| Berney Baronetcy | |
| Creation Date: | 5 May 1620 |
| Present Holder: | Sir Julian Berney, 11th Baronet |
| Heir Apparent: | William Berney |
| Status: | Extant |
| Former Seat: | Park Hall Barton Bendish Hall |
| Motto: | Nil temere, neque timore ("Nothing with rashness or fear") |
The Berney Baronetcy, of Park Hall in Reedham in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 5 May 1620 for Richard Berney, Sheriff of Norfolk in 1622.[1]
The Berney (Barney) name comes from that place which is in the hundred of North Greenhow, Norfolk, and is recorded as Berlej in the Domesday Book. The family can be traced back to Sir Thomas de Berney, who in the reign of Edward III, acquired the manor of Reedham through his marriage with Margaret, daughter and heir of William de Reedham.[2] His descendant Henry Berney (died 1584) moved the family seat from near Reedham Church, and built Reedham Hall within a park. It was also known as Park Hall. It was sold in 1696 and gutted in a fire in 1750.
Henry's eldest son, Sir Richard Berney, was Sheriff of Norfolk in 1610. He married Juliana, daughter of judge Sir Thomas Gawdy of Redenhall. Their son Sir Richard Berney, 1st Baronet (died 1668) was created a baronet in 1620. Another son Thomas Berney was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1647 and the ancestor of the Berneys of Morton Hall in Broadland, Norfolk.[1]
The 1st Baronet married Anne Smallpage of Chichester. He left all his estates in Reedham not to his eldest son and heir, the second Baronet, but to his second son, Richard.[1]
The 6th Baronet was Sheriff of Norwich in 1762.[3]
The 7th Baronet, Sir John Berney, married Lady Henrietta Neville, daughter of George Neville, 1st Earl of Abergavenny in 1779.[4] [5]
The 8th Baronet, Sir Hanson Berney, oversaw the renovation and extension of Barton Bendish Hall, the family seat. Designed by James & Turner of Norwich, the existing east wing was renovated and the south-west double wing was added in 1865. Sir Hanson also established the village pub known today as The Berney Arms.[6]
Sir Henry Hanson Berney, 9th Baronet, married Jane Dorothy Bloxam, daughter of the Rev. Andrew Bloxam. Lady Berney survived her husband, dying in December 1921. Amongst her mourners was her daughter, Mrs H.D. Middleton and her grandson, Sir Thomas Reedham Berney, 10th Baronet, the baronetcy having passed to him following the death of his father, Captain Thomas Hugh Berney, 2nd West Yorkshires in the Second Boer War.[7] [8] The 10th Baronet died in 1975.[9]
The heir apparent to the baronetcy is William Reedham John Berney (born 1980), eldest son of the 11th Baronet.[1]