The Berney (Barney) name comes from that place which is in the hundred of North Greenhow,
Norfolk, and is recorded as
Berlej in the
Domesday Book. The family can be traced back to Sir Thomas de Berney, who in the reign of
Edward III, acquired the manor of
Reedham through his marriage with Margaret, daughter and heir of William de Reedham. His descendant Henry Berney (died 1584) moved the family seat from near Reedham Church, and built Reedham Hall within a park. It was also known as Park Hall. It was sold in 1696 and gutted in a fire in 1750. The 7th Baronet, Sir John Berney, married
Lady Henrietta Neville, daughter of
George Neville, 1st Earl of Abergavenny in 1779. The 8th Baronet, Sir Hanson Berney, oversaw the renovation and extension of
Barton Bendish Hall, the
family seat. Designed by James & Turner of Norwich, the existing east wing was renovated and the south-west double wing was added in 1865. Sir Hanson also established the village pub known today as The Berney Arms. Sir Henry Hanson Berney, 9th Baronet, married Jane Dorothy Bloxam, daughter of the
Rev. Andrew Bloxam. Lady Berney survived her husband, dying in December 1921. Amongst her mourners was her daughter,
Mrs H.D. Middleton and her grandson, Sir Thomas Reedham Berney, 10th Baronet, the baronetcy having passed to him following the death of his father, Captain Thomas Hugh Berney, 2nd West Yorkshires in the
Second Boer War. His son John Reedham Erskine Berney married Hon. Jean Davina Stuart, daughter of
James Stuart, 1st Viscount, on 27 July 1951. John Reedham Erksine Berney died on 24 July 1952 at age 23 at Korea, killed in action. The 10th Baronet died in 1975. ==Berney Baronets, of Parkehall (1620)==