William Larkins Bernard

William Larkins Bernard (1 October 1843 in Taunton – 22 July 1922) was an English architect, active in Bristol and London member of the FRIBA.^[1]

Career

Bernard was apprenticed to Charles Edward Davis, of Bath, Somerset, between 1863 and 1868.^[2] Among his own later pupils was Richard Croft James (1872–1949, of Clifton College) who was articled to him at Bristol from 1889 to 1892.^[3] Bernard was President of the Bristol Society of Architects in 1898,^[4] having previously acted as its honorary secretary, 1888–1890.^[5] He is also recorded in 1893 as a Somerset member of the Sanitary Institute.^[6] By 1894, he was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.^[7]

He had an extensive practice as a school architect.^[8] In 1889, his offices were at 8, St Stephen's Chambers, Baldwin Street, Bristol,^[9] and he was at the same address in 1904.^[10]

The firm of W. L. Bernard & Sons of Bristol was still active in the 1930s, after Bernard's death, with offices at 26, Orchard Street.^[11]

Major works

• Queen Victoria House, Redland Hill, Bristol, 1886 (built for Waynflete Private School for Boys, later used as Bristol Maternity Hospital, now offices)^[4]
• Vestry at St John the Baptist Church, Frenchay, 1887^[12]
• Restoration of Buckingham Baptist Chapel, Clifton, 1890^[13]
• Fairfield Grammar School, Fairlawn Road, Montpelier, Bristol^[14]