The friendship which subsisted between Matilda, the wife of King Stephen, and the Saint, whom she received in her own town of Boulogne, lends force to the supposition that a nephew or cousin of St. Bernard may have crossed the Channel under this Queen's auspices and settled in England.
A gentleman of much research, Mr. Leonard G. P. Barnard, informs me that the father of Godfrey was Thomas FitzBernard, who belonged to the household of Henry II, was a Judge or Justiciar of many courts, and for six years sheriff of Northamptonshire, and was twice excommunicated by St. Thomas Beckett - apparently as a supporter of the King - but was also twice absolved. His wife was Eugenia Riot. The link connecting him with Godfrey is that ' Dominus Rex dedit filio Thome filii Bernardi filiam Wateride Canne, cum Wanbrige.' Now Wanbrige is close to, and indeed another name for, Wanford. Bernard, the father of Thomas FitzBernard, as this account supposes, may still have been a cousin of St. Bernard or of his father.
Godfrey Bernard is said to have given three manors to St. Mary's Abbey, York, retaining Wanford only for himself, and to have migrated to Cambridgeshire, where he became lord of the manor of Iselham. A monument formerly in the church of that parish has been identified as his tomb, and fully described and delineated. The figure is of stone and was cross-legged, a bear at his feet, and over him an elliptical within a pointed arch, on very short round pillars, sided by purfled finials. This figure shows the surtout longer behind than in front: the right arm was evidently laid across the body, probably grasping and withdrawing the sword, as may be seen in a similar figure in the Temple Church. It is, without doubt, the effigy of Godfrey Bernard, who was Lord of Iselham. He went with Henry III. for Palestine. I say for, for that shifty monarch, after forcing the clergy to collect funds for his expedition, never pursued his errand further than Gascony, where he squandered the money collected for the Holy Expedition. Dugdale says that anyone who took the vow for the Holy Land, but was prevented by some unavoidable cause, was still entitled to be buried cross-legged.
Another tomb in the same church under the south window is the tomb either of William, son of Godfrey, or of William's son Gilbert, most probably of William, because the fashion of the armour shows that it must have been of the period of the latter part of Henry III. or beginning of Edward I. The bear at his feet shows him to have been a Barnard. At that period the long-tailed surtout had begun to be cut off evenly, and had frequently a jewelled border. Chain mail was still used over the head, 'the camail.' William was one of the jurors for the wapentake of Belteshawe, Lincolnshire. He married a lady named Catherine Sauston. The wife of his son Gilbert is called Claricia; her family name does not appear.
The next William, son of Gilbert, whose wife was named Agnes, is said to have fought at Calais; he also was buried in Iselham church. His monument is described as follows: On a plain, low altar-tomb, an alabaster figure in armour, the hair long and curled, with a garland or corolla, or else a jewelled cap. Under his head a large ' pot' helmet, with a fillet of fleurde-lis and slit, and a demi-bear for crest. He wears a piked beard, gauntlets, a studded neckband, mamelettes, and rounded elbow-pieces; of his sword and dagger portions of the hilts alone remain; the surtout short and evenly cut; round its base a jewelled sword-belt, another belt at the waist, and the legs in plate armour, the feet jointed. At his feet a bear muzzled, and looking up. . . .
Robert Bernard, son of the second William, and greatgreat-grandson of Godfrey Bernard, contracted a marriage, which brought him into relations with another county. In Northamptonshire dwelt Sir Nicholas Lillyng, fifth in descent from Simon Dominus de Estlinge, or East Lillyng, near York. He was probably a younger son, for he is said to have made his fortune in London, and then to have commenced buying land in Northamptonshire. It is probable that his earliest acquisitions were the manors of Great Billing and Guilsborough.
In the parliament of 1381-82 he represented the county, and was High Sheriff in the following year, an office which then carried with it the custody of Northampton Castle. He bought the manors of Abington and Little Brington in 1389-90 and in 1393, perhaps earlier, was keeper of the King's Park at Moulton, as appears by an indenture. Abington became his place of residence, doubtless on account of its nearness to the provincial capital.
Robert Bernard of Iselham married, or was betrothed to, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Nicholas, about this time; but she appears to have been very young, perhaps a child. None of her surviving children can have been born for some years after. It is not, however, unlikely that some children may have died in infancy, since it might naturally be expected that the name of Nicholas, and also Elizabeth, which was the name of Lady Lillyng as well as of her daughter, would be found among the young Bernards, and also the names of their paternal grandparents, William and Agnes, and of Robert their own father, or at least some out of the number; but none of them were thus honoured. Robert Bernard had apparently not succeeded to his paternal estates at the time of his marriage or betrothal, but Elizabeth must have been portioned with land in Northamptonshire, probably at Little Brington, since her husband served as High Sheriff for the county in 1384-85, two years after his father-in-law's nomination.
Elizabeth Bernard died comparatively young; she is buried at Clare, in Suffolk, where her husband had an estate, whether by inheritance or purchase I have not discovered. In 1416 her son Thomas was evidently brought forward by Sir Nicholas as his eventual heir, his elder brother, John, being the recognised successor of his father in Cambridgeshire. According to documents relating to a long subsequent transaction the manor of Little Brington had been conveyed to ' Sir Nicholas Lillyng, in fee simple, who by deed 16 Dec. 1416, having previously vested it in feoffees, directed them to enfeoff Thomas Bernard (second) son of Robert Bernard, esq. (by his daughter Elizabeth) in fee tail when he attained his legal age. . . .'.
There is some difficulty about this date, because it assumes that Thomas Bernard was not yet of age; though perhaps he was on the point of attaining his majority; whereas he is said by the same historian, Baker, to have been Escheator for the county in the previous year, 1415. This was an office of some dignity and importance; it is therefore surprising that it should have been given to a minor. His younger brother, Henry, who probably obtained the manor of Guilsborough at the same time, is expressly stated in Baker's history to have been ' a minor'.
Sir Nicholas died in 1418, but Abington did not then become the property of any Bernard, because (according to the county history) his wife had been enfeoffed jointly with himself, and lived on there till her death after 1450. It is clear, however, that this lady could hardly have been the mother of Elizabeth Bernard-at least such longevity is improbable; she might, indeed, have been her stepmother but Mr. L. Barnard asserts that Sir Nicholas had a son of the same name, who succeeded to Abington and died without issue, and that it was his widow Maria, or Mary, who remained there, and presented to the living in 1430 and 1450. It eventually descended to Thomas Bernard.
The date of Robert Bernard's death is not recorded by my authorities. Besides his estate at Iselham, in Cambridgeshire, and various lands in its vicinity, he had, as already stated, property at Clare, in Suffolk. And this seems to have been his favourite residence, perhaps because he had lived there in his early married days when his father was alive. It is there that he is buried. A 'most beautiful brass' formerly marked his resting-place, and in the tower of the church there was' a stained glass window of Robert Barnard, with the cloak of Barnard over him …'
The four children of Robert Bernard and Elizabeth Lillyng were:
1. John, of Iselham, who apparently inherited most of the Cambridgeshire property;
2. Thomas, of Clare, of Little Brington, and eventually of Abington;
3. Henry, of Guilsborough;
4. Mary.
Henry, the third son, may seem to have been slenderly portioned with the manor of Guilsborough,
which was in the north of the county, and was one of Sir Nicholas Lillyng's estates. It is quite
probable that he inherited some land from his father also, which is omitted by Baker, as lying
beyond the limits of Northamptonshire. I do not know whether he married and left issue.
The interest of the family in this generation is centred in John and Thomas. John, although
a considerable landowner in Cambridgeshire, did not lose his connection with Northamptonshire; he
married Ellen, only child of Sir John Mallory of Welton and Wold, in the north of the county, by
whom he had three daughters, who survived him:
1, Margaret, who inherited Iselham with Felham and Barnards and part of Trumpington, and married
Sir Thomas Peyton;
2, Katherine, whose share was Welton, and who became the wife of Thomas Jermyn of Eushbrook,
Suffolk;
3, Mary, who carried Wold to the family of Le Strange, of Norfolk.
That John Bernard was knighted appears in the county histories; but for the following remarkable account I am indebted to Mr. L. Barnard, who states that John was at Agincourt in the train of Sir William Phelipe, and was knighted on the field of battle. He was afterwards Deputy Governor of the Channel Islands under Humphry Duke of Gloster. There exist still, with reference to him, some military passes of the time of Agincourt, now in the Tower of London, authorising him and his brother Thomas to pass through the French lines to visit their property in Aquitaine, and several deeds in the archives of Jersey, sealed with his signet, his mother's arms of '3 roches naiant and a border engrailed.'
Sir John was commemorated by a brass in St. Nicholas's Church, Iselham, on which appeared the effigies of himself and his wife Ellen: ' He wears the Lancastrian collar of SS (probably meaning "Souvenez," the favourite device of Henry of Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV. : witness his tomb at Canterbury).' It is noticeable that the inscription on this brass commemorates Sir John's second wife, Eleanor Sakevyle, as well as Ellen Mallory, although there is only one woman's effigy, and Eleanor is buried with her own people elsewhere. The face and figure are those of a handsome and graceful woman. Sir John also appears as a shapely and good-looking man.