Burke’s Peerage on Freke-Evans Family, Lord Carbery, Castlefreke, and Contrast with Bernards (Earls of Bandon) Co. Cork.

Re the Bandon Bernards, where George Bennett got his early history of the family from, heck knows as they didn’t come from the North of England – They came from Essex. They did have a coat of arms as it ties in with the Essex family. I think that the Frekes were more aristocratic than the Bernards and I couldn’t prove the supposed 1600s marriages between the Frekes and the Bernards (the 1700s onwards are fine) – the Frekes family history is quite well documented as far back as the early 1600s. The Judge amassed a fortune and bought up all that he could and from then on they were landed gentry deriving their income from leasing out their estates. They also entered into very strategic marriages so were intent on ennobling themselves. The illegitimate children of the first Earl proves this point.

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