Berney baronets


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.

Family history

The Berney 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. His descendant Henry Berney 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 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.
The first 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.
The sixth Baronet was Sheriff of Norwich in 1762.
The 7th Baronet, Sir John Berney, married Lady Henrietta Neville, daughter of George Neville, 1st Earl of Abergavenny in 1779.
The 8th Baronet, Sir Hanson Berney, oversaw the renovation and extension of the family seat, Barton Bendish Hall. 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.
Sir Henry Hanson Berney, 9th Baronet, married Jane Dorothy Bloxam, daughter of the Rev. Andrew Bloxam. Sir Henry died in 1907, and the baronetcy passed to his grandson, Sir Thomas Reedham Berney, 10th Baronet, son of Captain Thomas Hugh Berney, 2nd West Yorkshires, who died in the Second Boer War.

Berney Baronets, of Parkehall (1620)

The heir apparent to the baronetcy is William Reedham John Berney, eldest son of the 11th Baronet.