General Notes

ID: I00364
Name: (Sir) Thomas BERKELEY , 3rd Lord
Sex: M
Birth: 1292
Death: 27 OCT 1361
Burial: Berkeley Church
Note:
Following is from the homepage of Dave Berkeley athttp://www.rotwang.freeserve.co.uk/Index.html

Thomas III, Eighth Lord (1326 to 1361): THOMAS de Berkeley and hisbrother Maurice had shared with their father in the rebellion against theDespensers, and when the father was captured and committed to WallingfordCastle, the sons revenged themselves by laying waste the manors of thefavourites in Oxon and Berkshire. Thomas was however taken prisoner andcommitted to the Tower, but made his escape; being again captured he wassent successively to the castles of Berkhampstead and Pevensey, andremained a prisoner nearly five years, until he was set free by thesuccess of the Queen's party in 1326.

During the last six years of the reign of Edward II, it is recorded thathalf the baronage of England were butchered, imprisoned, or banished bythe king in the course of the struggle against the king's favourites. Thepopular party was however now reinforced by the Queen Isabella and thePrince of Wales, who were everywhere welcomed as the deliverers of thekingdom. Their first acts were to liberate those of their friends whowere pining in the king's dungeons, one of the first of whom was Thomasde Berkeley. He joined the Queen's army at Oxford, from whence theymarched to Gloucester, and thence by way of Berkeley to Bristol. On theplea of preparing to receive the Queen, Thomas, now lord Berkeley, hisfather having died a few months previously, hurried forward to Berkeley,and proceeded to victual the Castle as if for a siege. This was his firstappearance at Berkeley as its lord, and his tenants welcomed him withpresents of money, from twenty to forty shillings each, according totheir holdings.

The Castle and manors having been for several years in the possession ofthe Crown, lord Berkeley found them well stocked with cattle, hay, cornand implements, of which he took possession, as well as of a quantity oftreasure of the Despensers which he found in the Castle. A great numberof men at arms had also been levied and armed from the Berkeley manors byorder of the King, and these now gladly gave their allegiance to theirrightful lord.

At Bristol the elder Despenser was taken and executed as a traitor, andhis son soon shared a similar fate at Hereford. The unhappy king, nowdeserted by all his friends, was captured near Neath Abbey in South Walesand sent to Kenilworth Castle, and the Queen and her army marched toLondon. From Hereford lord Berkeley however returned to Berkeley, haltingon the way at Wigmore the seat of his father-in-law the lord Mortimer,where he met his wife the lady Margaret, from whom his long imprisonmentand the turbulent events which followed it, had separated him for nearlysix years. The king was formally deposed at a parliament which wassummoned in January 1327, and remained a prisoner at Kenilworth, Thomaslord Berkeley, Sir John Maltravers, and Sir Thomas de Gournay, beingcharged with his safe custody. Gournay and Maltravers who were hisimmediate gaolers removed him to Corfe Castle and thence to Bristol, fromwhence he was brought on Palm Sunday, April 15th 1327, to BerkeleyCastle. Lord Berkeley courteously received the king, and seems to havetreated him with kindness and consideration, but this did not please theQueen and her advisers, for letters were soon after sent to lord Berkeleycommanding him to "use no familiarity with Edward the late King," but todeliver over the custody of him to Maltravers and Gournay. Perceivingwhat was intended, lord Berkeley withdrew with a heavy heart, to hismanor house at Wotton-under-Edge. Gournay and Maltravers now treatedtheir charge with the greatest cruelty and indignity, hoping thereby tohasten his death, and among other tortures they almost suffocated himwith the stench of putrid carcasses placed in a cellar or dungeon underthe floor of his apartment. As this treatment did not sufficiently hastenhis death, they at length murdered him with circumstances of horriblebarbarity at midnight on the 21st of September 1327. His shrieks wereheard in the town, and in the morning the inhabitants were told that theking died in the night of some sudden seizure, and were invited to comeand view the body. It showed no wound, but the features were terriblydistorted, as though from a violent and painful death. The Monasteries atKingswood, Bristol, and Malmesbury, refused to receive the corpse,fearing the Queen's displeasure, but the abbot of St. Peter's atGloucester, to his honour, brought it from Berkeley and received it athis Cathedral with a procession of the whole convent and of the city, andburied it honourably in the north aisle near the high altar.

The steward's accounts of the time contain several entries havingreference to the king's residence at Berkeley and the terrible tragedy ofhis death. Two sums, of Đ700 and Đ500, were received from the exchequerfor the maintenance of the King and his attendants during the period ofhis imprisonment. There is an entry of 31s. 1d. for the expenses ofThomas de Gournay going to Nottingham to inform the Queen of Edward�sdeath. The reeves accounts of the manors of Ham and Alkington shew whatprovisions they sent in to the Castle for the royal maintenance from PalmSunday to the 2lst of September that year. There are entries of money fordyeing canvass black to cover the carriage in which the corpse wasconveyed to Gloucester for interment in the Cathedral; of 37s. 8d. for asilver vessel to place the king�s heart in; of 21d. paid in oblations atseveral times in the Castle chapel for the repose of his soul; and of18s. 9d. the expenses of some of lord Berkeley's household going with thebody to Gloucester.

The Queen's advisers, on whom the guilt really rested, endeavoured to getrid of the responsibility by charging the murder on lord Berkeley, and heunderwent a trial by a jury of twelve knights, who acquitted him of thecharge, except as regards some negligence, and he was liberated on bail.The charge was, however, kept hanging over him, probably to divertattention from the really guilty parties until 1338, when he was finallyand fully acquitted.

These troubles over, lord Berkeley seems to have settled down atBerkeley, and devoted himself to the usual occupations and amusements ofgreat lords of the period. The repairs and improvements of his estates,which had been much dilapidated and impoverished during their longoccupation by the crown, formed his first care. The accounts of thereeves and bailiffs of his demesne lands are most minute and exact,shewing the produce of each manor and how it was disposed of; largequantities, being, as was usual, given to the poor and the neighbouringmonasteries, and much shipped off by sea; as well as shewing what wasconsumed by the households at his different manor houses. Lord Berkeleyhad residences at Beverston, Awre, Wotton-under-Edge, Portbury, andBedminster, as well as the Castle at Berkeley, and often removed from oneto another, seldom residing a year together at any one. Like all hispredecessors he was very fond of the sports of the field, and often layout whole nights in his woods and parks, hunting. He kept hounds, hawks,and falcons, and was also devoted to jousts, tournaments, and militaryexercises. He was more frequently employed abroad by the king in militaryand other service, than almost any other subject, and when he was thusoccupied, or in attending Parliament, his lady usually withdrew to one oftheir manor houses, for quiet and retirement.

Thomas lord Berkeley was at the battle of Cressy, in 1346, as well as hisson Maurice who was in attendance on the Prince of Wales, and his brotherSir Maurice Berkeley of Stoke, who was afterwards slain at the siege ofCalais. Lord Berkeley and his son Maurice also served at the battle ofPoictiers, where Maurice was severely wounded and taken prisoner, a fullaccount of which is given by Froissart.

Among the minor events of his life it is recorded that this lord builtNew Park House as a hunting lodge, and enclosed the park there; also thehigh tower on the north side of the keep of the Castle, called Thorpe'stower, since partly pulled down.

In 1340, lord Berkeley founded and endowed a chantry in the chapel of St.Maurice, at Newport near Berkeley; in the deed of endowment he directswhat prayers and masses shall there be said, and lays down rules for thechaplain's life and conversation, forbidding him to take money of any, orto be servant to any but God in spiritual matters, and to himself intemporal concerns; enjoining him to live chastely and honestly, and notcome to markets, alehouses or taverns, nor frequent plays or unlawfulgames. He also made similar endowments and arrangements at Wortley andCambridge, "and all this," says Smyth, "he did in so devout and holy amanner, that unless he had been a disciple of Wickliff who now lived, hecould not have come nearer to the doctrine of the Church of England inthese days" (A. D. 1618)

In the latter years of this lord lived John Trevisa, a secular priest andVicar of Berkeley, who was also chaplain to the lord Berkeley.*

* Trevisa was of an ancient Cornish family, bearing Gules a Garbe Or ,long settled at Crocadon, in the parish of St. Mellion, near Callington.The estate was sold by William Trevisa to Sir William Caryton, in 1690,and is now the property of Colonel Caryton, of Pentillie Castle. WilliamTrevisa died in 1703, when the family became extinct.

He translated the bible and many other works into English, and wrote muchagainst the monastic system, saying that Christ instituted Apostles andPriests, but never Monks and begging Fryars. Trevisa and his patron seemto have been much in advance of their age, and to have professeddoctrines very similar to those now about being promulgated by Wickliff.As Wickliff held the prebend of Aust in the collegiate church of Westburyin this county, it seems not too much to suppose that Trevisa and lordBerkeley may have imbibed some of the reformed doctrines which theyappear to have held, by personal intercourse with Wickliff, though theydo not appear to have been amongst his recognized supporters.

Lord Berkeley's first wife, Margaret the daughter of Lord Mortimer, diedin 1337, and was buried at St. Augustine's. Ten years afterwards hemarried Katherine the widow of Sir Peter le Vele, who survived himtwenty-four years; "she was" says Smyth, "a lady rich in good works, andfounded the school and chantry at Wotton-under-Edge, and the chantry ofSt Andrew in Berkeley church."

Thomas eighth lord Berkeley died in 1361, and was buried beneath the finealtar tomb in Berkeley church under the second arch between the nave andthe south aisle, where in 1385, his relict the Lady Katherine was laidbeside him. The tomb is surmounted by their effigies, and in the nearestwindows in the south aisle are those of three of their sons who died intheir infancy. Maurice who succeeded, was lord Berkeley's eldest son byhis first wife." [end of Dave Berkeley's info].

Line of Descent of (Sir) Thomas Berkeley, 3rd Lord (1292-1361) to JamesReid Hancock:

(Sir) Thomas Berkeley, 3rd Lord m 1st (1320) Margaret Mortimer (d 1337);
(Sir) Maurice Berkeley, 4th Lord (b 1330) and Elizabeth de Spencer;
(Sir) James Berkeley and Elizabeth Bluet;
James Berkeley, Knt, 6th Baron m 3rd (1423) Isabel Mowbray;
Maurice Berkeley, 3rd Baron and Isabel Meade;
Anne Berkeley and (Sir) William Dennis;
Eleanor Dennis and William Lygon, Esq;
Thomas Lygon and Frances Dennis;
Thomas Ligon and Elizabeth Pratt;
(Col) Thomas Ligon and Mary Harris;
Johan Ligon and Robert Hancock;
Johan Hancock m (1st cousin) Samuel Hancock;
William Hancock and Anne Linton;
(Capt) Simon Hancock m 2nd (1796) Martha Bartlett;
Thomas Bartlett Hancock and Lucy Combs;
Robert Asa Hancock and Martha Ann Webb;
Elmer Hendricks Hancock and Ethel Lewis Williams;
Robert Arthur Hancock and Carolyn Doris Reid;
James Reid Hancock

Line of Descent of (Sir) Thomas Berkeley, 3rd Lord (1292-1361) toPresident George Washington:

(Sir) Thomas Berkeley, 3rd Lord m 2nd (1347) Catherine (Clivedon) LeVeel;
(Sir) John Berkeley, of Beverstone (b 1351) m 1st Elizabeth Betteshorne;
Elizabeth Berkeley and John De Sutton;
Edmund Sutton (alias Dudley) and Joyce Tiptoft;
(Sir) John Sutton and ( _ ) Charroll;
Margaret Sutton and John Butler;
William Butler and Margaret Greeke;
Margaret Butler and Lawrence Washington;
(Rev) Lawrence Washington and Amphilis Twigden;
(Col) John Washington m 1st (1658) Anne Pope;
(Capt) Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner;
(Capt) Augustine Washington m 2nd (1731) Mary Ball;
(Gen) George Washington

[This relationship, JRH to GW: Half 11th Cousins, 6 times removed]

Sources:

1. The Hancock Family of England and America by Arvil Dale Hancock (Linefrom Capt Simon Hancock back to Col Thomas Ligon).
2. Ancestors of American Presidents by Gary Boyd Roberts (Washingtonline).
3. The Ligon Family and Connections, Volumes 1 (1947) and 2 (1957) byWilliam D. Ligon, Jr (Hancock, Ligon and Washington lines back to ThomasBerkeley, 3rd Lord, 1292-1361).
4. Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists, by David Faris(Line from Johan Ligon, wife of Robert Hancock, back to Maurice Berkeley,4th Lord, husband of Elizabeth de Spencer; also Sir John Sutton back toJohn and Elizabeth (Betteshorne) Berkeley, p 90-92; Washington line backto Elizabeth Berkeley and John Sutton, p 274-275).
5. The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants, by Gary Boyd Roberts (Hancock,Ligon, lines back to James and Isabel (Mowbray) Berkeley; and theWashington line back to Edmund Sutton).
6. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to AmericaBefore 1700, 7th edition, by Frederick Lewis Weis (Maurice Berkeley who mElizabeth de Spencer back to Thomas Berkeley, 3rd Lord who 1st MargaretMoritmer, and 2nd Katherine Clivedon, Line 39; Sir John Berkeley, as theson of Thomas and 2nd wife Katherine de Clyvedon , Line 81).
7. Gateway Families: Ancestors and Descendants of Richard Simrall Hawes,III and Marie Christy Johnson, (1994), by Christy Hawes Bond; edited bygenealogist Alicia Crane Williams (Various connections of Hancock, Ligonlines back to royalty).
8. Additional royalty info is shown at Brian Tompsett�s website at<http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgibin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal19930>



Father: Maurice DE BERKELEY , 2nd Lord b: APR 1281
Mother: Eva LA ZOUCHE

Marriage 1 Margaret DE MORTIMER
Married: 25 JUL 1320
Children
(Sir) Maurice BERKELEY , 4th Lord b: 1330

Marriage 2 Katherine DE CLYVEDON
Married: 30 MAY 1347 in Charfield, co. Gloucester
Children
(of Beverstone) Sir John BERKELEY b: 1351 in of Beverstone, co.Gloucester