd, of Killerick, co. Carlow, and widow of Edward Humfrey, of Clonagh, co. Carlow."  
  
• In the 1912 edition for the Humfreys of Carlow -  "Edward Humfrey, of Clonagh, co. Carlow, m. 1676, Deborah, dau. of  Matthew  Shepperd, of Killerik, co. Carlow.  His will, dated 3 Jan. 1686 was proved 19 Feb. 1686. ……..(Deborah m. 2ndly, Thomas Bernard, of Clonmulsh)"
  

Deborah Sheppard's parents were Mary (Marie) Franck and Mathew Sheapherd who married on 27th October 1654 in Saxelby, Leicestershire.4 "They arrived in Killerick Co Carlow before 1659 when Mathew was listed as an inhabitant. Mathew may have been related to the Sheppards already in residence in Co Carlow at the time" .#5 It is possible that Mathew may have been related to Philip Sheppard, father of Elizabeth Sheppard who married Charles Bernard, but I have no evidence of that relationship.  Mathew Sheppard's will mentions his brothers Hugh & Ralph, both living in England.#6 .  Their children were born between 1654 & 1664:

•   Deborah Sheppard (m. 1st Edward Humfrey & 2nd Thomas Bernard)
•   Jonathan Sheppard (d. in Leicestershire 1729)
•   Mary Sheppard (d. spinster 1683)
•   Elizabeth [Bettie] Sheppard (m. John Lucas of Rathdaniel)
•   Judith Sheppard (m. Kean or Keige)
 

There are many documents illustrating the close ties among the Bernard, Bunbury, Humfrey and Sheppard families

• In the Ireland Court of Chancery Records 7, 1633-1851, Bill Books 1709-1718 there is a record of a Bill in 1715 (plaintiffs John and Judith Kiege) which mentions Mathew Sheppard and Thomas Bernard as respondents. The defendants include: Jonathan Sheppard; Thomas Fox, John Wilkinson, Mathew Humphrys; Benjamin, William, John and Thomas Humphrys; Thomas Barnett and Deborah his wife [this should be Thomas and Deborah Bernard]; John Lucas and Elizabeth his wife; Thomas Martin, William Franke, Elizabeth Hawkesworth (Sen), Elizabeth Hawkesworth (Jun), Frances Hawkesworth; Jane Fox, Mary Bunbury (Jun) ; Mathew Sheppard, Robert Banker, John Keige, Edmond Jones and his wife Rebecca, Susanna Jones; and Joseph, Thomas, Mathew, Benjamin and Diana Bunbury.

• A deed dated April 1729 between John Humfrey, gent of Carlow, son and heir of Edward Humfrey (Gent, deceased) and Deborah Bernard of Carlow (widow of Thomas Bernard Esq, deceased), confirms the first marriage of Deborah (Sheppard) to Edward Humfrey (in 1685). Ref: (ROD 2) 

• There is a record of a will dated 1728, for a Debora(h) Bernard (widow) who died in 1732 in Carlow (Ref: Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858) which further clarifies that Deborah Bernard was the 2nd wife of Thomas Bernard. The will lists her children as: John Humfrey, Mathew Humfrey, Benjamin Humfrey, Thomas Humfrey, William Humfrey, Charles Bernard, Franks Bernard, Joseph Bernard, Elizabeth (Bernard) Rudkins and Anne (Bernard) Barns. 8 The Bernards being her step-children. 
  

Thomas Bernard died in 1720. His will lists several bequests to his children. 

Deborah (Sheppard/Humfrey) Bernard died about 1732 in Carlow.

References:  
Registry of Deeds: Vol #, Page #, Memorial #
(1) Memorial 93/122/65094 Image 356.
(2) Memorial 84/100/58379 Image 346
(3) Memorial 48/83/30732   Image # 53
(4)   Leicestershire marriages, Find My Past
(5)   By kind permission of Kay McKeogh, Dublin City University
(6)   Leicestershire Wills, Find My Past
(7)   Court of Chancery Records. "Records from the Court of Chancery in Ireland relating to individuals involved in court proceedings between the years 1633-1851. As one of the four older 'Superior' courts in Ireland, the Courts of Chancery were at the very centre of Ireland's legal system. Surviving records consist mainly of bill books with some other records including an Index to Pleadings and records of Pleadings themselves." Ancestry.com
(8)    Carloviana # 20, 1971 (page 26). 

Back to Charles Bernard of Carlow