Sir Francis Bernard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 10th Governor of the Province of New Jersey | |
| In office 27 January 1758 – 4 July 1760 | |
| Monarch | George II |
| Preceded by | John Reading |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Boone |
| 11th Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay | |
| In office 2 August 1760 – 1 August 1769 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Hutchinson (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Hutchinson (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | baptised 12 July 1712 Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Berkshire, England |
| Died | 16 June 1779 (aged 66) Nether Winchendon, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Signature |  |
Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet (bapt. 12 July 1712 – 16 June 1779) was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of the provinces of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay. His uncompromising policies and harsh tactics in Massachusetts angered the colonists and were instrumental in the building of broad-based opposition within the province to the rule of Parliament in the events leading to the American Revolution.
Appointed governor of New Jersey in 1758, he oversaw the province's participation in the later years of the French and Indian War, and had a generally positive relationship with its legislature. In 1760 he was given the governorship of Massachusetts, where he had a stormy relationship with the assembly. Early actions turned the colony's populists against him, and his responses to protests against Parliament's attempts to tax the colonies deepened divisions. After protests against the Townshend Acts in 1768, Bernard sought British Army troops be stationed in Boston to oversee the colonists. He was recalled after the publication of letters in which he was critical of the colony.
After returning to England, he continued to advise the British government on colonial matters, calling for hardline responses to ongoing difficulties in Massachusetts that culminated in the 1773 Boston Tea Party. He suffered a stroke in 1771 and died in 1779, leaving a large family.