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Vol II File 6: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James

The following is from Crispin and Macary, pg. 87:

"Wace records "Rogier li veil cil de Belmont," but in the manuscript in the British Museum the name is Robert, which is correct, since Roger remained in Normandy at the head of the council to assist Queen Matilda in the government of that duchy. Roger is conceded to have been the wealthiest, noblest, and most trusted of the seigniors of Normandy. He was the son of Humphrey de Viellers, grandson of Thurold de Pontaudemer, a descendant of the kings of Denmark, through Bernard the Dane, the companion of Duke Rollo the Dane. Lofty as was his ancestry, he adopted the title of the family of his wife, Adelina, Countess of Meulent, Meulant, Mellent, later Meulan used by his posterity. He contributed sixty vessels to the fleet of Duke William and was represented at Senlac by his son Robert, whom William of Poitiers and Oderic Vital state was "a novice in arms." Robert was rewarded with ninety manors in Warwick, Leicester, Wilts, and also Northampton. He and his brother Henry, afterwards Earl of Warwick, were among the barons who reconciled King William and his son, Duke Robert Curthose, in 1081. He was known after the death of his mother as Count of Meulent and as such in 1082 sat in the French Parliament, as a peer of France. With his brother, he espoused the cause of King William Rufus and after his death that of King Henry, by whom he was created Earl of Leicester. He married Elizabeth Vermandois, daughter of the Count of Vermandois, and he had issue: Emma, born 1102; Waleran and Robert, twins, born 1104; and Hugh the Poor, afterwards Earl of Bedford, and the following other daughters, Adeline, Amicia, Albreda, and Isabel. Robert de Beaumont married Godehilde, daughter of Raoul de Toeni (Toni) II, who bore him no children and from whom he was separated by 1090. When between fifty and sixty, he married secondly Lady Elizabeth, who was young, and William de Warren II, Earl of Warren and Surrey, supplanted Robert in her affections, so that she ultimately deserted him, which affected his mind and hurried him to his death in 1118."

The following is taken from Burke, pg. 42.

• 1. Robert de Bellomont, or Beaumont (son of Roger, grandson of Turlof of Pont Audomere, by Wervia, sister to Gunnora, wife of Richard I., Duke of Normandy), came into England with William the Conqueror, and contributed mainly to the Norman triumph at Hastings. This Robert inherited the Earldom of Mellent in Normandy, from his mother Adelina, daughter of Waleran, and sister of Hugh (who took the habit of a monk in the abbey of Bec), both Earls of Mellent. For his gallant services at Hastings he obtained sixty-four lordships in Warwickshire, sixteen in Leicester, seven in Wiltshire, three in Northamptonshire, and one in Gloucestershire, in all ninety-one. He did not however arrive at the dignity of the English peerage before the reign of King Henry I., when that monarch created him Earl of Leicester. The mode by which he attained this honor is thus stated by an ancient writer: "The city of Leicester had then four lords, viz., the king, the Bishop of Lincoln, Earl Simon, and Yvo, the son of Hugh de Grentmesnil. This Earl of Mellent, by favor of the king, cunningly entered it on that side which belongs to Yvo (the governor thereof, as also sheriff, and the king's farmer there), subjecting it wholly to himself; and by this means, being made an earl in England, exceeded all nobles of the realm in riches and power." He married in 1096 Isabel Vermandois, daughter of Hugh de Vermandois, Earl of Vermandois. Her ancestral genealogy is covered in Volume I. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. Emma Bellomont, born in 1102.

  • 2. Waleran de Bellomont, a twin brother, born 1104, who succeeded to the Earldom of Mellent, in Normandy.

  • 3. Robert de Bellomont, a twin brother, born 1104, successor to the English Earldom. See below.

  • 4. Hugh de Bellomont, surnamed Pauper (the Poor), obtained the Earldom of Bedford from King Stephen, with the daughter of Milo de Beauchamp, upon the expulsion of the said Milo. Being a person remiss and negligent himself he fell from the dignity of an earl to the state of a knight; and in the end to miserable poverty.

  • 5. Elizabeth Bellomont. a concubine to Henry I., and afterwards wife of Gilbert Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke.

  • 5. Adeline Bellomont, married Hugh de Montfort.

  • 6. Amicia Bellomont, married Hugh de Novo Castello.

  • 7. Albreda Bellomont, married William Lupellus, or Lovel.
    

    This great earl is characterized as "the wisest of all men betwixt this and Jerusalem, in worldly affairs; famous for knowledge, plausible in speech, skillful in craft, discreetly provident, ingeniously subtle, excelling for prudence, profound in council, and of great wisdom." In the latter days of his life he became a monk in the abbey of Preaux, where he died in 1118, and was succeeded in the Earldom of Leicester by his 2nd son, Robert.

• 2. Robert (Called Bossu) de Bellomont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, adhering to King Henry I. upon all occasions, was with that monarch at his decease in 1135, and he afterwards as staunchly supported the interests of his grandson, Henry II., upon whose accession to the throne, he was constituted Justice of England. He married (1) Godehilde, daughter of Raoul de Toeni II., who bore him no children, and from whom he was separated by 1090. When between fifty or sixty years of age, he married (2) Lady Elizabeth, according to Crispin and Macary, and she, being young, was won over by William de Warren II., Earl of Warren and Surrey, so that she finally deserted him. Another source, Wurts, has him marrying (2) Amicia Waer (Ware). daughter of Ralph de Waer (Ware), Earl of Norfolk, by whom he had a son and two daughters as follows:
  
  • 1. Robert de Bellomont. See below.

  • 2. _________, the wife of Simon, Earl of Huntingdon.

  • 3. _________, the wife of William, Earl of Gloucester.
    

    The earl who was a munificent benefactor to the church, and founder of several religious houses, died in 1167, after having lived for fifteen years a canon regular in the abbey of Leicester, and was succeeded by his son, Robert.

• 3. Robert (surnamed Blanchmaines, from having white hands) de Bellomont, 3rd Earl of Leicester, adhering to Prince Henry, in the 19th year of King Henry II., in his rebellion, incurred the high displeasure of that monarch. The king commanding that his town of Leicester should be laid to waste, it was besieged, and the greater part burnt; the inhabitants having permission for 300 pounds to move whither they pleased. He was received however in royal favor in four years afterwards (1177), and had restoration of all his lands and castles, save the castle of Montsorel, in the co. of Leicester, and Pacey in Normandy; but surviving King Henry, he stood in such favor with Richard I., that those castles were likewise restored to him, and he was appointed to carry one of the swords of state at that monarch's coronation. He married Petronella Grantmesnil, daughter of Hugh de Grantmesnil, with whom he had the whole honor of Hinkley, and stewardship of England. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. Robert (surnamed FitzParnel from his mother), 4th Earl of Leicester, succeeded his father in Messina in 1191, being invested by King Richard with the cincture of a sword. After which, while his master was detained in captivity by the emperor, the King of France having invaded Normandy, and taken divers places, this earl coming to Roan, excited the inhabitants to so vigorous a defense, that the French monarch was obliged to retreat. Furthermore, it is related of him, that making a pilgrimage into the Holy Land, he there unhorsed and slew the Soldan in a tournament, when returning into England, he died in 1204, and was buried at the abbey of Leicester. He had married Laureeta, daughter of William de Braose, Lord Braose, of Brember, but having no issue, the Earldom of Leicester became extinct, while his great inheritance devolved upon his two sisters as co-heirs.

  • 2. Roger de Bellomont, Bishop of St. Andrews, in Scotland.

  • 3. William de Bellomont, founder of the hospital of St. Leonards, at Leicester.

  • 4. Amicia Bellomont, married Simon de Montfort, who after the earldom of Leicester expired, with the male line of the Bellomonts, at the decease of Robert FitzParnel, had one moeity of the earldom of Leicester, with the honor of Hinkley, and was created Earl of Leicester by King John. He also enjoyed the stewardship of England, as in right of the said honor of Hinkley.

  • 5. Margaret Bellomont. See below.
    

• 4. Margaret Bellomont, married Saier de Quincy., who at the decease of Robert FitzParnel, had the other moiety of the earldom of Leicester, and was shortly after created Earl of Winchester by King John.
  

  See the continuation of this lineage in the Quincy Line.
  

Ref: Burke, pp. 43-47.

Ref: "The Ligon Family".

The Berkeley family is unique in having an unbroken male line of descent from a Saxon ancestor before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 to the 20th Century. The family descends from Harding, the son of Eadnoth (Alnod), who was "Marshal" or "Staller", a high official under King Edward the Confessor. A study of dates makes it probable that this Harding had a son of the same name, perhaps the man who played a distinguished part in the Crusading Wars, helping King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, to win the battle of Jaffa in 1102. The son of the crusader would then be Robert FitzHarding of Berkeley, afterwards styled Robert de Berkeley. The town of Berkeley is located in the county of Gloucestershire and is situated about five miles west of Dursley and eighteen southwest of Gloucester, and northeast of Bristol. It was chartered by King Edward I. to be governed by a mayor and alderman, but the corporation was annulled in 1885. The place confers the title of Earl and Baron on the Berkeley family. The manor embraces nearly thirty parishes and is one of the largest in England; it was given by William the Conqueror to Roger de Berkeley, Lord of Dursley. Having espoused the cause of King Stephen in opposition to Empress Maud, the third Roger de Berkeley was deposed by King Henry II., and the title and estates were conferred upon Robert FitzHarding, a wealthy citizen of Bristol. In the Domesday Book, the name of Berkeley is written Berchelai, whereas the Saxons wrote it Beoncenlan. It is supposed to have been so called from Beonce, the beech-tree, because it once grew very plentifully there. The town is one of the ancient boroughs, of which there are five in Gloucestershire, in the time of King Edward I. At the time that William obtained the crown of England, he rewarded Roger de Berkeley with the manor of Berkeley. Roger was an ancient Saxon nearly allied in blood to King Edward the Confessor, and who supported William at the battle of Hastings. Roger, thus, assumed the name of Roger de Berkeley. Roger de Berkeley founded the family of Berkeley in England at the Norman Conquest. He was a leading chief in the army of William the Conqueror. He is styled, in the 20th year of King William, as "Roger Senior of Berkeley" from the possession of Berkeley Castle, co. Gloucester. "The castle." says Rudder, "was began in the 17th year of Henry I., by Roger de Berkeley the 2nd, and finished by Roger the 3rd, in the reign of King Stephen. Further additions were made during the reign of King Edward III."

[Editors Note: This castle was visited by the Homer Beers James, the author, and his wife in July, 1993.]

This Roger bestowed several churches upon the priory of Stanley, with the tithes and lands, and being shorn a monk there, in 1091, restored the lordship of Stoteshore, which he had long detained from that convent. Since he had no issue, he was succeeded at his death by his nephew, William.

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From "The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage of the British Empire", "The Earl of Berkeley", pp 70-71 (1882). Also Burke's "Peerage and Baronetage", pp 232-233.

"The history of the peerage of the Earl of Berkeley, unquestionably feudal in its origins, which has been more or less recognized in its territorial character at various epochs, is of exceptional importance in bearing upon the history of English dignities, and the gradual obsolescence and final extinction of barony by tenure."

"Harding of Bristol, said by genealogists to have been the son of a king of Denmark and companion to the Conqueror, has been conjectured by a modern historian to be identical with Harding (a contemporary of Harold and William, son of Eadnoth the Staller, an officer of Edward the Confessor, who survived the Conquest; but this identification can only be regarded as `not improbable.' His son, Robert FitzHarding, of Bristol, obtained from Henry, Duke of Normandy, afterwards Henry II, a grant of the hundred of Berkeley, called Berkeley Herness. He granted all the churches in Berkeley Herness to St. Augustine's Abbey, Bristol (now the cathedral), of which he is the reputed founder, and where he was buried, 1171. His only surviving son, Maurice de Berkeley, obtained in 1189 confirmations from King Richard I., and from Queen Eleanor of Berkeley Herness. `to be held in barony by the service of five knights.' He married Alice, daughter of Roger de Berkeley, of Dursley, the former Lord of Berkeley. Their eldest son, Robert de Berkeley, obtained a charter of confirmation from King Richard I., in 1199. He was one of the Barons at war with King John, and died May 13, 1219. He was succeeded by Thomas, his brother, whose grandson, Thomas de Berkeley, 6th Baron by tenure, had writs of summons to parliament from June 24, 1295 (the 23rd year of King Edward I.), to May 15, 1321 (the 14th year of King Edward II.). In 1301, 1302, and 1305 he was serving in the Scottish wars with Maurice and John his son; prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn, in June 1314; Justice of West Wales, 1317. He died July 23, ????. His younger son, James, was Bishop of Exeter, 1326."

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• 1. William de Berkeley, 2nd feudal lord of Berkeley Castle, founder of the Abbey of Kingswood in 1139, was succeeded by his son and heir, Roger.

• 2. Roger de Berkeley, Lord of Dursley, adhering to the Empress Maud (an adherence, however, denied by Smith and Fosbroke, in the Lives of the Berkeleys, page 11), "underwent", says Dugdale, "a very hard fate, through the perfidiousness and cruelty of Walter, brother of Milo, Earl of Hereford, his seeming friend (and kinsman by consanguity), being treacherously seized on, stripped naked, exposed to scorn, put into fetters, and thrice drawn by rope around his neck, on a gallows, at his own castle gates, with threats that if he did not deliver up his castle to the Earl, he would suffer a miserable death; and when he was, by this barbarous usage, almost dead, carried to prison, there to endure further tortures." He was succeeded by his son, Roger.

• 3. Roger de Berkeley, living in 1165, in the 11th year of King Henry II., the last of the original family of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle, had a son and daughter as follows:
  
  • 1. Robert de Berkeley, married Helena, daughter of Robert FitzHarding.

  • 2. Alice Berkeley. See below.
    

• 4. Alice Berkeley, heiress to Roger de Berkeley, married, at the instigation of King Henry II., Mauriceson of Robert FitzHarding, son of Harding, called Robert Lord Berkeley, and his wife, Eva, daughter of Estmond, Earl of Mercia, and his wife, Godiva, sister of William the Conqueror. One source shows the grandfather of Maurice as Eadnoth, a wealthy merchant of Bristol. Alice founded the religious house called Magdalen's, near Bristol, and was its patroness; dying in March 12, 1170-71, she was buried beside her husband, between the stalls of the Abbot and the Prior. He founded the Abbey of St. Augustine's in Bristol, and dying, February 5, 1170-71 (one source has the death as June 11, 1190), was buried in the quire thereof. He is supposed to have been a canon in the Abbey. This Robert FitzHarding was conferred, for his attachment to the Empress Maud, the lordship of Berkeley and Berkeley-Hernesse, the confiscated possessions of the above Roger de Berkeley, the adherent to King Stephen; but, to reconcile the parties, King Henry, who had restored to Roger his manor and castle of Dursley, caused an agreement to be concluded between them that the heiress of the ousted lord should be given in marriage to the heir of the new baron; and thus passed the feudal castle of Berkeley to another chief, Maurice, who assumed the surname of Berkeley and became the feudal lord of Berkeley upon the death of his brother, Henry. He was the first of his family to dwell in the Berkeley Castle. He fortified the castle and founded two hospitals, one at Lowring between Berkeley and Dursley, and that at Longbridge to the north of Berkeley, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. He was born in 1120. Alice and Maurice had six sons and one daughter as follows:
  
  • 1. Robert de Berkeley, who, in the turbulent times of King John, forfeited his castle and lands by his participation in the rebellious proceedings of the barons, but upon submission, and paying the king a fine of 1,000 pounds had livery of his lands, and had all restored except the castle and town of Berkeley, in the 1st year of King Henry III. Robert married (1) Julianna, daughter of William de Pontlarch and niece to the great Earl of Pembroke, Earl Marshal of England and afterwards Protector of King Henry III.; (2) Luci, who afterwards married Hugh de Gournay. He died May 13, 1219, without issue from either marriage, and was succeeded by his brother, Thomas.

  • 2. Thomas de Berkeley. See below.

  • 3. Maurice de Berkeley, married and had Thomas; d.s.p.

  • 4. William de Berkeley. No details known.

  • 5. Henry de Berkeley, with his brother, Richard, accompanied William, King of Scotland, into that country when he returned from being a prisoner in England, became the ancestors of many eminent families in Scotland, France, and Ireland.

  • 6. Richard de Berkeley. See above.

  • 7. ________ Berkeley, a only daughter, married Osbert Gifford; and dying, according to the Abbot Newland, in the year 1190, was interred in the church of Brentford, co. Middlesex in the building of which he (Gifford) had been a great benefactor.
    

    Maurice died on June 16, 1189, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert. (Ref: The Ligon Family)

• 5. Thomas de Berkeley was born in 1170. In the 8th year of Henry III. (1223-24), upon giving his two nephews as pledges for his fidelity, he had restitution of Berkeley Castle in 1223. He married, circa 1217, Joan Somery, daughter of Ralph de Somery, Lord of Campden, co., Gloucester, and niece of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. Thomas died on November 29, 1243, aged seventy-three, and was buried in the south aisle of St. Augustine's abbey. He and his wife left six sons and one daughter as follows:
  
  • 1. Maurice de Berkeley. See below.

  • 2. Thomas de Berkeley, d.s.p.

  • 3. Robert de Berkeley.

  • 4. Henry de Berkeley, d.s.p.

  • 5. William de Berkeley.

  • 6. Richard de Berkeley.

  • 7. Margaret Berkeley, married Anseleme Basset, of Basset's Court in Uley, Gloucestershire.
    

    Thomas was succeeded by his eldest son, Maurice.

• 6. Maurice de Berkeley, paying 100 pounds had livery of his inheritance, accompanied his father in the wars of France, in the 41st year of Henry III., and was in the expedition with Prince Edward against the Welsh. In the 42nd, 43rd, 44th, and 47th year of Henry III., he was summoned to attend to the king against Llewellyn ap Griffith, Prince of Wales, then in arms. He appears to have joined the insurrectionary lords, for which his lands were seized by the crown. He married in 1240 Isabel Credonia, daughter of Maurice de Credonia, alias Creoun, a great baron in Lincolnshire, and his wife Isabel, sister of William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke (uterine sister and brother of Henry III.). He and his wife had four sons and one daughter as follows:
  
  • 1. Maurice de Berkeley was killed in a tournament in Kenilworth Jousts while his father was living.

  • 2. Thomas de Berkeley, the successor. See below.

  • 3. Simon de Berkeley, died unmarried.

  • 4. Robert de Berkeley, of Alkington, died 1315; married (1) Joan ____.

  • 5. Maud Berkeley. No details known.
    

    He died seized of his barony of Berkeley, April 4, 1281, and was buried in the north aisle of St. Augustine's abbey in Bristol.

• 7. Thomas de Berkeley, 2nd oldest son, 1st Lord Berkeley, known as "The Wise", was born at Berkeley Castle in 1245, was a very wise and provident person, keeping exact accounts with all his bailiffs and stewards. He had 200 attendants in his family, of knights, esquires, yeomen, grooms, and pages, besides husbandmen. He was with the king at the siege of Kenilworth Castle, October, 1266, and afterwards in the Welsh wars, for which service he had a special grant, in the time of King Edwards I., for hunting with his own dogs in the king's forest of Mendip and chase of Kingswood. In short, he was in most of the battles fought in Wales, Scotland, and France. He participated in the victory of Falkirk and the siege of Caerlaverock, won July 23, 1298, and he was taken prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, and paid a large sum for his ransom. He was summoned to parliament as a Baron from June 24, 1295, to May 15, 1321. He was ambassador to Rome; one of the commissioners to treat of peace between England and France; and Constable of England. He married circa 1267 Joane (Jane) Ferrers, daughter of William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. Maurice de Berkeley. See below.

  • 2. Thomas de Berkeley, ancestor of the Berkeleys of Wymondham, co. Leicester; married the daughter and heir of John Hamelin, Lord Wymondham.

  • 3. John de Berkeley, d.s.p. 1316, married Hawise ________.

  • 4. James de Berkeley, who was rector of Slimbridge, and in the year 1326, consecrated Bishop of Exeter.

  • 5. Isabel Berkeley, died unmarried.

  • 6. Margaret, died unmarried.
    

    Thomas died July 23, 1321, and was buried at St. Augustine's abbey. His wife, Jane, died March 19, 1309.

• 8. Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Lord Berkeley, the eldest son, known as "The Magnanimous," said to be born in April 1281 (must have been 1271, otherwise his son was born when he was only 12 years of age!) and died on May 31, 1326, having married in 1289 (1), both being very young, Eva (Eve) Zouche, daughter of Eudo (Eudes) le Zouche, a descendant of Saire de Quincy, sister of Willard Lord Zouche of Harringworth; (2) Isabel Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, and his first wife, Alice le Brun. He received, in his father's lifetime, summons to parliament from August 6, 1308 to May 15, 1321. In 1312, he was made Governor of Gloucester and, in 1314, Governor of the town and castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed. He distinguished himself in the Scottish wars from 1295 to 1318, and was present at the siege of Carlaverock in July 1300. In 1315, he was constituted Justice of South Wales and had custody of all the castles there. In 1319, by the title of the king's beloved kinsman, he was made steward of the duchy of Aquitaine; but in 1321, joining Thomas Plantaganet, Earl of Lancaster, he was committed prisoner to Wallingford Castle, where he died December 5, 1314. Isabel d.s.p. 1333. The children by the first marriage were as follows:
  
  • 1. Thomas de Berkeley. See below.

  • 2. Maurice de Berkeley, who died at Calais, in the 21st year of Edward III., having married Margaret Berkeley, daughter and heiress of Maurice Berkeley, of Uley, by whom he was the ancestor of the family of Stoke-Gifford. See below for the continuation of this lineage.

  • 3. John de Berkeley, Constable of Bristol Castle, from whom the Berkeleys of Shropshire are descended.

  • 4. Eudo de Berkeley, rector of Llanbeder, co. Caernarvon.

  • 5. Peter de Berkeley, a dignitary in the church of Wells.

  • 6. Isabel Berkeley, married (1) Robert Clifford, Lord Clifford; (2) Thomas Musegrove (Musegrave), Lord Musegrove.
    

• 9. Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Lord Berkeley, known as "The Rich," was born in 1293. In 1327 he was made joint custodian of the deposed King Edward II, whom he received at Berkeley Castle, but being commanded to deliver over the government to his fellow custodians, Lord Maltravers and Sir Thomas Gournay, he left there to go to Bradley "with heavy cheere perceiving what violence was intended." As an accessory to the murder of the deposed king, he was tried by a jury of 12 knights in the 4th year of King Edward III., but was honorably acquitted. He married about 1320 (1) Margaret Mortimer, daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, and in 1347, (2) Catherine Clivedon, widow of Peter le Veel, of Tortworth, co. Gloucester, and daughter of John Cliveton, of Charfield.. This lord having adhered to the interests of the Queen, Mortimer, and Prince Edward, afterwards the third of that name, furnished "the only precedent," says Smith, "of a peer being tried by knights, as the peers would have been both judges and jurors." He first assumed a miter for his crest. He was summoned to parliament from June 14, 1329 to November 20, 1360. He and his first wife, Margaret, had the following children:
  
  • 1. Maurice de Berkeley, his successor. See below.

  • 2. Thomas de Berkeley, d.s.p.

  • 3. Roger de Berkeley, d.s.p.

  • 4. Alphonsus de Berkeley, d.s.p.

  • 5. Joan Berkeley, wife of Reginald Cobham, Knight.
    

    Thomas and his second wife, Catherine, had the following children:
    

    • 1. Thomas de Berkeley, born June 7, 1348, d.s.p.

    • 2. Maurice de Berkeley, born May 27, 1349, d.s.p.

    • 3. Edmund de Berkeley, born July 10, 1350, d.s.p.

    • 4. John de Berkeley, ancestor of the Berkeleys of Beverstone.
      

      Thomas de Berkeley died October 27, 1361, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Maurice, of the first marriage.

• 10. Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Lord Berkeley, known as "The Valiant," was born in 1330, knighted by his father at seven years of age, to prevent wardship, which was also avoided by early marriages, and accordingly he married, when eight years old, Elizabeth Despencer, daughter of Hugh Despencer the Younger, Lord Despencer, who was hanged for treason in 1326, and his wife, Eleanor Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 9th Earl of Clare and 3rd Earl of Gloucester, whose portion was 1,000 marks, payable by half-yearly installments of 200 marks. He was summoned to parliament from August 16, 1362 to 1368, and died in August, 1368. He accompanied the Black Prince into Gascony, and was severely wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Poictiers, September 19, 1356. He was summoned to parliament from 1362 to 1368. He and his wife had the following children:
  
  • 1. Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Lord Berkeley, died July 13, 1417, married Margaret Warren, daughter and heiress of Gerard Warren (Warine), Lord De L'Isle (contracted when but seven years of age, and required to remain for four years with her father), by whom he had an only child, Elizabeth Berkeley, married to Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick (also contracted when under seven years of age), and they had three daughters and co-heirs: Margaret, Countess of Shrewsbury; Eleanor, Duchess of Somerset; and Elizabeth, Lady Latimer, who married Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Between these ladies, according to modern doctrine, the Barony of Berkeley, created by summons in 1134, fell in abeyance. Thus dying without male issue, he was succeeded by his nephew and heir male, James de Berkeley, son of James de Berkeley, brother of Thomas. The Earl of Warwick and his daughters claimed the castle and lands of Berkeley, but possession was obtained by James, 6th Lord Berkeley.

  • 2. James de Berkeley. See below.

  • 3. John de Berkeley, d.s.p.

  • 4. Maurice de Berkeley, married Joan Hereward, daughter of Sir William Hereward and Elizabeth. [William Hereward's parents were Sir William Hereward and Dulcia (or Douce) Stapledon. Douce's brother, Walter Stapledon, was bishop of Exeter and lord treasurer of England under King Edward II.] By Joan, Maurice acquired the manors of Dodescote, etc., co. Devon, and had a son, Maurice de Berkeley, living in the 45th year of King Edward III. (1371-72).

  • 5. Catherine Berkeley, a nun at Wherwell

  • 6. Agnes Berkeley, d.s.p., unmarried.

  • 7. Elizabeth Berkeley, d.s.p., unmarried.
    

    He died in 1405 at Berkeley Castle, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas.

• 11. James de Berkeley, 2nd son, died before his elder brother, the 5th Lord Berkeley. He married Elizabeth Bluet, daughter of John Bluet, Knight, of Raglan, co. Monmouth, by whom he got Ragland and a fair estate in Gloucestershire. This James died June 8, 1368. He and his wife (who married (2) William Thomas, a Welsh gentleman) had a son, James.

• 12. James de Berkeley, 6th Lord Berkeley (1st Lord Berkeley), known as "The Just," male heir to his uncle Thomas de Berkeley; and inheriting , by virtue of a special entail and fine, the castle and lordship of Berkeley, with other lords in the said fine specified, was summoned as Baron Berkeley to parliament from October 9, 1421, to May 23, 1461. According to the Berkeley family pedigree obtained at Berkeley Castle (July 1993), he was the 11th Baron by tenure and the 1st Baron by Writ, 1394-1463. He was born in 1394 at Raglan and died in 1463 in Berkeley Castle. He married (1) a daughter of Humphrey Stafford, of Hooke, co. Dorset, by whom he had no issue; (2) Isabel Mowbray, widow of Henry Ferrers, son and heir of William Ferrers, Lord Ferrers, of Groby; and daughter and eventual co-heir of Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, Lord Mowbray and Earl Marshal of England, by Elizabeth, his wife, eldest sister and co-heiress of Thomas Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. William de Berkeley, his successor, 7th Lord Berkeley (by right 2nd Lord Berkeley), Knight, had been, when a boy, in the retinue of Henry Beaufort, Cardinal Bishop of Winchester. He having a dispute with Thomas Talbot, Viscount Lisle, regarding some landed property, the contest ran so high, that they encountered, with their respective followers, at Wooton-under-Edge, in 1469, when Lord Lisle was mortally wounded by an arrow shot through his mouth. In the next year when the Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick took up arms against the king, we find Lord Berkeley commanded, with Maurice Berkeley, of Beverstone, to muster and array all fitting to bear arms in the county of Gloucester; and so great a regard had King Edward IV, for his lordship that he created him Viscount Berkeley, on April 21, 1481, with a grant of 100 marks per year, payable out of the customs of the port of Bristol, for life. The viscount was advanced to the Earldom of Nottingham (a dignity enjoyed by his ancestors, the Mowbrays), by King Richard III., on June 28, 1483; but his lordship afterwards espousing the cause of the Earl of Richmond, upon the accession of that nobleman to the throne, as King Henry VII., was constituted in 1485-giving for this purpose "all his part and purpart of 27 manors in Wales and the marches adjoining Shropshire" -Earl Marshal of England, with limitations of that great office to the heirs male of his body; and created on January 28, 1489-90, Marquess of Berkeley. He married (1) Elizabeth West, daughter of Reginald West, Lord de la Warre, from whom he was divorced without having issue; (2) Jane Strangwayes, widow of William Willoughby, Knight, and daughter of Thomas Strangways, Knight, by whom he had Thomas and Catherine, who both died young; and (3) Anne Fiennes, daughter of John Fiennes, Lord Dacre, but had no issue. The marquess d.s.p. on February 14, 1492, when all the honors acquired by himself became extinct, while the barony and castle of Berkeley, with his lordship's other estates, should have devolved upon his brother Maurice - from whom the title has descended to the present time - but for a settlement made by the deceased nobleman (who seems to have been offended with his brother for marrying lowly) of the castle of Berkeley upon King Henry VII. and the heirs male of that monarch's body, which castle and lands were thus alienated until the decease of King Edward VI., the last male descendant of Henry VII., when they were returned to the house of Berkeley, and have since been enjoyed by that family.

  • 2. Maurice de Berkeley, successor to his brother, William. See below.

  • 3. James de Berkeley, killed in France.

  • 4. Thomas de Berkeley, seated at Dursley, co. Gloucester, died in 1484. he married Margaret, daughter of Richard Guy, Esq., of Minsterworth, in the same shire, and had Richard de Berkeley, of Dursley, husband of Margaret Dyer. This lineage continues for 13 generations of male descendants to the present -day Berkeleys who own the Berkeley Castle in 1993, Robert John Grantley Berkeley and his wife, Georgine. They had two sons, Robert Charles, born in 1968, and Henry John, born in 1969.

  • 5. Elizabeth Berkeley, married Thomas Burdett, Esq., of Arrow, co. Warwick.

  • 6. Isabel (Isabella) Berkeley, married Thomas Tyre, Esq., of Hardwick, co. Gloucester.

  • 7. Alice Berkeley, married Richard Arthur, Esq., of Clapton, co. Somerset.
    

    He married (3) in 1457, Joan Talbot, daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (who married (2) in 1487, Edmund Hungerford). He died in November 1463, and was buried in Berkeley Church.

• 13. Maurice de Berkeley, 8th Lord Berkeley (by right 3rd Lord Berkeley), married in 1465, a person of humble birth, namely, Isabel Meade, daughter of Philip Meade, Esq., and alderman of Bristol (by some accounts the mayor of Bristol) and descended from the Meades of Wraxall in Somersetshire. Maurice obtained his share of an estate devolved upon him in right of his mother, Isabel Mowbray, but, as stated above, was denied any share of his brother's estate, because he had deemed to marry a "commoner, a person of mean blood.". He died in September, 1506. He and his wife had the following children:
  
  • 1. Maurice de Berkeley (by right, Lord Berkeley); born 1467, was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of King Henry VIII. He married in 1484 Catherine Berkeley, daughter of William de Berkeley, Knight, of Stokes-Gifford. co. Gloucester; died September 12, 1523, but d.s.p., was succeeded by his brother, Thomas Berkeley.

  • 2. Thomas de Berkeley (by right, Lord Berkeley); born 1472; held a command in the celebrated battle of Flodden, September 9, 1513, and for his signal services there, received the honor of knighthood from Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was summoned to parliament August 9, 1529. He married in 1504-05 (1) Eleanor, widow of William Ingleby, and daughter of Marmaduke Constable, of Flamborough, co. York, leaving a son, Thomas. Thomas (by right, Baron Berkeley), was born in 1505, summoned to parliament as a Baron, January 5, 1533, in the 25th year of the King Henry VIII.

  • 3. James de Berkeley.

  • 4. Anne Berkeley. See below.
    

• 14. Anne Berkeley married William Dennis (Dennys), Knight, of Dunham, co. Gloucester. They had the following two daughters:
  
  • 1. Isabel (Isabella) Dennis (Dennys). See below.

  • 2. Eleanor Dennis (Dennys), married William Lygon, son of Sir Richard Lygon, and his wife, Margaret Greville. They had a son, Thomas Lygon, who married his cousin, Frances Dennis (Dennys). They in turn had a son, Col. Thomas Lygon, born in 1586, who came to Virginia in 1641, married about 1650 (2) Mary Harris, born in 1625, died in 1704, a descendant through 17 generations from Robert de Roos, the Surety, who married Isabel, daughter of William the Lion, King of Scotland. Col. Thomas Lygon and his wife, Mary, were ancestors through five generations to William Daniel Ligon, Jr., mechanical and electrical engineer, and author of "The Ligon Family" (1947) from which much genealogical data has been taken in this compilation.
    

• 15. Isabel (Isabella) Dennis (Dennys) married John de Berkeley, of Stoke Gifford, Knight, son of Richard de Berkeley, Esq., of Stoke and his wife, Elizabeth Coningsby, daughter of Humphrey Coningsby, Knight. Richard died in the 5th year of King Henry VIII (1514). The Coningsbys are said to have been of ancient descent, but they do not appear to have attained much importance until the period of the revolution. A Thomas de Coningsby distinguished himself in the martial reign of Edward III., and participated in the glory of Poictiers, but is not certain as to his offspring. Sir Humphrey Coningsby, Knight, was the father of Thomas, in the time of Henry VIII., who married Cicely Salwey. (It is assumed that the above mentioned Elizabeth Coningsby was a sister to Thomas). Note that this marriage joined two lines of ten generations of Berkeleys. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. Richard Berkeley, his successor, of Stoke Gifford, Knight, married (1) Elizabeth Ann Reade, of Melton, and (2) Elizabeth Jermy, of Antingham. There was issue.

  • 2. Mary Berkeley, married (1) Nicholas Walsh, of Sodbury; and (2) William Herbert, of Swansey, Knight. By her first husband, she had a son, Henry Walsh, killed in a duel by Edward Winton, and three daughters.

    3, Elizabeth Berkeley. See below.
    

    John died on June 28, 1545, in the 37th year of King Henry VIII.

• 16. Elizabeth Dennis Berkeley married Henry Lygon of Upton St. Leonard, co. Gloucester, son of Richard Lygon of Madresfield (who died 1557) and his wife, Margaret Greville, daughter of William Greville.
  

  (Ref: "The Ligon Family in England". See also John Smith's "Lives of the Berkeleys" (1885). See Visitation of Gloucestershire).
  

  See the continuation of this lineage elsewhere in the Lygon Line.
  

Another branch of the Berkeley family which joins with the above is shown here below:

9. Maurice Berkeley, of Uley, co. Gloucester, Knight, (son of Maurice Berkeley, Baron Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle), died at the siege of Calais, in the 21th year of Edward III., leaving by Margaret Berkeley, his wife, a son and daughter as follows:

• 1. Thomas de Berkeley. See below.

• 2. Isabel Berkeley, aunt, and for a time heir of Maurice, son of Thomas de Berkeley.
  

• 10. Thomas de Berkeley, of Uley, died in 1362, married Catherine Bottetourt, daughter of John de Bottetourt, Baron Bottetourt and his second wife, Joyce Zouche, daughter of William Zouche, Lord Zouche, of Mortimer. Catherine was the sister of John Bottetourt, and aunt of Joyce Burnel, and died in the 35th year of Edward III., having had the following children:
  
  • 1. Maurice de Berkeley. See below.

  • 2. Edmund be Berkeley, d.s.p.

  • 3. John de Berkeley, d.s.p.
    

• 11. Maurice de Berkeley married Johanna Dinham, daughter of John Dinham, Knight. They had a son, Maurice.

• 12. Maurice Berkeley, of Stoke Gifford, co. Gloucester, was born after the death of his father. He married Ellen Montfort, daughter of William Montfort, leaving a son and heir, William.

• 13. William Berkeley, of Stoke, was attained in the 1st year of Henry VII., and restored in the 11th year of Henry VII. He married Anne Stafford, daughter of Humphrey Stafford, Knight. They had a son, Richard.

• 14. Richard Berkeley, Esq., of Stoke, married Elizabeth Coningsby, daughter of Humphrey Coningsby, Knight, and died in the 5th year of King Henry VIII. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. John Berkeley. See below.

  • 2. Maurice Berkeley, of Bruton, co. Somerset, Knight and standard-bearer to King Henry VIII., and King Edward VI., and to Queen Elizabeth. Of this gentleman it is mentioned, that, in the 1st year of Queen Mary, riding casually in London, he met with Sir Thomas Wyat at Temple Bar, and persuading him to yield himself to the queen, Sir Thomas took his advise, and mounting behind Sir Maurice , rode to the court. He married (1) Catherine, daughter of William Blount Baron Mountjoy, and was ancestor of the Berkeleys of Bruton, and of Pylle, of Berkeley Portman Lord Portman, and the Berkeleys, Viscount Fitz-Harding, and by her had the following children:
    
    • 1. Henry Berkeley, Knight, of Bruton, who married Margaret Lygon, daughter of William Lygon, Esq., of Madresfield, co. Worcester, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Maurice Berkeley, who received the honor of knighthood from the Earl of Essex, while serving under that nobleman in the expedition to Calais, in 1596.

    • 2. Edward Berkeley

    • 3. Gertrude Berkeley, married Edward Horne, Esq.

    • 4. Elizabeth Berkeley, married James Percival, Esq., of Weston, Gordano, co. Somerset.

    • 5. Anne Berkeley, married Nicholas Poynings, Esq., of Adderley.

    • 6. Francis, died unmarried.
      

      Maurice married (2) Elizabeth Sandes, daughter of Anthony Sandes, Esq., and by her was ancestor of the Berkeleys of Boycot, co. Kent. From his second marriage there were two sons and a daughter.

  • 3. A daughter ________, married Thomas Speke, of White Lackington, Knight.

  • 4. A daughter ________, married William Francis, of Combe Flore.
    

• 15. John Berkeley, of Stoke-Gifford, Knight, aet. three, in the 5th year of King Henry VIII, married Isabel (Isabella) Dennis (Dennys), daughter of William Dennys, and died June 28, in the 37th year of Henry VIII., leaving the following children:
  
  • 1. Mary Berkeley, married (1) Nicholas Walsh, and (2) William Herbert, of Swansey, Knight.

  • 2. Elizabeth Berkeley. See below.

  • 3. Richard Berkeley, successor, of Stoke Gifford, Knight, who married (1) Elizabeth Ann Reade, of Melton, and (2) Elizabeth Jermy, daughter of Robert Jermy, of Antingham, and by her had the following children:
    
    • 1. Henry Berkeley

    • 2. William Berkeley

    • 3. Elizabeth Berkeley

    • 4. Catherine Berkeley

    • 5. Mary Berkeley

    • 6. Anne Berkeley

    • 7. Dorothy Berkeley
      

• 16. Elizabeth Berkeley married Henry Lygon, of Upton St. Leonard.
  

  See the continuation of this lineage in the Lygon Line.

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