Francis Bernard, 3rd Earl of Bandon (3 January 1810 – 17 February 1877), styled Viscount Bernard between 1830 and 1856, was an Irish peer and politician.

Background and education

Born in Grosvenor Street, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, he was the son of James Bernard, 2nd Earl of Bandon

James Bernard, 2nd Earl of Bandon

James Bernard, 2nd Earl of Bandon was an Irish Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1820 and 1831 when he inherted the peerage and sat in the House of Lords....

, and Mary Susan Albinia, eldest daughter of Charles Brodrick

Charles Brodrick

The Right Reverend Charles Brodrick was a reforming Irish clergyman and Archbishop of Cashel in the Church of Ireland.-Origins and education:...

, Archbishop of Cashel

Archbishop of Cashel

The Archbishop of Cashel is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. The title is still in use in the Roman Catholic Church, but in the Church of Ireland it was downgraded to a bishopric in 1838....

. Bernard was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in 1830 and a Master of Arts four years thereafter.

Political career

Bernard entered the British House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 in January 1831, sitting for Bandon

Bandon (UK Parliament constituency)

Bandon was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Bandon in County Cork, Ireland...

, the same constituency his father had represented before, until July. He was returned for it again from 1842 until 1856, when he succeeded his father as earl. Two years later, Bernard was elected an Irish Representative Peer

Representative peer

In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...

. In 1874, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Cork

Lord Lieutenant of Cork

This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of County Cork. The office was created on 23 August 1831. For people who served as Lieutenant of the city of Cork see Lord Lieutenant of the City of Cork....

, post he held until his death in 1877.

Family

He married Catherine Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Whitmore, in 1832. They had one son and two daughters. His wife died in December 1873. Bernard survived her by four years and died at Castle Bernard, County Cork

County Cork

County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

, in February 1877, aged 67. He was succeeded in the earldom by his only son James

James Bernard, 4th Earl of Bandon

James Francis Bernard, 4th Earl of Bandon KP was a British Deputy Lieutenant in Ireland and Representative Peer...

.