| {{ad}} |
|
|
|
The ancestors of the name Bernat lived among the Boernician tribes of the ancient Scottish-English border region. The name derives from a nickname for a person with brown or dark brown. Burnete was a high grade woolen cloth usually of dark-brown color.
The surname Bernat was first found in Berwickshire an ancient county of Scotland, presently part of the Scottish Borders Council Area, located in the eastern part of the Borders Region of Scotland where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity.
The family seat was at Faringdon, where they held a manor and estates. One of the earliest records found was of Robert Burnett in 1128 but this reference may also refer to a Roger de Burnard who witnessed a charter in the same year at Kelso. In fact, one reference claims that the spelling of Bernard was used until 1409 when Robert Burnett made the change.
Later, an Alexander Burnard or Burnett went north with King Robert I and acquired lands in the forest of Drum. He was also granted the barony of Tulliboyll in Kincardine. 1
The Clan were hereditary foresters to the King of Scotland. Roger Burnard, Alexander's successor, had four sons, Goufrid, Ralph, Walter, and Richard. The Burnetts of Barns who gave name to Burnetland in the parish of Broughton, claim descent from Robertus de Burneville, during the reign of David I.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bernat research. Another 212 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1128, 1208, 1296, 1323, 1596, 1615, 1635, 1643, 1656, 1663, 1664, 1669, 1674, 1679, 1684, 1688, 1714, 1715, 1720, 1728, 1729, 1890 and 1951 are included under the topic Early Bernat History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Since medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, and since there were no consistent rules for the translation of rules from Gaelic to English, spelling variations are extremely common in Boernician names of this vintage. Bernat has been spelled Brunette, Burnnet, Burnette, Burnatt, Brunete, Bernett, Burnete, Burnet, Bunett, Bunnet, Bunnett, Bunet, Burnett and many more.
Notable amongst the family name during their early history was Alexander Burnet (1615-1684), a Scottish clergyman, Bishop of Aberdeen (1663-1664), Archbishop of Glasgow (1664-1669) and (1674-1679), Chancellor of the University of Glasgow (1664-1669), (1674-1679) and Chancellor of the University of St Andrews (1679-1684); Gilbert Burnet (1643-1715), a Scottish theologian and historian, fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and Bishop of...
Another 61 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bernat Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In France, the name Bernat is the 4,652nd most popular surname with an estimated 1,500 - 2,000 people with that name. 2
Another 64 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Many of the Boernician-Scottish families who crossed the Atlantic settled along the eastern seaboard in communities that would become the backbone of the emerging nations of the United States and Canada. In the War of Independence, American families that remained loyal to the Crown moved north into Canada and became known as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestral culture of all of these proud Scottish families remains alive in North America in the 20th century through Clan societies and highland games. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Bernat or a variant listed above: