His parents, Jacob Israel Bernal and wife Leah da Silva,[4] were Sephardi Jews of Spanish and Portuguese origin, but he was baptised at St Olave Hart Street in London.
During his youth he became an actor and he performed to acclaim in several works by William Shakespeare, during which time he gained a reputation for oratory.
[7] According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Bernal was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837.
Bernal was associated with three different claims, he owned 564 slaves in Jamaica and received a £11,458 payment at the time (worth £1.37 million in 2025[8]).
[10] He built up a substantial collection of glass, ceramics and other art objects, which were auctioned after his death, with the 4,000 lots selling for £70,000.