 |
| Berkeley of Stoke Gifford |
Sir Richard reshaped the landholdings which he inherited, selling the manor of Rockhampton and buying the manor of Stapleton (adjacent to Stoke Gifford) and Rendcomb in the Cotswolds, where he may well have built a new house after 1566. Rendcomb was left to his second wife, who survived until 1630, for life, while Stoke Gifford and Stapleton continued in the male line. However, Sir Richard's only surviving son was Sir Henry Berkeley (c.1561-1608), whose 'melancholy humour' led his father to exclude him from the succession to the family estate and pass it instead to his grandson, Richard Berkeley (c.1578-1661). He was gripped by the early 17th century fever for colonial investment in America, and lost far more than he could afford when a colony in Virginia was annihilated by the indigenous population in 1622. To avoid the loss of his estate he hastily made Stoke Gifford over to his eldest son, Sir Maurice Berkeley (1598-1654), kt. Happily his fortunes recovered somewhat after 1630, when he inherited the Rendcomb estate on his mother's death, and Rendcomb remained his home for the rest of his life. Sir Maurice evidently preferred Stoke Gifford, however, for in 1635 he sold his reversionary interest in Rendcomb to Sir William Guise, and the estate this passed out of the family's hands on his father's death. An account of Rendcomb Park, which was rebuilt by the Guise family in the late 17th century and again for Sir Francis Goldsmid in the 19th century, is reserved for future posts on those families.
Both Richard Berkeley and Sir Maurice Berkeley supported the Royalist side in the Civil War, although there are indications that they may have done so reluctantly, and both paid fines for their delinquency. Sir Maurice was married twice. His first wife, a daughter of Sir Edward Coke, the Lord Chief Justice, died within a year of their marriage, having borne him a daughter. His second wife, Mary Tipping, gave him two sons, of whom the elder, Richard Berkeley (1627-71), was heir to the Stoke Gifford estate, although Mary evidently had possession of the house until 1667, when she either died or vacated the property in Richard's favour. In the years before he moved in, he lived at nearby Frampton Cotterell (Glos), presumably in a house belonging to the family of his wife, Elizabeth Symes, who came from that village. Richard and Elizabeth had a large family of eleven children, but several of them died young and many of those who reached maturity either did not marry or did not have children. One of these was Richard's eldest son and heir, George Berkeley (1661-85), who came of age in 1682, married the following year, but died without producing an heir. The estate was therefore inherited on his death by his younger brother, John Symes Berkeley (1663-1736). Like his grandfather, John had the misfortune to lose his first wife within a year of their marriage, and she bore him no children, although he did become guardian of the three children of her first marriage. It was twenty years before he married again, this time to the young widow of the 8th Viscount Hereford, who produced a son and a daughter. The son was Norborne Berkeley (1717-70) - the unusual first name being his mother's maiden name - who spent three years travelling on the continent (1735-38), and who inherited the estate and came of age while he was abroad. He was a Tory in politics, and in 1740 his sister married the younger son of the 2nd Duke of Beaufort, whose family were the leaders of the Tory cause in Gloucestershire over many generations. Their interest ensured his election as MP for Gloucestershire in 1740, and he continued to represent the county for nearly a quarter of a century. The Beauforts also had strong Jacobite sympathies, which Norborne perhaps shared initially, but after the suppression of the 1745 rebellion, Norborne distanced himself from these views and became a Hanoverian loyalist. His support for the Earl of Bute (Prime Minister, 1762-63) saw him rewarded with the Lord Lieutenancy of Gloucestershire and positions at Court, and also saw a successful outcome to his claim to the barony of Botetourt, which had been in abeyance since 1406. His sister's husband had unexpectedly succeeded his elder brother as 4th Duke of Beaufort in 1745, and died in 1756, leaving a young family. Norborne became guardian of his sister's children, and the two of them were effectively in control of the Beaufort estates until the 5th Duke came of age in 1765. While his political and social career was successful, however, Norborne was less fortunate economically, and unwise investments lost him a great deal of money. To recoup his position, he accepted an appointment as Governor of Virginia, which both provided him with a salary and enabled him to live more cheaply than in England. The colonists were sceptical about the appointment of a British aristocrat as Governor, but he engaged with their concerns and was an unexpected success in the two years he was in Virginia before his death in 1770. He had never married, although he did produce two illegitimate children in the 1740s, so on his death the Stoke estate passed to his sister, the dowager Duchess of Beaufort. His peerage again fell into abeyance, but in 1803 was once more brought out of abeyance for his nephew, the 5th Duke of Beaufort, who had inherited Stoke Gifford on the death of the dowager duchess in 1799. The Botetourt barony then remained merged with the dukedom until 1984, when on the death of the 10th Duke it again fell into abeyance. The Stoke Gifford estate was sold by the 9th Duke in 1907, and passed into institutional use.
The Elizabethan Stoke Park was built around three sides of a small courtyard in imitation of larger U-shaped houses like nearby Siston Court (built for Sir Richard's maternal uncle). The house was gabled, and had large mullioned and transomed windows on two storeys with smaller windows in the gables. The main block of the house was regularly gabled and fenestrated, but the wings, which may have incorporated earlier work, were irregular and of different lengths. As at Siston Court, square towers were built in the inner angles of the courtyard formed by the house, and these were raised a full storey higher than the roofs of the main building to form prospect rooms. They also had flat roofs with balustrades for the better enjoyment of the superb views on fine days.
Concern for the views which Stoke Park's position made its chief advantage extended to the layout of the grounds. Although Kip shows that there was only a modest formal garden associated with the house, the rampart on which the house was placed was extended northwards to form a broad terrace. The northern end of this was occupied until c.1715 by a small gabled banqueting house (depicted by Kip), but in that year John Symes Berkeley obtained designs (now at Worcester College, Oxford) for a new 'Banqueting Room or garden house' from both Sir James Thornhill and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Although neither of their schemes, both of which were for domed buildings, was executed, a sketch on the Thornhill design resembles the present orangery. This had been erected by 1725, and has a centrepiece of four fluted Corinthian pilasters. In the 20th century it was made into a chapel, but it has recently been converted into a two bedroom house. The original Elizabethan balustrade of the terrace survives, although it has been much repaired over the centuries.
Stoke descended in 1736 to Norborne Berkeley (1717-70), from 1764 Lord Botetourt, who inherited a sizable and growing revenue from collieries at Stapleton and his father's interest in architecture, honed by three years of continental travel. Between the late 1740s the 1760s he undertook a piecemeal remodelling of the house at Stoke Gifford and laid out the grounds, largely to the designs of Thomas Wright, who was tutor to his sister's children at Badminton and had designed garden buildings there; Wright became a close friend of both families.
Work began in 1749, with the aim of modifying the unsatisfactory Elizabethan south front, which faced the spectacular view, but at the same time retaining the Jacobean character of the house. The ends of the south front were brought forward as cross‑gabled wings, and a five‑bay loggia of vaguely Jacobean design (which still survives) was built between them. Wright considered removing the top floor between the wings to give them a bolder profile, but this was never done. Single‑storey canted bays were built out from each of the new wings, and an octagon room was created behind the south‑eastern one; by 1752 this was being decorated by Thomas Morley, plasterer and Margaret Mittings, ceiling painter. Thomas Paty of Bristol was employed as a carver and Daniel Arnett supplied the finer joinery. The old great hall, in the east range, was redecorated with a Classical archway and pilasters, perhaps in place of the old screen.
The second building phase lasted from 1760‑64 and consisted (at a cost of £5,980 9s. 5d) of the construction of a new north front, the raising of the house to a full three storeys, topped with crenellations in place of gabled attics, and the reconstruction of the south front with projecting towers with canted angles. The work seems to have been aimed at producing a conventional Gothick effect rather than the more experimental 'King James Gothic' of the first phase, which must have been judged unsuccessful. A casualty of the work were the two 16th century prospect towers, although the lowest stage of one of them survives. Inside, the recently refurbished great hall was destroyed to make way for two rooms decorated in an entirely conventional Rococo style, perhaps by Thomas Stocking, who was certainly paid for work at this time. The accounts also show that James Paty was now the principal mason, and although he was contracted to work 'as exprest in the plans and elevations per Mr Wright', he seems to have designed the Batty Langleyish north porch himself.
The park at Stoke Gifford has been recognised in recent decades as an important Arcadian landscape by Thomas Wright, laid out over a long period between about 1749 and 1768. Work on the park had in fact begun as early as 1746, with advice provided by William Pitt the elder, who enjoyed a significant reputation as an amateur landscaper. His contribution was sufficiently substantial to be recalled by a visitor twenty years later, and by George Mason in 1795, but by 1750 Wright seems to have been the main designer. Within the context of an essentially Brownian landscaped park with a lake, three existing woods (Barn Wood, Hermitage Wood and Long Wood), Wright created a complex system of winding ‘Wood Walks’ opening out into clearings which he called saloons and furnished with seats.
The woods, and more particularly the clearings, were decorated with carefully selected flowers and shrubs to create an intensely designed Rococo effect. George Mason thought Wright's scheme gave him more idea than anything else he had seen 'of what might be done by the internal arrangement of a wood'. The landscape was also full of classical references which the educated visitor of the time would have understood, and possessed gateways, an obelisk, a rotunda, a monument to the 4th Duke of Beaufort (later known as Matilda's Tomb), a monument to the Horatii and Curiatii, a hermitage called Bladud's Cell, rustic lodges, and ornamental tunnels in the woods. These were all executed in Wright's highly individual combination of classical architectural forms and rustic features and materials. In the late 18th century, Stoke was well known to tourists, who praised the view from the terrace, the planting of the woods, and the hermitage, which the Duchess of Northumberland called 'the prettiest of its kind I ever saw'. The structures in the park have now largely vanished, although some, such as the rotunda, survived into the 1950s. Only the monument to the 4th Duke and the stump of the obelisk still exist and have been restored, while the Duchess Gates in Stapleton, which were moved to Badminton, were copied and reinstated in 1995.
On Lord Botetourt's death in 1770, Stoke was inherited by his sister, the Dowager Duchess of Beaufort, who continued to make improvements to the park with Thomas Wright's advice. After her death, it became a secondary seat of the Beauforts, and was either let or used as a dower house, until in 1907 the house was sold to Reverend Harold Nelson Burden, who established a colony for children in need of ‘care and control’. It later become the country's first mental health colony. The integrity of the park was damaged by the construction of the M32 Bristol Parkway across the site, but its open agricultural character was miraculously preserved. In the late 20th century the hospital closed, and after some years of dereliction and serious concern about the future of the house, it was successfully converted into thirteen flats in 2002, while preserving intact the main interiors. As part of the restoration, the exterior of the building has been rendered and painted a yellow ochre colour which makes a striking statement in the landscape. The hospital buildings to the north were demolished and this land was redeveloped for housing. With increasing understanding of the importance of the landscape, a Stoke Park Restoration Trust was formed in the late 1980s. A management plan was agreed with the City Council in 1992, and the Trust has since steadily reclaimed the park, restored the monuments, and allowed public access, so that visitors can once again enjoy this eccentric and romantic 18th‑century arcadia improbably set among the suburbs of 21st‑century Bristol.
Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire
The manor of Stoke Gifford was granted to Sir Maurice Berkeley (a younger son of Maurice, Lord Berkeley of Berkeley Castle) in 1337, and remained the property of his descendants until 1907. The recorded history of the house begins with Sir Richard Berkeley (1531-1604), kt., who had livery of the manor in 1553 and was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1565. He is said to have built the Stoke Park recorded by Kip and other topographers in 1563. Stylistically that is plausible, and the house certainly existed by 1610, when a thumbnail sketch of the house appeared on a map of Kingswood Forest. The house stood on a tremendous artificial rampart at the top of a steep slope, which was retained in 1760 as the setting for the present house and, although it was not a large building, it must have had something of the dominating presence in the landscape that its successor has now. |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: detail from the engraving of the house by J. Kip from Atkyns, Ancient & Present State of Glostershire, 1712. |
 |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: drawing of the house from an estate map of 1725 by John Vaston (Gloucestershire Archives D2700/QP15/2) |
 |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: orangery/chapel after recent conversion to domestic use. |
Stoke descended in 1736 to Norborne Berkeley (1717-70), from 1764 Lord Botetourt, who inherited a sizable and growing revenue from collieries at Stapleton and his father's interest in architecture, honed by three years of continental travel. Between the late 1740s the 1760s he undertook a piecemeal remodelling of the house at Stoke Gifford and laid out the grounds, largely to the designs of Thomas Wright, who was tutor to his sister's children at Badminton and had designed garden buildings there; Wright became a close friend of both families.
 |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: the house as remodelled in 1749. Image: Badminton Muniments, drawings 10.1‑7?? |
Work began in 1749, with the aim of modifying the unsatisfactory Elizabethan south front, which faced the spectacular view, but at the same time retaining the Jacobean character of the house. The ends of the south front were brought forward as cross‑gabled wings, and a five‑bay loggia of vaguely Jacobean design (which still survives) was built between them. Wright considered removing the top floor between the wings to give them a bolder profile, but this was never done. Single‑storey canted bays were built out from each of the new wings, and an octagon room was created behind the south‑eastern one; by 1752 this was being decorated by Thomas Morley, plasterer and Margaret Mittings, ceiling painter. Thomas Paty of Bristol was employed as a carver and Daniel Arnett supplied the finer joinery. The old great hall, in the east range, was redecorated with a Classical archway and pilasters, perhaps in place of the old screen.
 |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: the house as remodelled in 1760-64, from an engraving by Francis Nicholson, 1798. |
The park at Stoke Gifford has been recognised in recent decades as an important Arcadian landscape by Thomas Wright, laid out over a long period between about 1749 and 1768. Work on the park had in fact begun as early as 1746, with advice provided by William Pitt the elder, who enjoyed a significant reputation as an amateur landscaper. His contribution was sufficiently substantial to be recalled by a visitor twenty years later, and by George Mason in 1795, but by 1750 Wright seems to have been the main designer. Within the context of an essentially Brownian landscaped park with a lake, three existing woods (Barn Wood, Hermitage Wood and Long Wood), Wright created a complex system of winding ‘Wood Walks’ opening out into clearings which he called saloons and furnished with seats.
 |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: sketch plan by Thomas Wright of the proposed 'Wood Walks' in the park. Image: Badminton Muniments. |
 |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: monument to the 4th Duke of Beaufort. Image: B. Pedwell. |
 |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: the house from the park. Image: Public Domain. |
 |
| Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford: entrance front after restoration in 2002. Image: Pixabay. Some rights reserved. |
Descent: Sir Maurice de Berkeley (c.1300-47); to son, Thomas de Berkeley (d. 1361); to son, Maurice de Berkeley (1358-1400); to son, Maurice Berkeley (c.1400-64); to son, William Berkeley (fl. 1496); to son, Richard Berkeley (d. 1514); to son, Sir John Berkeley (c.1510-45), kt.; to son, Sir Richard Berkeley (1531-1604), kt.; to grandson, Richard Berkeley (c.1578-1661); to son, Sir Maurice Berkeley (1598-1654), kt.; to son, Richard Berkeley (1627-71); to son, George Berkeley (1661-85); to brother, John Symes Berkeley (1663-1736); to son, Norborne Berkeley (1717-70), 4th Baron Botetourt; to sister, Elizabeth (1719-99), Dowager Duchess of Beaufort; to son, Henry Somerset (1744-1803), 5th Duke of Beaufort; to son, Henry Charles Somerset (1766-1835), 6th Duke of Beaufort; to son, Henry Somerset (1792-1853), 7th Duke of Beaufort; to son, Henry Charles Fitzroy Somerset (1824-99), 8th Duke of Beaufort; to son, Henry Adelbert Wellington Fitzroy Somerset (1847-1924), 9th Duke of Beaufort, who sold 1907 to Rev. Harold Nelson Burden, who gave it to the Burden Neurological Institute; taken over as part of the National Health Service, 1948; sold 1985 and converted to housing, 2002.
Berkeley family of Stoke Gifford, Barons Botetourt
Berkeley, Richard (d. 1514). Only recorded son of William Berkeley (fl. 1496) and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Humphrey Stafford, kt. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Humphrey Coningsby, kt., and had issue:
(1) Anne Berkeley (c.1507-c.1548), born about 1507; married, as his first wife, Sir Thomas Speke (1508-51), kt., of White Lackington (Som.) and had issue one son and one daughter; died before 1549;
(2) Mary Berkeley (b. c.1509), born about 1509; married Sir William Francis (d. 1549) of Combe Florey (Som.), but had no issue;(3) Sir John Berkeley (c.1510-45), kt. (q.v.);(4) Dorothy Berkeley (b. c.1511), born about 1511; married 1st, Nicholas Wadham, son of Sir Nicholas Wadham of Merifield and Branscombe (Wilts) and 2nd, William Gibbs (d. 1570) of Fenton (Devon), and had issue three daughters;
He inherited the Stoke Gifford estate from his father.
He died 20 June 1514. His wife's date of death is unknown.
Berkeley, Sir John (c.1510-45), kt. Elder son of Richard Berkeley (d. 1514) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Humphrey Coningsby, born about 1510. In 1515 his wardship was purchased by Maurice Berkeley (c.1467-1523), de jure 4th Baron Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle, who by his will directed that John should marry his niece, Isabella Dennys. He duly married Isabella, daughter of Sir William Dennys (c.1470-1533) of Dyrham (Glos), and had issue:
(1) Sir Richard Berkeley (1531-1604), kt. (q.v.);(2) Mary Berkeley; married 1st, Nicholas Walsh (d. 1568) of Little Sodbury Manor (Glos), MP for Gloucestershire, 1563, and had issue one son and two daughters; married 2nd, c.1570, Sir William Herbert, kt., of Swansea (Glam.);(3) Elizabeth Berkeley; married Henry Lison (Lysons?) of Upton St Leonards (Glos).
He inherited the Stoke Gifford estate from his father at the age of three in 1514, and came of age in about 1531.
He died in an engagement at sea from injuries received from splintering wood, 28 June 1545. His wife's date of death is unknown.
Berkeley, Sir Richard (1531-1604), kt. Only recorded son of Sir John Berkeley (c.1510-45), kt., and his wife Isabella, daughter of William Dennys (of Dyrham), born 18 April 1531. After his father's death, his wardship was granted to Sir William Paget, the Secretary of State, but was probably sold back to the Berkeley family. In 1569 he was said to have struck the sheriff of Gloucestershire in front of the Assize judges, and he subsequently spent some time travelling in Italy while keeping out of the way of trouble at home. JP for Gloucestershire, c.1559-1604 and for Middlesex, 1596-1604; DL for Gloucestershire, 1601-04; High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1564-65. He was knighted, 21 August 1574. A member of the Council in the Marches of Wales, 1590-c.1602; Lt-Governor of the Tower of London, 1596-97, a post from which he resigned because he did not wish to be a party to the torture of innocent men; MP for Gloucestershire, 1604. In 1592 he entertained Queen Elizabeth I and her court at Rendcomb for two days. His connections through the marriages of his children to Catholic families led to suspicions about his religious affiliation, but he published the virulently anti-Catholic A discourse of the felicitie of Man (1598), which he dedicated to the Queen. He remained in favour with the Queen and was trusted to guard the disgraced Earl of Essex while he was under house arrest in London in 1600, and he was one of the Queen's pall-bearers at her funeral in 1603. He married 1st, by 1559, Elizabeth, daughter of William Reade of Mitton by Tewkesbury (Glos), and 2nd, by 1593, Eleanor (d. 1630), daughter of Robert Jermy of Antingham (Norfk) and widow of Robert Rowe, and had issue:
(1.1) Sir Henry Berkeley (c.1561-1608), kt. (q.v.);(1.2) William Berkeley; probably died in infancy;(1.3) Ellen alias Elizabeth Berkeley; a recusant in religion; married, as his second wife, Sir Thomas Throckmorton (d. 1607), kt., of Tortworth (Glos), and had issue two sons and three daughters;(1.4) Mary Berkeley (d. 1628); married, about 1586, as his first wife, Sir John Hungerford (1566-1635), kt. of Down Ampney, and had issue at least two sons and three daughters; died 18 July 1628;(1.5) Catherine Berkeley; married 1st, by 1578, as his second wife, Rowland Leigh (d. c.1605) of Longborough (Glos) and Stoneleigh (Warks), MP for Cricklade in 1584, and had issue one son and two daughters; said by John Smyth to have married 2nd, Thomas Babington, but I have been unable to confirm this;(1.6) Anne Berkeley; married Hugh Lygon (c.1548-99), but had no issue;(1.7) Dorothy Berkeley; died without issue.
He inherited the Stoke Gifford estate from his father in 1545, had livery in 1553 and is said to have rebuilt the house in 1563. He sold the manor of Rockhampton, which formed part of the estate, and purchased the manor of Stapleton and the reversion of the Rendcomb (Glos) estate in 1564. He took a lease of the Rendcomb estate in 1566 to obtain possession and may well have rebuilt the house there. At his death, Rendcomb passed to his widow for life, and Stoke Gifford and Stapleton to his grandson, Richard, as his eldest son suffered from mental illness.
He 26 April and was buried at Stoke Gifford, 3 May 1604, but he is commemorated by a monument in the Lord Mayor's Chapel, Bristol. His first wife died before 1593. His second wife was buried at Rendcomb, 18 March 1629/30, where she is commemorated by a monument.
Berkeley, Sir Henry (c.1561-1608), kt. Elder son of Sir Richard Berkeley (1531-1604), kt., and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of William Reade of Mitton by Tewkesbury (Glos), born about 1561. He was knighted between 1583 and 1585. In his later years he 'was possessed of a melancholy humour', and was on that account not his father's heir. He married Meriell, daughter of Thomas Throckmorton of Coughton (Warks), and had issue (with others, who died young):
(1) Richard Berkeley (c.1578-1661) (q.v.);(2) Margaret Berkeley; married John Tomlinson (d. 1649) of Bristol, merchant and mayor of that city, and had issue at least one son and four daughters; probably died before 1646 as she is not mentioned in her husband's will;(3) Elizabeth Berkeley (c.1583-1605); died unmarried and was buried at Stoke Gifford, 19 December 1605.
He died 1 February 1607/8 and was buried at Stoke Gifford, where he is commemorated by a monument. His wife's date of death is unknown.
Berkeley, Richard (c.1578-1661). Only recorded son of Sir Henry Berkeley (c.1561-1608), kt., and his wife Meriell, daughter of Thomas Throckmorton of Coughton (Warks), born about 1578. Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1592). MP for Gloucestershire, 1614. JP for Gloucestershire, c.1606-41. DL for Gloucestershire, c.1614-42, 1660-61. He was one of the Commissioners for the repair of St Paul's Cathedral, 1632, and a member of the Virginia Company from 1619, but his scheme to found a settlement called Berkeley in Virginia ended in failure in a massacre of the colonists in 1622, and he suffered a crippling financial loss, which obliged him to make over his estate at Stoke Gifford to his eldest son. What is known of his library suggests he may have had Puritan sympathies, but at Rendcomb he was in a Royalist area and he seems to have supported that side in the Civil War, compounding for his estate for a fine of £817. He married 1st, 6 February 1597/8* at St Peter-le-Poer, London, Mary (d. 1615), daughter of Robert Rowe (d. 1587) and sister of Sir Thomas Rowe (1581-1644), kt., MP, and chancellor of the Order of the Garter, and 2nd, 9 October 1617 at Wokingham (Berks), Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Mariet of Remenham (Berks) and the widow of William Molyns of Sandall (Hants) and William Molyns of Mongewell (Oxon), and had issue:
(1.1) Sir Maurice Berkeley (1598-1654), kt. (q.v.);(1.2) Elizabeth Berkeley (b. 1599), baptised at Leyton (Essex), 23 December 1599; married, before 1630, Giles Driver (fl. 1659), and had issue at least two sons and one daughter; probably died before 1644 as she is not mentioned in her sister Mary's will;(1.3) Ellen Berkeley (1600-28), baptised at Leyton (Essex), 30 November 1600; married, c.1620, George Elliott (1584-1642), son of Thomas Elliott of Godalming (Surrey), and had issue one son and three daughters; buried at Godalming, 4 January 1627/8;(1.4) Richard Berkeley (b. & d. 1602), baptised at Stoke Gifford, 2 March 1601/2; died in infancy and was buried at Stoke Gifford, 28 March 1601/2;(1.5) Meriell Berkeley (b. 1603; fl. 1659), baptised at Stoke Gifford, 20 March 1602/3; married, 11 December 1623 at Rendcomb, John Abington (b. 1591; fl. 1671) of Upper Dowdeswell Manor (Glos), eldest son of Anthony Abington (d. 1631) of Dowdeswell, and had issue at least four sons and three daughters; living in 1659;(1.6) John Berkeley (b. 1604), baptised at Stoke Gifford, 23 August 1604; died without issue;(1.7) Thomas Berkeley (1606-48), baptised at Stoke Gifford, 27 January 1605/6; educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1621; BA 1624); merchant in Constantinople (Turkey); died, probably unmarried, about April 1648; administration of goods granted to his brother, Sir Maurice, 1649;(1.8) Giles Berkeley (b. 1607), baptised at Stoke Gifford, 12 May 1607; probably died young;(1.9) Catherine Berkeley (b. 1608), baptised at Pucklechurch (Glos), 14 August 1608; possibly married [forename unknown] Street;(1.10) Mary Berkeley (1609-45), baptised at Stoke Gifford, 28 November 1609; died unmarried at Rendcomb, 1645; will proved at Gloucester, 1645;(1.11) Margaret Berkeley (c.1612-87), born about 1612; married Samuel Broad (d. 1659) of North Cerney (Glos) and had issue two sons and four daughters; buried at North Cerney, 9 December 1687;(1.12) Robert Berkeley (c.1614-91), of Eycotts Farm, Rendcomb (Glos); married Rebecca (c.1624-1707), daughter of Henry Stretton of Wilts and had issue at least three sons and four daughters; died 2 February 1690/1 and was buried at Rendcomb, where he is commemorated by a monument; administration of his goods was granted at Gloucester, 1692.
He inherited the Stoke Gifford estate from his grandfather in 1604, but was obliged by a failed plantation investment to make it over the former to his son Maurice in about 1622. He inherited the Rendcomb estate from his mother in 1629 and lived there latterly, but his son sold his reversionary interest in Rendcomb to Sir William Guise for £6,700 in about 1635.
He died 12 May 1661 and was buried at Stoke Gifford; his will was proved in the PCC, 8 July 1661. His first wife died 24 July 1615 and was buried at Stoke Gifford, where she is commemorated by a monument erected by her youngest son. His second wife was living in 1659; her date of death is unknown.
* His surname is given as Bartlett in the parish register, but I am confident this is the correct event; their marriage settlement was signed 19 February 1597/8.
Berkeley, Sir Maurice (1598-1654), kt. Eldest son of Richard Berkeley (c.1578-1661) and his first wife Mary, daughter of Robert Rowe of London, haberdasher, baptised at Leyton (Essex), 21 December 1598. Knighted at Whitehall, 11 September 1621. MP for Gloucestershire, 1621, 1624, 1625 and for Great Bedwyn (Wilts), 1626. JP for Gloucestershire, 1625-27, 1628-31, 1643. DL for Gloucestershire, 1626-27? and c.1639-42. In 1627 he was appointed one of the Commissioners for the collection of the 'Forced Loan' in Gloucestershire, but he refused either to serve or contribute and was briefly imprisoned. During the Civil War he was an active Royalist and served as the king's High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 1643, but later compounded for his delinquency, paying a fine of £1,372. He became a member of the Virginia Company in 1623. He married 1st, 8 December 1622 at Kingston-upon-Thames (Surrey), Elizabeth (1599-1623), daughter of Sir Edward Coke, kt., Lord Chief Justice of King's Bench, and 2nd, about 1626, (sep.), Mary (b. 1600), daughter of Sir George Tipping (1565-1627), kt., of Wheatfield (Oxon), and had issue:
(1.1) Frances Berkeley (1623-62), baptised at Rendcomb (Glos), 2 October 1623; died unmarried; will proved 8 February 1661/2;(2.1) Richard Berkeley (1627-71) (q.v.);(2.2) George Berkeley (b. 1629; fl. 1684), baptised at Stoke Gifford, 2 February 1628/9; living in 1684 when he was mentioned in the will of his nephew George, but death not traced.
His father made over the Stoke Gifford estate to him in his lifetime.
He died in the lifetime of his father, and was buried at Stoke Gifford, 3 January 1654/5; his will was proved 22 May 1655. His first wife died following childbirth in November 1623. His widow was living in 1660, and probably died in or before 1667.
Berkeley, Richard (1627-71). Elder son of Sir Maurice Berkeley (1598-1654) and his second wife, Mary, daughter of Sir George Tipping of Wheatfield (Oxon), baptised at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), 24 February 1626/7. He married, 15 July 1656 at Frampton Cotterell (Glos), Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Henry Symes of Frampton Cotterell (Glos), and had issue:
(1) Mary Berkeley (1658-1728), baptised at Frampton Cotterell, 4 February 1657/8; died unmarried and was buried at Colerne (Wilts), 13 January 1727/8, where she is commemorated by a monument;(2) Emay (Emily?) Berkeley (b. 1659), baptised at Frampton Cotterell, 29 March 1659; probably died young;(3) Elizabeth Berkeley (b. c.1660; fl. 1684), born about 1660; living in 1684 when she was mentioned in her brother's will;(4) George Berkeley (1661-85) (q.v.);(5) John Symes Berkeley (1663-1736) (q.v.);(6) Anne Berkeley (b. 1664; fl. 1684), baptised at Frampton Cotterell, 12 April 1664; living in 1684 when she was mentioned in her brother's will;(7) Elinor Berkeley (1665-73), baptised at Frampton Cottrell, 19 June 1665; died young and was buried at Frampton Cotterell, 27 May 1673;(8) Richard Berkeley (fl. 1684); living in 1684 when he was mentioned in his brother's will;(9) Penelope Berkeley (fl. 1684); living in 1684 when she was mentioned in her brother's will;(10) Jane Berkeley (d. 1681), buried at Frampton Cotterell, 11 August 1681;(11) Sue Berkeley (d. 1682); buried at Frampton Cotterell, 30 January 1681/2.
He inherited Stoke Gifford from his grandfather in 1661, but apparently lived at Frampton Cotterell until 'my wife and myself did come to live at Stoke House', 14 May, 1667.
He and his wife are said to have both died in January 1670/1 and to have been buried together in Stoke Gifford.
Berkeley, George (1661-85). Eldest son of Richard Berkeley (1627-71) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Henry Symes of Frampton Cotterell (Glos), born 21 December 1661 and baptised at Frampton Cotterell, 14 January 1661/2. Educated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1676) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1680). He married, 24 May 1683 at Christ Church, Newgate St., London, Jane (1659-1744?), daughter of Rt. Hon. Sir Maurice Berkeley, 3rd Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven, but had no issue.
He inherited Stoke Gifford from his father in 1671 and came of age in 1682.
He died in 1685; his will was proved in the PCC, 27 May 1685. His widow may be the woman of this name who married 2nd, 5 May 1695 at St James, Duke's Place, London, Jeremiah Cheevers (d. 1699), and who may have been buried at Swainswick (Som.), 8 April 1744.
Berkeley, John Symes (1663-1736). Second son of Richard Berkeley (1627-71) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Henry Symes of Frampton Cotterell (Glos), born 1 February and baptised at Frampton Cotterell (Glos), 26 February 1662/3. After the death of his first wife in 1696 he was appointed guardian of her three sons by her first marriage. DL for Gloucestershire, 1702; Tory MP for Gloucestershire, 1710-15; Freeman of Gloucester, 1712. He married 1st, 28 November 1695 at St Matthew, Friday St., London, Susanna (1666-96), only child and heiress of Sir Thomas Fowle (1637-92), kt., goldsmith of London, and widow of Jonathan Cope (1664-94) of Ranton Abbey (Staffs), MP for Stafford, 1690-94; and 2nd, 21 February 1716/7 at Chelsea (Middx), Elizabeth (1678-1742), daughter and co-heir of Walter Norborne of Calne (Wilts) and widow of Edward Devereux (c.1675-1700), 8th Viscount Hereford, and had issue:
(2.1) Norborne Berkeley (1717-70), 4th Baron Botetourt (q.v.);(2.2) Elizabeth Berkeley (1719-99), born 17 January and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 29 January 1718/9; inherited the Stoke Gifford estate from her brother in 1776; married, 1 May 1740, Charles Noel Somerset (1709-56), 4th Duke of Beaufort, and had issue one son and five daughters; died 8 April 1799 and was buried at Great Badminton (Glos).
He inherited the Stoke Gifford estate from his elder brother in 1685 and exploited the coal reserves on the estate.
He died at Bath, 11 December 1736, and was buried at Stoke Gifford, where he is commemorated by a monument. His first wife died in 1696; her will was proved in the PCC, 8 March 1696/7. His widow died 17 November 1742 and was buried at Charlbury (Oxon).
 |
| Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt |
(X1) Sir Charles Thompson (c.1740-99), 1st bt., born about 1740; joined the Royal Navy, 1754 (midshipman, 1758; Lt. 1761; Cdr., 1771; Capt., 1772; Rear-Adm., 1794; Vice-Adm. 1795); created a baronet, 23 June 1797; MP for Monmouth, 1796-99; married, 4 November 1783, Jane (1766-1833), daughter and heiress of Robert Selby of Bonington near Edinburgh, and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 17 March and was buried at Fareham (Hants), 23 March 1799, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 27 April 1799;(X2) Elizabeth Thompson (fl. 1766); mentioned in her father's will in 1766.
He inherited the Stoke Gifford estate from his father, and radically remodelled the house and grounds in two campaigns in 1749-52 and 1760-64, with the assistance of Thomas Wright. At his death his estate passed to his sister, the Dowager Duchess of Beaufort, who continued his improvements.
He died in Virginia, 15 October 1770 and was buried in the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg; he is also commemorated by a monument at Stoke Gifford. On his death, his peerage again fell into abeyance until called out in favour of his nephew, the 5th Duke of Beaufort in 1803. His will was proved in the PCC, 10 January 1771, and included annuities for his natural son and daughter and their mother; and also for Thomas Wright.
Principal sources
Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerages, 1883, pp. 45-46; G. Mason, Essay on design in gardening, 2nd edn., 1795; E. Harris, Thomas Wright: Arbours and Grottoes ... with a catalogue of Wright's works in architecture and garden design, 1979; D. Lambert & S. Harding, 'Thomas Wright at Stoke Park', Garden History, xvii, no 1, 1989, pp. 68‑83; N.W. Kingsley, The country houses of Gloucestershire: vol. 1, 1500-1660, 2001, pp. 195-96 and vol. 2, 1660-1830, 1992, pp. 236-39; M. Symes, ‘William Pitt the Elder: The Gran Mago of Landscape Gardening’, Garden History, 24 (1), 1996, p. 133; M. Laird, The flowering of the landscape garden, 1999, pp. 88-97; T. Mowl, Historic gardens of Gloucestershire, 2002, pp. 90-3; W. Evans, 'Norborne Berkeley's politics: principle, party or pragmatism?', Transactions of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 2011, pp. 197-219;Location of archives
Berkeley of Stoke Gifford: some deeds and estate papers, including designs by Thomas Wright, survive among the records of the Somerset family of Great Badminton, Dukes of Beaufort [Gloucestershire Archives, D2700; Badminton Muniments]
Coat of arms
Berkeley of Stoke Gifford: Gules, a chevron ermine between ten crosses pattée argent.Can you help?
- Can anyone provide portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
- If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.
Revision and acknowledgements
This post was first published 13 September 2024, although my account of Stoke Park was first written more than thirty years ago. I am most grateful to Professor Tim Mowl, the late John and Mrs. Eileen Harris, David Lambert, Stewart Harding and the late Margaret Richards for help with this account.
