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Author: Bernard, Valentine Lumley

Biography:

BERNARD, Valentine Lumley (1746-1816: ancestry.co.uk)

He was baptised on 8 July 1746 at Bungay, Suffolk, one of at least three children of William Valentine, a corn merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Lumley. He was educated locally at Bungay school and proceeded to Emmanuel College, Cambridge (matric.1766, Scholar 1768, BA 1769). He was ordained deacon (1769) and priest (1770). He was first appointed curate of Banningham, Norfolk, where he married Mary Chasen on 2 Aug. 1769. They went on to have at least five daughters who were born at Thorpe-le-Soken and Wivenhoe, Essex, so he was probably curate at these locations in the 1770s. In 1779 he became curate of All Saint’s, Great Holland, Essex, where his wife died in 1785. He then moved as rector to nearby Frinton (1783-1801). Following the death of his uncle of the same name, he returned to Norfolk to become  rector of Stockton (1794-1816) and held this in conjunction with the curacy of Loddon (1808-16). For reasons unknown he was in financial difficulty from 1790 and was declared bankrupt in 1795 with the proceedings dragging on until 1804. He married Hannah Ralph on 27 Jan. 1796 at Stalham, Norfolk. They had at least four children. He died on 24 Mar. 1816 at Stockton, where his daughter Elizabeth Sarah inscribed a memorial floorstone. Apart from a sermon, A Sacred Poem is his only known work. The title page describes him as “A.M. and R.A.,” but there appears to be no record of him at the Royal Academy. (ancestry.co.uk 30 Nov. 2022; findmypast.co.uk 30 Nov. 2022; CCEd 30 Nov. 2022; Ipswich Journal 2 Aug. 1794, 23 May 1795; Colchester People 1: 46-7, 374-5) AA

 

Other Names:

  • V. L. Bernard
 

Books written (1):

Norwich: printed by Stevenson and Matchett, 1800