John Bere

Sir John Bere (died 1617), whose surname was also spelt Beere or Bare, was an Irish politician, Crown official, barrister and part time judge of the early seventeenth century. He held office as King's Serjeant, and sat in the Irish House of Commons in 1613-15.

Although he later developed close links with the town of Carlow, he was born in Dublin. Little is known of his family, although it is possible that Thomas Beere, who is listed as a member of the King's Inns in 1614, was a relative of John.

He became King's Serjeant in February 1609 following the death of Nicholas Kerdiffe, and entered the King's Inns the same year. Due to the expansion of the assize system in the early 1600s, the common law judges were unable to cope with the added workload, and the King's Serjeant was often called on to act as an extra judge of assize. Bere carried out this function on at least nine occasions. He seems to have been extremely conscientious in performing this very onerous task. In 1613 he was on assize for 68 days, travelling across most of the southern half of Ireland. In 1615 he went on assize twice, for a total of 92 days.

He served as Commissioner of the Irish Court of Wards in 1610, 1613 and 1615. He sat on a commission to inquire into the King's title to lands in County Wexford in 1611, and on a similar commission for County Longford and County Leitrim in 1615. He was knighted in 1615 for his impressive services to the Crown.

In the only Irish Parliament (1613–15) called in the reign of King James I of England, Bere was one of the two MPs returned for Carlow Borough, the other being his fellow Law Officer, Sir Robert Jacobe. He also became a Burgess of Carlow under the new Royal Charter granted to the town in 1613. He died in 1617.

Sources
  • Hart, A. R. History of the King's Serjeant at law in Ireland Dublin Four Courts Press 2000
  • Kenny, Colum King's Inns and the Kingdom of Ireland Dublin Irish Academic Press 1992
  • Ryan, James History and Antiquities of the County of Carlow Dublin Richard Moore Tims 1833
  • Smyth, Constantine Joseph "Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland" Butterworth London 1838
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