Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet

Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet (bapt. July 12, 1712 –  June 16, 1779) is a British colonial administrator who servei as governor of the provinces of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay.

His uncompromising policies and harsh tactics in Massachusetts anger  the colonists and are 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 oversees the province's participation in the later years of the French and Indian War, and has a generally positive relationship with its legislature.

In 1760 he is given the governorship of Massachusetts, where he has a stormy relationship with the assembly.

Early actions turn  the colony's populists against him, and his responses to protests against Parliament's attempts to tax the colonies deepen divisions.

After protests against the Townshend Acts in 1768, Bernard seeks British Army troops be stationed in Boston to oversee the colonists.

He is recalled after the publication of letters in which he is critical of the colony.

After returning to England, he continues to advise the British government on colonial matters, calling for hardline responses to ongoing difficulties in Massachusetts that culminate in the 1773 Boston Tea Party.

He suffers a stroke in 1771 and dies in 1779, leaving a large family.

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