William Bernard (c. 1603 – March 31, 1665) was a merchant from the Kingdom of England who became a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia.
Although their first son died as an infant, his brother Robert Barnard would inherit Bampton Hall in Huntindonshire.
William first sailed to the Virginia Colony in 1621, aboard the 'Furtherance' and settled at Basse's Choice in what is now Isle of Wight County.
He traveled back and forth between the colony and England at least four times in the next twenty years.
As such, Bernard became responsible for raising the child, and administering the lands he had inherited until he reached legal age.