BERKELEY, George (1601-58)

Berkeley was born in 1601 at Low Leyton, in Essex. His godparents included his maternal grandfather, George Carey^*, 2nd Lord Hunsdon and another kinsman, Charles Howard^*, 1st earl of Nottingham, respectively lord chamberlain and lord admiral.25 Smyth, ii. 426. However, this ostensibly auspicious start masked deep-rooted problems within the Berkeley family. His father, Sir Thomas^‡, an incorrigible spendthrift, had married largely for money, and as he worked his way steadily through his wife’s fortune, their relationship crumbled. In 1606 he even sold for £8,450 his reversionary interest in the lands which she had inherited from Lord Hunsdon. When this sum still proved too small to settle his debts, Lady Berkeley took matters into her own hands, assuming responsibility for his remaining revenues, and instituting major economies. Sir Thomas bitterly resented this loss of control, and spent much of the rest of his life abroad, prior to his premature death in 1611 at Caludon Castle, the family’s seat in Warwickshire.26 Stone, 250-1, 255; Smyth, ii. 397, 399; HMC 5th Rep. 354; J. Stoye, Eng. Travellers Abroad, 339.

Two years later Berkeley’s grandfather Henry Berkeley^*, 7th Lord Berkeley, also died at Caludon, leaving Berkeley himself a comfortable but somewhat depleted inheritance of 27 manors, spread across Gloucestershire and four other counties.27 WARD 7/49/49; Smyth, ii. 409-10. The boy’s wardship was initially acquired by his great-uncle, the wealthy Henry Howard^*, earl of Northampton, who made great promises of providing for him in his will. However, when the earl died in 1614, it emerged that he had merely bequeathed Berkeley an old set of tapestries and instructed his executors to sell the wardship for £1,500 to the boy’s great-uncles, Sir Richard^‡ and Thomas Spencer.28 Smyth, ii. 405, 427, 430-2; HMC 5th Rep. 409; L.L. Peck, Northampton, 233; Archaeologia, xlii. 377. In the event, it was actually acquired by Berkeley’s mother, who remained guardian of her son for the duration of his minority and brought him up at houses which she owned herself in London, Surrey, and at Cranford, Middlesex.29 Smyth, ii. 427, 435.

Shortly before Northampton’s death, the young baron was married to a nine-year-old heiress, Elizabeth Stanhope, niece to the 7th Lord Berkeley’s widow. Despite this family connection, the bride’s inheritance was a major factor in this match, which would prove to be unhappy.30 Cat. of Charters and Muniments at Berkeley Castle ed. I.H. Jeayes, 304; Smyth, ii. 426, 428; Stone, 258. Berkeley entered court society in 1616, when he became a knight of the Bath at the same time as Prince Charles (Stuart^*) was created prince of Wales; he also attended Anne of Denmark’s funeral three years later. Meanwhile, he continued with his education, attending Oxford, and acquiring his first taste of foreign travel in 1621 by visiting France.31 Harl. 5176, ff. 222v, 235v.

Berkeley came of age in 1622, a few months after his mother took a King’s Bench judge, Sir Thomas Chamberlain as her second husband. It is unclear whether his entry to Gray’s Inn the next year was more than honorary.32 Chamberlain Letters ed. N.E. McClure, ii. 424. By now Berkeley was on friendly terms with Henry de Vere^*, 18th earl of Oxford, whom he visited in the Tower of London in the summer of 1623, while the earl was imprisoned for complaining about the royal favourite, George Villiers^*, 1st duke of Buckingham.33 Harl. 1583, f. 84.

When Parliament was summoned in 1624, Berkeley used his influence in Gloucestershire to help secure the election of Sir Thomas Estcourt^‡, one of his late grandfather’s executors, as a knight of the shire.34 HP Commons, 1604-29, ii. 135-6. Berkeley himself attended the Lords for just over two-thirds of this session, rarely missing more than two or three consecutive sittings. He was granted formal leave of absence on 25 and 26 Feb., his excuses being presented by his friend Oxford, and attracted eight nominations, all to bill committees.35 LJ, iii. 217b, 218b; PA, HL/PO/JO/5/1/2, f. 12v. Of these, one concerned a Gloucestershire manor, another the earl of Oxford’s estates. A third, introduced by the 4th Lord Wentworth (Thomas Wentworth^*, later earl of Cleveland), dealt with the manorial customs of Stepney, on the eastern fringe of London, where Berkeley’s mother owned property, though she was apparently not affected by the bill’s provisions.36 LJ, iii. 253b, 257b, 325b; Smyth, ii. 426; W. Robinson, Hist. and Antiquities of Hackney, i. 349-53, 361. Estcourt died during the summer, and when a by-election was held in anticipation of a further session, the seat went to Sir Maurice Berkeley^‡, the baron’s kinsman.37 HP Commons, 1604-29, ii. 136.

In the aftermath of the last Jacobean Parliament, Berkeley was appointed a magistrate in Gloucestershire and Middlesex, and named to a number of oyer and terminer commissions, essentially on the strength of his social status. He appears never to have been active in local government, and probably spent little time in western England. Moreover, he failed to uphold the law himself, for in the spring of 1625 he was reprimanded by the earl marshal, Thomas Howard^*, 21st (or 14th) earl of Arundel, for arranging to fight a duel with a Leicestershire gentleman, Sir Henry Shirley. Meanwhile, Berkeley had also fallen out with his wife, who, according to the newsletter-writer John Chamberlain, was currently ‘distracted’ with jealousy.38 Cat. of Charters and Muniments, 340; HMC 4th Rep. 367; Chamberlain Letters, ii. 610.

Sir Maurice Berkeley was again returned for Gloucestershire in 1625, though this proved to be the last occasion when the baron’s electoral influence was felt in the county.39 HP Commons, 1604-29, ii. 136. Berkeley himself attended barely half of all sittings, with no explanation given for his absences. Surprisingly, in view of his youth and inexperience, he was appointed to the important standing committee for privileges. On 8 Aug., during the Oxford sitting, he was named to a conference committee which met twice to discuss enforcement of the recusancy laws. Two days later he was included on the committee for the bill to amend the 1606 Recusancy Act. He attracted just four other nominations, all to legislative committees. Of these, one related to another Gloucestershire manor, while another concerned the estates of the late Richard Sackville^*, 3rd earl of Dorset.40 Procs. 1625, pp. 45, 52, 88, 146, 174.

Berkeley’s attendance of the second Caroline Parliament was marginally better: he was present for three-fifths of this session, with few extended absences. He was formally excused on 1, 17 and 30 Mar., each time without explanation.41 Procs. 1626, i. 83, 172, 225. Reappointed to the committee for privileges, he was named to three bill committees, one of which concerned the recusancy laws, and selected to examine witnesses in the treason trial of John Digby^*, 1st earl of Bristol. During April he successfully claimed parliamentary privilege for one of his servants, who had been arrested. However, Berkeley was criticized for not dating the letter of protection that he had issued to his employee.42 Ibid. 48, 127, 296-7, 309-10, 540.

Shortly after the 1626 Parliament, Berkeley went abroad again. Initially licensed to travel for just 12 months, he requested a further year’s leave in May 1627, at which point he was in Italy, not far from Turin. He claimed that he would return to England by the autumn, but in fact he missed both sessions of the 1628-9 Parliament, without permission being granted or a proxy supplied, on both occasions being described simply as ‘extra regnum’.43 SO3/8, unfol. (31 July 1626); CSP Dom. 1627-8, p. 169; Lords Procs. 1628, p. 87; LJ, iv. 25a.

Berkeley was back home by July 1629, when he was nominated to escort the Venetian ambassador to an audience with the king. He was soon again a fixture of London society, and evidently an active patron of the theatre. Philip Massinger’s play, The Renegado, published in 1630, was dedicated to Berkeley, the author praising him for his willingness ‘to raise the dejected spirits of the condemned sons of the Muses’; indeed, ‘with a full vote and suffrage, it is acknowledged that the patronage … of the dramatic poem is yours, and almost without a rival’.44 Finet Notebks. ed. A.J. Loomie, 65-6; P. Massinger, The Renegado, a Tragicomedy (1630), sig. A3. Around this time Berkeley is known to have associated himself with two other high-living peers, Henry Parker^*, 14th Lord Morley and Thomas Cromwell^*, 4th Lord Cromwell. Prior to May 1630 Berkeley also tried investing in the American colonies. He acquired a grant of land in Carolina, but lacked the capital to develop it, and instead sold his rights to a syndicate of merchants in return for a share of any profits. Such behaviour placed further strain both on his finances and his marriage. In December 1630 his relationship with his wife all but broke down, apparently over the latter’s refusal to help clear his mounting debts. At any rate, Berkeley was obliged to sell Caludon Castle in June 1631, prior to a further foreign trip, this time to France.45 Stone, 259-60, 262; CSP Col. 1574-1660, p. 115; W. Dugdale, Antiqs. of Warws. (1730), i. 128; Smyth, iii. 407.

During the remainder of this decade, Berkeley’s circumstances steadily deteriorated. His marriage collapsed to the point where, in December 1633, and at the king’s request, his wife was placed in the care of a distant kinsman in Norfolk, Sir Henry Berkeley.46 CSP Dom. 1633-4, p. 336. Meanwhile, his debts continued to mount, and despite further land sales they reached the huge sum of £18,767 by the end of 1634. By dint of some careful juggling of his remaining assets, the situation eased a little over the next three years, but remained critical. Berkeley seems, understandably, to have maintained a lower profile during this period. In February 1639, writing to secretary of state Sir Francis Windebank^‡ to confirm that he planned to attend the king at York, he commented pointedly on his ‘retiredness’, which he insisted was not a sign of disloyalty.47 Stone, 261-2; Coventry Docquets, 705; CSP Dom. 1638-9, p. 478.

Berkeley was excused attendance from both the Short and Long parliaments, though he did in fact attend the latter.48 SO1/3, ff. 177v, 199v. During the Civil War he took the parliamentarian side, remaining in London, and protesting to the Lords in May 1643 when Berkeley Castle was garrisoned by royalists.49 HMC 5th Rep. 347; Cat. of Charters and Muniments, 340-1. Having allied himself with the presbyterian faction in the upper House, he was impeached by the Commons in September 1647 and imprisoned for several months, though the charges were eventually dropped.50 HMC De L’Isle and Dudley, vi. 569-70; CJ, v. 296a; LJ, ix. 667a-b; x. 303b, 307a-b. Berkeley was one of the last peers still attending the Lords prior to its abolition in 1649. Thereafter, he apparently lived in retirement, dying at Clerkenwell in August 1658. His barony descended to his only surviving son, George^†.51 LJ, x. 641b; Collins, iii. 616-17.