In 1601 Robert Bernard 1st Baronet was born to Francis Bernard and Mary Woodhouse at Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire.
On 13th November 1615 Robert Bernard 1st Baronet [aged 14] was admitted to the Middle Temple.
Before November 1630 Robert Bernard 1st Baronet [aged 29] and Elizabeth Tallakerne were married.
In November 1630 [his son] John Bernard 2nd Baronet was born to Robert Bernard 1st Baronet [aged 29] and [his wife] Elizabeth Tallakerne. He married (1) before 1670 Elizabeth St John and had issue (2) before 25th June 1679 Grace Schuckburgh.
In April 1640 Robert Bernard 1st Baronet [aged 39] was elected MP Huntingdon in the Short Parliament.
Before 6th June 1642 Robert Digby 1st Baron Digby [aged 43] and [his future wife] Elizabeth Altham were married.
After 6th June 1642 Robert Bernard 1st Baronet [aged 41] and Elizabeth Altham were married.
In or before 1662 Robert Bernard 1st Baronet [aged 60] and Helen Saunderson were married. No issue.
In 1662 [his wife] Elizabeth Altham died.
On 1st July 1662 Robert Bernard 1st Baronet [aged 61] was created 1st Baronet Bernard of Huntingdon.
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
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Samuel Pepys' Diary. 16th September 1663. Up betimes, and with my wife to Hinchingbroke [Map] to see my Lady, she being to go to my Lord this morning, and there I left her, and so back to the Court, and heard Sir R. Bernard's [aged 62] charges to the Courts Baron and Leete, which took up till noon, and were worth hearing, and after putting my business into some way, went home to my father's to dinner, and after dinner to the Court, where Sir Robert and his son came again by and by, and then to our business, and my father and I having given bond to him for the £21 Piggott owed him, my uncle Thomas did quietly admit himself and surrender to us the lands first mortgaged for our whole debt, and Sir Robert added to it what makes it up £209, to be paid in six months. But when I came to give him an account of more lands to be surrendered to us, wherein Piggott's wife was concerned, and she there to give her consent, Sir Robert would not hear of it, but began to talk very high that we were very cruel, and we had caution enough for our money, and he could not in conscience let the woman do it, and reproached my uncle, both he and his son, with taking use upon use for this money. To all which I did give him such answers and spoke so well, and kept him so to it, that all the Court was silent to hear us, and by report since do confess they did never hear the like in the place. But he by a wile had got our bond, and I was content to have as much as I could though I could not get all, and so took Piggott's surrender of them without his wife, and by Sir Robert's own consent did tell the Court that if the money were not paid in the time, and the security prove not sufficient, I would conclude myself wronged by Sir Robert, which he granted I should do. This kept us till night, but am heartily glad it ended so well on my uncle's part, he doing that and Prior's little house very willingly.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 13th May 1664. Thence to Sir R. Bernard [aged 63], and there heard something of Pigott's delay of paying our money, that that also vexed me mightily.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 26th May 1664. I to Tom Trice, to discourse about my father's giving over his administration to my brother, and thence to Sir R. Bernard [aged 63], and there received £19 in money, and took up my father's bond of £21, that is £40, in part of Piggot's £209 due to us, which £40 he pays for 7 roods of meadow in Portholme.
In 1666 Robert Bernard 1st Baronet [aged 65] died. His son John [aged 35] succeeded 2nd Baronet Bernard of Huntingdon.
[his father] Francis Bernard and [his mother] Mary Woodhouse were married.
Francis Astley of Hill Morton and Melton and Elizabeth Altham were married.