William Barnard

Dr William Barnard, Bishop of Derry, was buried in the Islip chapel in Westminster Abbey. A modern stone for him reads:

WILLIAM BISHOP OF DERRY 1768

His white marble memorial tablet is now in the Abbey triforium. This was originally in a niche above the entry to the chapel of Our Lady of Pew, next door to the Islip chapel, but was removed in the 1930s. The Latin inscription can be translated:

Here awaits a blessed resurrection the Right Reverend Father in Christ William Barnard, D.D., first a pupil of this Collegiate Church, then Prebendary, afterward Dean of Rochester, thence elevated to Bishoprics in Ireland, of Raphoe in 1744, of Derry in 1747, by King George II. How great a benevolence he exercised in relieving the poor, in repairing churches, in setting up endowments, that diocese (over which he presided for more than twenty years) will long be aware and acknowledge. Returning to England for reasons of ill health, he died in London 10th Jan. 1768 aged 72.

He was born in Clapham in south London, a son of lawyer John Barnard and his wife Isabella. After attending Westminster School he went to Trinity College Cambridge. He then became Rector of Esher in Surrey and chaplain to the Duke of Newcastle. Later he was chaplain to the King and vicar of St Bride's, Fleet Street. On October 4th 1732 he was made a prebendary of Westminster and his other preferments followed. He married Anne Stone, daughter of an eminent London banker and sister of the Archbishop of Armagh .

Their son Thomas was born in 1727 and attended Westminster School. He was Archdeacon of Derry and Dean there in 1769. He later became Bishop of Killaloe and of Limerick. He married Anne Browne of co. Carlow in 1758 and secondly Jane Ross-Lewin. He died 7th June 1806. Another son was Henry, a clergyman in the Church of Ireland.

William's great-grandson was Sir Henry William Barnard son of Reverend William Barnard, rector of Water Stratford in Buckinghamshire. 

Further reading for William and Thomas

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - William Barnard

"The Record of Old Westminsters"

Died

10th January 1768

Occupation

Priest/Minister

Location

Triforium; Islip Chapel

Memorial Type

Tablet

Material Type

Marble

William Barnard
William Barnard memorial in original position

This image can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library

Image © 2024 Dean and Chapter of Westminster