Vol III File 8: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James
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Vol III File 8: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James
12. Berkeley Line
The following was extracted from the Berkeley
Line in Volume II. See Volume II. for additional ancestral lineage.
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1. James de Berkeley, 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), by Homer Beers
James, 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:
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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.
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2. Maurice de Berkeley, successor to his brother,
William. See below.
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3. James de Berkeley, killed in France.
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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.
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5. Elizabeth Berkeley, married Thomas Burdett,
Esq., of Arrow, co. Warwick.
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6. Isabel (Isabella) Berkeley, married Thomas
Tyre, Esq., of Hardwick, co. Gloucester.
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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.
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2. 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:
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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.
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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.
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3. James de Berkeley.
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4. Anne Berkeley.
See below.
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3. Anne Berkeley
married William Dennis (Dennys),
Knight, of Dunham, co. Gloucester. They had the following two
daughters:
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1. Isabel (Isabella) Dennis (Dennys). See below.
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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.
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4. 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:
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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.
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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.
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5. Elizabeth Dennis Berkeley married Henry Lygon of Upton St. Leonard, co.
Gloucester, son of Richard Lygon of
Madresfield (who died in 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 in Volume III.
===========================================================
Another branch of the Berkeley family which
joins with the above is shown here below:
-2. 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:
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1. Thomas de Berkeley. See below.
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2. Isabel Berkeley, aunt, and for a time heir
of Maurice, son of Thomas de Berkeley.
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-1. 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:
-
0. Maurice de Berkeley married Johanna Dinham, daughter
of John Dinham, Knight. They had a
son, Maurice.
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