Berkeley

The Berkeley family is unique in English history in that it has to this day an unbroken male line of descent from a noble Saxon ancestor before the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and also retains possession of much of the lands it held from the 11th and 12th centuries, centered on Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.

01. Thomas Fitz Harding De Berkeley ^[1] was born abt 1187 in Berkeley, England.  He was a Magna Carta Baron but not one of the Sureties.  He received livery of his brothers' lands, but not until 1223 did he gain possession of Berkeley Castle.  He married Joan De Someri in 1217, daughter of Ralph De Someri and Margaret, sister of William le Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke.  Thomas died on November 29, 1243. 

02. Sir Maurice De Berkeley ^[1] 5th feudal baron of Berkeley and son of Thomas and Joan was born in 1218.  He was known as "Maurice the Resolute".  He married Isabel De Credonia on July 12, 1247, daughter of Baron Maurice De Credonia and Isabel De Valence, the illegitimate daughter of King John by Rohese.  He joined the Barons against King Henry III in 1264 which resulted in his lands being seized.  King Henry III, having a respect for Isabel and out of compassion for the poverty of his niece, assigned he manors of Herietsham and Trottesclyffe for her maintenance.  Maurice died on April 4, 1281.

03. Thomas De Berkeley ^[1] 1st baron of Berkeley, son of Maurice and Isabel was born in 1245.  He married Joan De Ferrers, daughter of William De Ferrers, Earl of Derby and Margaret De Quincy.  He was, for nearly every year for the last 50 years of his life employed either against the Welsh, Scots or French.  He was of great eminence in the reigns of Edward I and II.  He was taken prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn June 24, 1314, paying a large sum for his ransom. Thomas died on July 23, 1321 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. 

04. Sir Maurice De Berkeley ^[1] 2nd baron of Berkeley, son of Thomas and Joan was born in April, 1271.  He was known as the "Magnanimous" and was a English Baron and rebel.  He married Eve La Zouche, daughter of Eudo La Zouche and Millicent De Cauntelo.  He ultimately rebelled against King Edward II which resulted in his imprisonment at Wallingford Castle where he died on May 31, 1326. 

05. Sir Thomas De Berkeley ^[1] a feudal Baron of Berkeley, son of Maurice and Eve was born abt. 1296.  He was known as "Thomas the Rich."  He married (1) Margaret de Mortimer and they had 4 children including Maurice his successor.  He married (2) Katherine Clivedon on May 30, 1347, daughter of John Clivedon and Emme and they had 3 children, Thomas, Maurice and Edmund, who all died young, and a son, John.  He was made joint custodian of deposed King Edward II and eventually tried and honorably aquitted as accessory to his murder.  Thomas died on October 27, 1361.    [

06. Sir John De Berkeley ^[1] son of Thomas and Katherine was born in 1352.  He married Elizabeth Betteshorne, daughter of Sir John Betteshorne and Goda.  He was appointed High Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset for 1390-91 and 1394-95, High Sheriff of Gloucestershire for 1392-93, 1397-98 and 1414-15, High Sheriff of Hampshire for 1402-03 and 1406-07 and High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1410-11. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Gloucestershire in February 1388, September 1388 and January 1397, for Somerset in November 1390 and 1394, for Wiltshire in 1402 and Hampshire in 1406. He married 3 times, but had issue only by his third wife, Elizabeth Betteshorne. He died in 1428. 

07. Elizabeth De Berkeley ^[1] daughter of John and Elizabeth was born abt. 1400 in Beverstone, Glauchestershire, England.  She married Sir John Sutton abt. 1420, son of Sir John Sutton (c1378-1406) and Constance Blount.  Elizabeth died on September 23, 1432.  I descend from their daughter Jane Sutton who married Thomas Mainwaring.