Crystallographer.
John Desmond Bernal was born on 10 May 1901 in Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland, the eldest of the five children of Samuel George Bernal (1864-1919) and Elizabeth Bernal née Miller (1866-1955). His four siblings were: Kevin O'Carroll Diaz Bernal (1903-1988); Catherine Elizabeth Geraldine Bernal (b.1906); Fiona Letitia E. Bernal (1908-1908) and Godfrey Francis Johnston Bernal (1910-2005).
In the 1911 census he is shown as a scholar living in Nenagh North with his parents, his three surviving siblings and his maternal aunt, Letitia Frances Miller (1864-1947), together with a cook, a housemaid, a nurse and a coachman/yardman. His father was described as a farmer and dairy owner and his aunt was shown as a 'rentiére' i.e. a person whose money comes from investments and who therefore does not have to work.
His gives much information about his life including his open marriage to Agnes Eileen Sprague (1898-1990) that took place on 21 June 1922 in the Cambridge registration district, Cambridgeshire and they had two children: Maurice Julien Michael Bernal (1926-2016) and Egan Maceoin Bernal (b.1930). Telephone directories how him listed at 104 Guilford Street, London, WC1 in 1927 & 1928, at 80 South Hill Park, London, NW3 in 1933 and at 10 Lloyd Square, London, WC1 in 1934.
He had a long term relationship with Margaret Emilia Gardiner (1904-2005) and they had one son, Martin Gardiner Bernal (1937-2013).
In the 1939 electoral register he and his wife, Agnes Eileen Bernal, were both shown as listed at 60 Clifton Hill, London, NW8.
In the 1939 England and Wales Register he is shown as a travelling professor of physics and as a scientific officer with the Air Raid Precautions technical department living at 61 Maidensgrove, Pishill with Stoner, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, together with Margaret E. Gardiner-Bernal. During WW2 he was on 3 June 1944 as a temporary lieutenant (Special Branch) in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Telephone directories from 1939 to 1945 shown him listed at both 60 Clifton Hill, London, NW8 and at Birkbeck College, Breams Buildings, London, EC4. From 1947 to 1965 his address in phone books was given as 21 Torrington Square, London, WC1 and from 1967 at 44 Albert Street, London, NW1.
He had a further daughter called Jane in 1953 with Margot Claire Heinemann (1913-1992).
He died, aged 70 years, on 15 September 1971, his death being registered in the 3rd quarter of 1971 in the St Pancras registration district, Greater London. His body was , Lower Morden Lane, Morden, SM4 4NU.
Probate records confirm that his address had been 44 Albert Street, London, NW1 and that when probate was granted on 18 January 1972 his effects totalled £48,288.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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