(615) Biddulph of Biddulph Old Hall and Burton Park

Wright-Biddulph of Burton Park

Biddulph of Biddulph

The early editions of Burke's Landed Gentry provide an extensive and ancient lineage for the Biddulphs, linking them back to a pre-Conquest Saxon owner of lands in the Biddulph area, and to a Norman owner, Ormus le Guidon. There is no doubt that the family are of ancient origin, but as so often, Burke has woven a few recorded facts into a tissue of family tradition and speculation which is incapable of proof. The name Biddulph seems to have been adopted as a surname by the family in the 13th century, from the place where their landholdings were concentrated, but for the purposes of this project there seems little point in tracing them back before the 16th century, when the term 'mansion' is first justified as a description of their principal seat. The family estates were then divided between two brothers: the elder, Sir Richard Biddulph, kt., receiving the property around Biddulph, while the younger, Symon Biddulph, settled at Elmhurst near Lichfield (Staffs). Symon's descendants became Protestants and will be treated in future posts on the Biddulphs of Ledbury and the Biddulphs of Westcombe. This post focuses on the senior line which remained seated at Biddulph, and who adhered staunchly to the Catholic faith, despite the penalties which were increasingly imposed on them by the Crown. The genealogy below begins with Sir Richard's son, Richard Biddulph (d. c.1553), who was presumably responsible for the earliest surviving elements of Biddulph Old Hall. His only known son, Francis Biddulph (d. 1598), greatly enlarged the house, turning it into a quadrangular mansion with a symmetrical front. It is thought that some elements of the house may have remained unfinished in his lifetime, perhaps because of the financial impact of the fines the family faced as recusants. Francis was succeeded by his son, Richard Biddulph (1559-1638), whose only son John Biddulph (d. 1642) died on the eve of the Civil War. The Old Hall then came into the possession of his son, Francis Biddulph (1619-68), who was not only a Catholic but also an enthusiastic Royalist. He garrisoned the Old Hall for the king despite Biddulph lying in a part of the country where the Parliamentarians  were in the majority. A Roundhead commander, Capt. Ashenhurst, laid seige to the house and battered it with cannon-shot, but only after heavier firepower was brought to bear on the house was its surrender forced. Francis Biddulph was arrested and imprisoned, his estates were confiscated and sold, and the house was looted and later burned by local Parliamentarians, leaving the great house of the 1580s the ruin it has remained to the present day.

After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Francis was successful in recovering his estates, but he lacked the money to restore or rebuild the house built by his grandfather, and instead, turned to the older and less damaged part of the house, which had been made into a service wing in the 1580s, and fashioned what was, no doubt, intended to be a temporary residence out of it. Francis died in 1668 and was succeeded by his son, Richard Biddulph (1644?-1704), who in 1671 bought the Brambletye estate in Sussex from his financially embarrassed brother-in-law, George Compton (c.1623-74).

Brambletye House: woodcut of the house before it became totally ruined.

Brambletye was, like Biddulph Old Hall, a quadrangular Elizabethan house, but in 1671 it was intact and still occupied. It was perhaps Richard's intention to move to Brambletye rather than to rebuild Biddulph Old Hall, but any such plan was thwarted by a succession of lawsuits from people who disputed Richard's title, and the opposition of tenants on the estate, who denied his authority and even began robbing stone from the house for their own building projects. By the 1690s, when Richard had seen off the challenges to his ownership, not only was Richard perhaps abroad, at the exiled court of King James II, but the house seems to have been somewhere between dereliction and ruin. As at Biddulph, it has remained a ruin to the present day. 

Richard's interest in acquiring a property in Sussex may have been encouraged by his wife Anne (d. 1679), who was the daughter of Sir Henry Goring (d. 1671), 2nd bt., of Burton Park (Sussex). Her brother, Sir William Goring (d. 1724), 3rd bt., was childless, and as he grew older and it became clear he would have no children, the Biddulphs became the heirs to the Burton estate. Richard's son, John Biddulph (c.1675-1720) was actually buried at Burton and may have been living there in his latter years, but it was only on Sir William's death in 1724 that John's son, Richard Biddulph (c.1707-67) technically came into possession of the estate. In the 1730s the existing house at Burton was badly damaged by fire, and Richard rebuilt much of it to the designs of Giacomo Leoni around 1738. Richard remained unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother Charles (c.1714-84), who lived at Winchester (Hants) before coming into the Burton and Biddulph estates. The accumulation of property by the family and the gradual loosening of the anti-Catholic penal measures in the 18th century allowed the Biddulphs to become prosperous once more, and both Richard and Charles travelled extensively on the Continent. So too did Charles's son and successor, John Biddulph (1750-1835), who remained unmarried. In 1826 the house at Burton Park was again badly damaged by fire, and John - then in his mid-70s - was obliged to undertake a further rebuilding. He chose a promising young architect called Henry Bassett, who produced a fashionable design mixing Grecian and Italianate forms, and the new house was built between 1828 and 1831.

When John Biddulph died in 1835, without a direct male heir, he divided his estates between two kinsmen. Biddulph passed to Thomas Stonor (1797-1881), for whom the barony of Camoys was called out of abeyance in 1839, who was his first cousin, twice removed. Lord Camoys sold Biddulph Old Hall in 1866, and it thus passed out of the family which had owned it for some six hundred years and possibly longer. Burton Park and Brambletye descended to Anthony George Wright (1785-1854), who was a first cousin once removed, and who took the additional surname Biddulph at John's request. He seems to have let Burton Park and to have lived in a villa at Tunbridge Wells (Kent). His only son, Anthony John Wright-Biddulph (1830-95), sold Brambletye in 1866. He was twice married but childless, and on his death Burton Park passed to his widow, Diana (1848-1931), who sold it shortly afterwards.

Biddulph Old Hall, Staffordshire

An Early Tudor stone-built house, to which an Elizabethan mansion was attached on the south for Francis Biddulph in the 1580s. The older part of the house consists of a range running north to south, with roof timbers which have been dated by dendrochronology to around 1530. This in turn may have been a rebuilding of an earlier, semi-timbered hunting lodge or park keeper's house for the Biddulphs, whose principal seat was at Bailey Wood in the valley below. The early Tudor house consisted of an open hall set over a basement, with a massive chimney on the east. It has mullioned windows with dripstones and one window, on the west, with a king mullion. In the mid 16th century a slightly taller, squarish block was built to the south of the original building, which is best interpreted as a solar tower.

Biddulph Old Hall: aerial view of the site from the south, showing the ruins of the Elizabethan house in the foreground
and the ogee-capped tower and the remains of the earlier house in the background.

All this was overshadowed by the construction of a new quadrangular mansion to the south of the Tudor house in the 1580s, which seems to have been built in at least two stages. The first stage saw the building of a new main range immediately to the south of the old house, with two long wings either side of it framing a courtyard, which was enclosed on the south side by a single-storey range with a central gateway and porter's lodge. The kitchen stood in the west range of the house and the north range, which was apparently of three storeys, probably housed a new hall with a long gallery above it. Behind the north range rose a high, ogee-capped tower with a banqueting room at the top, which was rebuilt with the windows blocked up after a partial collapse in 1901. The eastern turret may never have been completed, for only its foundations survive, and there are other reasons for thinking that the recusancy fines imposed on the Biddulphs may have cramped their style and led to the house never being completed as originally intended.

Biddulph Old Hall: view of the house from the south, c.1830-40. Image: William Salt Library (bs1536-2).

In the second Elizabethan phase, the original south front was raised to two and three storeys, and was given a central porch bearing (a now partly illegible) date in the 1580s and a balustraded parapet. The window above the archway had tapering pilasters. The centre of the facade was of two storeys, while the wings to either side were raised to three storeys and given three storey canted bays with windows on five sides.

In 1644 the house was garrisoned for the Royalists and heavy artillery was employed to force its surrender; the young Francis Biddulph was imprisoned, and the house was looted and burned. After the ruins were returned to the Biddulphs at the restoration, they lacked the funding to repair or rebuild it the Elizabethan mansion, and retreated to the older part of the house to its north, which had been less badly damaged and was more easily repaired. To the north-west of this, in the 18th century, was added a plain, three-storey extension. 

Biddulph Old Hall: a romantic view of the ruins in the early to mid 19th century.

In the 1840s, with Catholic emancipation breathing new life into the romantic associations of recusancy and Royalism and an appreciation of the picturesque possibilities of the ruined elevations and shattered stonework, the house was restored once more and the north-east angle of the 1580s house was rebuilt as a galleried Catholic chapel. A little later, after James Bateman bought the Old Hall in 1863, gardens were laid out around the ruins, and a yew avenue and romantic valley walk were created.

Biddulph Old Hall: the house in about 1900, when the gardens were intact but the tower was not. Image: George Roberts

From the 1890s, the house was once more allowed to decay and at some point the top of the tower collapsed. This was rebuilt in 1901, but with blocked windows under the ogee cap, but further neglect in the 20th century left the house in a very poor state. Salvation came at the beginning of the 21st century, when it was bought by Nigel Daly and Brian Vowles, who devoted twenty years to the careful and conservative restoration of the inhabited part of the house. They installed a massive oak staircase of Jacobean-inspired design, reconstructed the partly collapsed chapel and its Gothic decoration, and restored the gardens.

Biddulph Old Hall: the restored interior, with the new staircase on the right. Image: Christopher John Photography.

Descent: Richard Biddulph (d. c.1553); to son, Francis Biddulph (d. 1598); to son, Richard Biddulph (1559-1638); to son, John Biddulph (d. 1642); to son, Francis Biddulph (1619-68); to son, Richard Biddulph (c.1644-1704); to son, John Biddulph (c.1675-1720); to son, Richard Biddulph (c.1707-67); to brother, Charles Biddulph (c.1714-84); to son, John Biddulph (1750-1835); to Thomas Stonor (1797-1881), later 3rd Baron Camoys; sold 1863 to James Bateman (1811-97), who gave 1868 to his son, John Bateman (1839-1910); sold 1872 to Robert Heath, subject to a life lease to his younger brother, Robert Bateman (1842-1922), who was resident until 1890 but retained the tenancy until his death and sublet to Leonard Biddulph;... sold to Surgeon-Cdr. R.N.W. Biddulph; sold 1933 to Miss Nina Biddulph... to Mrs. Baxter; to Capt. Rupert Stillingfleet Biddulph (fl. 1947)...sold 1963 to English Sangha Association as a Buddhist retreat; sold 2004 to Nigel and David Daly and Brian Vowles.

Burton Park, Barlavington, Sussex

There have been at least three houses on this site. In the medieval period, Burton was a traditional village settlement with the surviving small Norman church, a manor house, and a small village. Nothing is known of the medieval house, except that it lay wholly within Burton parish though very close to the boundary with Barlavington. The village was deserted in the 16th century, perhaps because it was cleared away at the time a deer park was laid out around the second, Elizabethan house, which expanded to the east and thus straddled the boundary between Burton and Barlavington parishes.

Burton Park: the principal entrance of the Elizabethan house, 
from Dallaway's History, 1832.

The Elizabethan house, which survived in part until the early nineteenth century, had at least two courtyards, separated by the main hall range, and had an elaborate porch or centrepiece, of which a drawing is reproduced by Dallaway & Cartwright. 

The eastern half of the house was damaged by fire in the 1730s and reconstructed by Giacomo Leoni in 1738. His elevation features in at least three known views, which show a 173 ft., thirteen bay, two storey front, with the three-bay pedimented centrepiece and end bays stepped forward. The tall ground floor was rusticated, while the first floor had quoins marking the centrepiece and end bays and architraves around the windows - with pediments on those in the end bays. It was a nicely balanced composition, as one should expect from a competent Palladian architect, but the even heights of the ground and first floors are slightly awkward and one suspects that they may have been constrained by the retention of older fabric or the need to align with floor levels in the older part of the house. Behind the facade, the principal apartments were on the first floor, and included a notable saloon and drawing room, one or both of which is said to have been a cube and a half. The west wing of the house contained an 'elegant' Roman Catholic chapel, while the east wing held the service accommodation.

Burton Park: the new east front designed by Giacomo Leoni, 1738, from Dallaway's History of West Sussex, 1832.

On the evening of 12 December 1826 a maid, turning down the beds by candlelight without due care, accidentally set fire to the house. The whole of the centre and west wing were gutted, and though the fire was extinguished before the east wing was consumed, the roof of it collapsed, and it was expected that the winter weather would complete the destruction the Petworth fire brigade had averted. Rather curiously, a contemporary newspaper report stated that 'the mansion, within these few years, was rebuilt, at the expense of many thousand pounds', but nothing is known of a building campaign at this time. The report may simply be inaccurate, for it also records that John Biddulph had died in Italy two years earlier and that 'the property is in a state of litigation', whereas Biddulph survived until 1835. However it was true that at the time of the fire, the house was let, and that no part of the property was insured. A good deal of the contents were saved from the fire, though many pictures were lost and a lot of the furniture was damaged by being thrown out of the windows; while some of what was saved was stolen by looters before it could be conveyed to a place of safety.

Despite the lack of insurance, a new house was soon being constructed, albeit on a smaller scale than its predecessor. It occupied the site of the hall range and Leoni's east front and thus stood wholly in Barlavington parish. It was commissioned by John Biddulph from Henry Bassett (1803-46) of London, a young architect who had caught public attention with designs which won the Gold Medal of the Society of Arts in 1823 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Academy in 1825. The commission to rebuild Burton Park is his only known country house, and it is evident that his initial promise was not sustained, for he became the estate architect and surveyor to the Southampton estate in London, and can be identified as the architect only of a few buildings there and a small number of villas around London. Nonetheless, at the time Burton Park was designed, Bassett was only about twenty-five, and must have hoped for a bright future, but construction did not go smoothly: in August 1829 the partially-built front of the new house collapsed and a bricklayer was killed and several other workmen were injured. Work was resumed and evidently completed in 1831, by which time surplus bricks and other building materials were being sold off at auction.

Burton Park: the new house designed by Henry Bassett and built in 1828-31.

Burton Park: the south front in 1936. Image: Country Life.

Bassett's scheme for the house was clearly designed to be as fashionable as possible, for it uses a Grecian vocabulary but with Italianate touches, rather in the manner of a London club. The main west front is of seven bays and three storeys, with the ground floor forming a rusticated basement. Two string courses separate this from the upper floors, which have a portico in antis on the central three bays, flanked first by a blind bay on each side and then by a broader pilastered end bay. Above are a plain frieze, cornice and attic with a pierced central parapet rising to a central acroterion. The main entrance, into the basement, has a moulded architrave and an exceptionally shallow triangualar pediment supported on two sets of console brackets. Round the corner to the south the house has five bays in a 1-3-1 rhythm, all separated by pilasters, and with the central three bays slightly recessed. In the late 19th century, a large bow window projected from the south end of the east front (removed in 1919), which was echoed in the apse of the two-storey Roman Catholic chapel at the north-east corner. The house was originally faced with Roman cement, but when the house was restored in 1994-98, the cement was taken off and replaced by stucco.

Burton Park: entrance hall in 1936, showing it
as altered by J.S. Courtauld in 1919. Image: Country Life.

Burton Park: the staircase of c.1800
from Michelgrove. Image: Country Life.

In 1919 the house was acquired by John Sewell Courtauld, who had trained as an architect and later worked with Seely & Paget on the remodelling of Eltham Palace (Kent). After acquiring the Burton Park estate he undertook works here too, presumably to his own designs, altering both the house and the gardens surrounding it. He removed the Catholic chapel from the south-east corner of the house, remodelled the striking double-height entrance hall, created a south-facing drawing room, and moved the staircase from south side of the hall to the north side. The staircase itself is the chief feature of interest in the interior. It was designed by George Byfield in about 1800 for Michelgrove (Sussex), which was pulled down about 1828, and was no doubt acquired then to be installed in the new house being built at Burton at the time. It starts in one flight and returns in two, and has a remarkable balustrade of openwork bronze panels, alternately wide and narrow, decorated with greyhounds and crescent moons derived from the coat of arms of the Walkers of Michelgrove. The tread-ends are moulded and even the underside of the treads has a complex moulding. In the 1920s, the gardens were given new formal elements, in the course of which the foundations of the Elizabethan west court were discovered to survive under the lawn west of Bassett's entrance front.

The house and park were requisitioned by the army in 1941, and after the Second World War,  the house, gardens and the southern half of the park were sold to St Michael's School, a girls’ boarding school, which closed in 1994. It was then sold to a development company headed by the architect Michael Wilson, who restored the building, converted it to nine apartments, and created 30 further new dwellings on the estate through the conversion of estate buildings and new building, including additions on the north side of the house.

Descent: Sir William Goring (d. c.1554), kt.; to son, Sir Henry Goring (c.1522-94), kt.; to son, William Goring (d. 1602); to son, Henry Goring (b. c.1575); to son, Sir William Goring (1595-1658), 1st bt.; to son, Sir Henry Goring (c.1618-71), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir William Goring (c.1659-1724); to kinsman, Richard Biddulph (c.1707-67); to brother, Charles Biddulph (d. 1784); to son, John Biddulph (c.1750-1835); to first cousin, once removed, Anthony George Wright (later Wright-Biddulph) (1785-1854); to son, Anthony John Wright-Biddulph (1830-94); to widow, Diana Wright-Biddulph (1848-1931), who sold 1895 to Sir Douglas Hall (1866-1923), 1st bt., MP for Isle of Wight, 1910-23; sold 1919 to Maj. John Sewell Courtauld (1880-1942), MP for Chichester, 1924-42; requisitioned 1941 and sold c.1946 to St Michael's School.

Biddulph family of Biddulph Old Hall and Burton Park

Biddulph, Richard (d. c.1553). Son of Sir Richard Biddulph (fl. early 16th cent.) and his wife Petronilla, daughter of Sir Robert Aston, and brother of Simon Biddulph (c.1517-80) of Elmhurst Hall (Staffs). He married Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Sir John Salwey, and had issue including:

(1) Francis Biddulph (d. 1598) (q.v.).

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall from his father.

He died about 1553, when an inquisition post mortem was held. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Biddulph, Francis (d. 1598). Son of Richard Biddulph and his wife Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Sir John Salwey. He married Isabel, daughter of Sir Francis Gifford of Chillington Hall (Staffs), and had issue including:

(1) Richard Biddulph (1559-1638) (q.v.);

(2) Mary Biddulph; married, before 1591, as his first wife, Thomas Rudyard (d. c.1620) of Rudyard (Staffs), and had issue one son;

(3) Dorothy Biddulph (fl. 1591); living, unmarried, in 1591, when she was mentioned in her father's will; 

(4) Katherine Biddulph (fl. 1591); living, unmarried, in 1591, when she was mentioned in her father's will.

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall from his father and built a new mansion attached to the old house in the 1580s.

He was buried at Biddulph, 21 April 1598; his will was proved in the PCC, 5 May 1598. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Biddulph, Richard (1559-1638). Son of Francis Biddulph (d. 1598) and his wife Isabel, daughter of Sir Francis Gifford of Chillington, born 1559. He married Anne, daughter of John Draycott of Paynesley (Staffs), and had issue including:

(1) John Biddulph (d. 1642) (q.v.);

(2) Mary Biddulph; married Christopher Clough of Myndtown (Shrops.);

(3) Frances Biddulph; married Marmaduke Holdby (d. 1665) of Shackleton (Yorks);

(4) Anne Biddulph; married William Worthington (d. 1663) of Croston (Lancs).

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall from his father in 1598.

He died in 1638, when an inquisition post mortem was held. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Biddulph, John (d. 1642). Son of Richard Biddulph (1559-1636/8) and his wife Anne, daughter of John Draycott of Paynesley (Staffs). He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Eyre of Hassop (Derbys), and had issue including:

(1) Francis Biddulph (1619-68) (q.v.);

(2) John or Thomas Biddulph; said to have been groom of the chamber to King James II who 'was, with the Duke of Berwick, the only attendant of the unfortunate Prince when he stepped into the boat at Sheerness, and severed himself forever from the British soil and crown';

(3) Prudence Biddulph (fl. 1680); married John Crompton (c.1613-c.1675) of Milnwich (Staffs), but had no issue; living in 1680;

(4) Dorothy Biddulph; married Thomas Lane.

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall from his father in 1638.

He died in 1642. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Biddulph, Francis (1619-68). Son of John Biddulph (d. 1642) and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Eyre of Hassop (Derbys), said to have been born 7 April 1619. He was a devoted Royalist and garrisoned Biddulph Old Hall for the king. It withstood a siege but in 1644 fell to heavy artillery brought up from Stafford, and was subsequently plundered and burned. He was arrested and imprisoned for some time, and his lands were seized and sold. At the Restoration he recovered his property, but had no funds to rebuild the house, and retreated to the older hall at its rear. He married Margaret or Frances, daughter of George Preston of Holker (Lancs) and had issue:

(1) Richard Biddulph (c.1644-1704) (q.v.);

(2) John Biddulph;

(3) Henry Biddulph (d. 1683); died without issue;

(4) Mary Biddulph; married George Compton (c.1623-74) of Brambletye (Sussex); died without issue;

(5) Margaret Biddulph; died unmarried;

(6) Anne Biddulph (1651-1709), an Augustinian choir nun (professed 1678); died in Paris, 19 January 1709.

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall from his father in 1642.

He died in 1668. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Biddulph, Richard (1644?-1704). Eldest son of Francis Biddulph (1619-68) and his wife Margaret or Frances, daughter of George Preston of Holker (Lancs), said to have been born 7 April 1644. He was a supporter of King James II, and according to some accounts, he followed the king into exile in 1688, like his uncle. He married* Anne (1648?-79), daughter and eventual heiress of Sir Henry Goring (d. 1671), 2nd bt., of Burton (Sussex), and had issue:

(1) John Biddulph (c.1675-1720) (q.v.);

(2) Richard Biddulph; probably died young;

(3) James Biddulph; probably died young;

(2) Francis Biddulph (c.1679-1749); educated at Grays Inn (admitted 1698); buried at Burton, 14 July 1749;

(5) Elizabeth Biddulph (d. 1739); married, 7 June 1694, as his second wife, Charles Dormer (1668-1728), 5th Baron Dormer, and had issue five children; died 29 October 1739;

(6) Anne Biddulph; 

(7) Louisa Biddulph.

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall from his father in 1668 and purchased Brambletye House (Sussex) from his brother-in-law, George Compton, in 1671, but the purchase was disputed and was the subject of litigation until the 1690s, in which time the house appears to have become derelict.

He is said to have died in France in 1704. His wife died 23 October 1679 and was buried at Burton.

* Some sources give a date for this marriage of 7 April 1663, but this appears to be a misreading of the statement in Dallaway that he was then 19 when his father gave in a pedigree at the heralds' visitation.

Biddulph, John (c.1675-1720). Eldest son of Richard Biddulph (1644?-1704) and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Goring, bt., of Burton (Sussex), born about 1675. He married, about 1705, Mary (c.1681-1744), daughter of Charles Arundell (b. 1647) of Horningsham (Wilts) and great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Arundell (c.1560-1639), 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, and had issue:

(1) Francis Biddulph; died in infancy;

(2) Richard Biddulph (c.1707-67) (q.v.);

(3) Mary Biddulph (1710-78); married, 19 May 1732, Thomas Stonor (1710-72) of Stonor Park (Oxon), and had issue two sons (through whom she was the ancestor of the Thomas Stonor (1797-1881), 3rd Baron Camoys, who inherited Biddulph Old Hall in 1835) and one daughter; she died 14 June 1778 and was buried at Winchester;

(4) Frances Biddulph (1712-44); joined the English Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre at Liège (Belgium) as a choir nun (entered 1729; professed 1730); died at Liège, 14 September 1744;

(5) Charles Biddulph (c.1714-84) (q.v.);

(6) Anne Biddulph (1717-75) (q.v.).

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall from his father in 1704, and also owned the manor of Sheffield Grinstead and Brambletye House. As a Roman Catholic he was obliged to register his estates in 1715.

He was buried at Burton, 17 May 1720; his will was proved in the PCC, 14 June 1720. His widow died 5 December and was buried at Burton, 7 December 1744.

Biddulph, Richard (c.1707-67). Second, but elder surviving son of John Biddulph (c.1675-1720) and his wife Mary, daughter of Charles Arundell of Horningsham (Wilts), born about 1707. Educated at the English Jesuit College, St. Omer (France), and travelled in Italy, 1726-27, visiting Rome and Florence with a tutor, Henry or Joseph Sheldon. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall from his father in 1720 and Burton Park on the death of Sir Henry Goring in 1724. After a fire in the 1730s, he partially rebuilt the house at Burton, which became his main residence.

He died 'after a lingering indisposition', 15 October, and was buried at Burton, 22 October 1767; his will was proved in the PCC, 23 February 1768.

Biddulph, Charles (c.1714-84). Third, but younger surviving son of John Biddulph (c.1675-1720) and his wife Mary, daughter of Charles Arundell of Horningsham (Wilts), born c.1714. Educated at the English Jesuit College, St. Omer (France), c.1728-32, after which he travelled in France and Italy. He married 1st, 11 June 1749, Elizabeth (1722-63), daughter of Sir Henry Arundell Bedingfield (1689-1760), 3rd bt., of Oxburgh Hall (Norfk) and 2nd, 1 December 1764 at St Thomas, Winchester (Hants), Frances Apollonia (d. 1806), daughter of George Brownlow Doughty of Snarford Hall (Lincs) and widow of Henry Wells (d. 1763) of Brambridge (Hants), and had issue:

(1.1) John Biddulph (1750-1835) (q.v.);

(1.2) Charles Biddulph (1752-1821), baptised at St Thomas, Winchester, 16 July 1752; educated at the English Jesuit College, St. Omer (France) and later Bruges (Belgium), c.1762-67; travelled in Italy with his elder brother in 1785-88 and perhaps earlier; an officer in the North Arundel Volunteers (Capt.; Major 1804); died unmarried at Antwerp (Belgium), 2 July 1821, but his remains were repatriated and buried at Burton, April 1822;

(1.3) Richard Biddulph (1753-62), born at Brambridge and baptised at Otterbourne (Hants), 14 September 1753; educated at the English Jesuit College, St. Omer (France) and later Bruges (Belgium), c.1760-62; died young, April 1762;

(1.4) Mary Biddulph (b. 1755), baptised in Winchester, 9 November 1755; probably died young;

(1.5) Thomas Biddulph (1759-89), baptised in Winchester, 7 July 1759; lived at Guildford (Surrey); married, 1786, in France, Clothilda Frances Victoria Margaret Foucart (d. 1829), and had issue one daughter; died at Alphington (Devon), 1789; will proved in the PCC, 5 September 1789.

He lived at Winchester (Hants) until he inherited Biddulph Old Hall and Burton Park from his brother in 1767; his household goods at Winchester were sold by auction in 1768.

He died 13 May, and was buried at Burton, 21 May 1784. His first wife was buried at Bath Abbey, 21 June 1763. His widow lived latterly at Hollest House near Midhurst, and was buried at Burton, 17 February 1806; her will was proved April 1806.

Biddulph, John (1750-1835). Eldest son of Charles Biddulph (c.1714-84) and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Bedingfield of Oxburgh Hall (Norfk), born in Winchester, 1750. Educated at the English Jesuit College, St. Omer (France) and later Bruges (Belgium), c.1762-67, He travelled in Italy in 1769 (visiting Rome), 1775-77 (Florence), 1785-88 (Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice) and again in 1817. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Biddulph Old Hall and Burton Park from his father in 1784, and was obliged to rebuilt Burton Park in 1828-31, after a fire. At his death, Biddulph Old Hall devolved upon his kinsman, Thomas Stonor (1797-1881), 3rd Baron Camoys, while Burton Park passed to his first cousin once removed, Anthony George Wright (later Wright-Biddulph) (1785-1854).

He died at Burton Park*, 2 August, and was buried at Burton, 12 August 1835; his will was proved in the PCC, 29 December 1835.

* Some accounts say he died in Florence, but contemporary newspapers report his death at Burton.

Biddulph, Anne (1717-75). Second daughter of John Biddulph (c.1675-1720) and his wife Mary, daughter of Charles Arundell of Horningsham (Wilts), born 1717. She married, c.1738, Anthony Wright (1703-82) of Wealdside, South Weald (Essex), goldsmith and banker 'at the sign of the Golden Cup' in Henrietta St., Covent Garden, London, who succeeded to the family business in 1729. They had issue:

(1) Anthony Wright (c.1741-86) (q.v.);

(2) Ann Wright (1743-1819), entered the Sepulchrine convent at Liège (Belgium), 1767 (professed 1768) as a choir nun under the name Sr. Mary Aloysia Joseph; died at New Hall (Essex), 7 December 1819;

(3) Frances Wright; perhaps died in infancy;

(4) Francis Wright (c.1751-86); banker in London; buried at St Pancras Old Church (Middx), 18 June 1786;

(5) Fr. Charles Wright (1752-1827); a Jesuit priest, who was procurator (administrator) of Stonyhurst College (Lancs), 1794-1827; died unmarried; will proved in the PCY, January 1828.

(6) Thomas Wright (c.1753-1818), born about 1753; banker in London, initially with his father and brothers but later as Wright & Co.; purchased Fitzwalters, Shenfield (Essex) as a country retreat; married 1st, 20 January 1783 at Thelveton RC chapel, Lucretia (d. 1803), daughter of Thomas Havers of Thelveton Hall (Norfk) and had issue one son and two daughters; married 2nd, after 1812, Mary, Countess de Front (d. 1830); died at Fitzwalters, 6 January, and was buried at St Pancras Old Church, 13 January 1818; will proved in the PCC, 10 August 1818.

She and her husband lived in London and Wealdside, South Weald.

She died in May 1775. Her husband died in 1782 and was perhaps the man of his name buried at Tichborne (Hants) RC chapel, 18 September 1782.

Wright, Anthony (c.1741-86). Eldest son of Anthony Wright (1703-82) of South Weald (Essex), goldsmith and banker, and his wife Anne, second daughter of John Biddulph of Biddulph Old Hall (Staffs) and Burton Park (Sussex), born about 1741. Banker in Covent Garden, London, in partnership with his father and brothers as Anthony, Francis & Thomas Wright, who specialised in serving Catholic clients. His death being closely followed by that of his widow, his children's upbringing was entrusted to trustees appointed under his will. He married, 2 November 1778 at St Mary, Walcot, Bath (Som.), Lucy Mary (1758-86), second daughter of Edmund Plowden (1727-68), and had issue:

(1) Lucy Wright (c.1781-1847); educated at Bar Convent, York; lived in Hampstead (Middx); died unmarried, 27 April 1847; will proved 14 June 1847;

(2) Mary Wright (c.1783-1854); educated at Bar Convent, York; married, 28 July 1807, Vincent Henry Eyre (1775-1851) of Highfield and Newbold (Warks), and had issue three sons and three daughters; died December 1854;

(3) Anne Wright (c.1784-1838); educated at Bar Convent, York; married, 22 July 1812 at St Marylebone (Middx), Sir Charles Wolseley (1769-1846), 7th bt. of Wolseley (Staffs), and had issue three sons and two daughters; died in Paris, 24 October 1838;

(4) Anthony George Wright (later Wright-Biddulph) (1785-1854) (q.v.);

(5) John Wright (1786-1855), born 20 June 1786; banker with Wright & Co., who was bankrupted by the collapse of the bank in 1840; lived at Belsize Park (Middx) until his bankruptcy, when his estates were sold; married, 16 September 1811 at Mapledurham (Oxon), Henrietta (d. 1839), eldest daughter of Michael Blount of Mapledurham (Oxon), and had issue three daughters; died in Aldermanbury, London, 18 January 1855; will proved in the PCC, 14 July 1855 and 18 February 1861.

He had a house in Covent Garden, London, and inherited Wealdside (now Gilstead Hall), South Weald (Essex) from his father in 1782. 

He was buried at St Pancras (Middx), 16 April 1786; his will was proved 21 April 1786. His wife died following childbirth on 25 June, and was buried at St Pancras, 1 July 1786.

Wright (later Wright-Biddulph), Anthony George (1785-1854). Elder son of Anthony Wright and his wife Mary, second daughter of Edmund Plowden, born 20 April 1785. He was a sleeping partner in his family's banking firm, Wright & Co, which became bankrupt in 1841. He took the additional name Biddulph after inheriting the Burton Park estate from his first cousin once removed in 1835. He married, 15 January 1827 at Thornton Steward (Yorks NR), Catherine Dorothy (1791-1884), daughter of Simon Thomas Scroope of Danby Hall, Thornton Steward, and had issue:

(1) Catherine Charlotte Mary Wright-Biddulph (1828-92), born 10 January and baptised at Danby & West Witton RC church, 11 January 1828; married, 17 January 1850 at St Saviour, Bath, Henry Stone (b. 1823) of Badbury (Wilts), son of Lt-Col. Bayntun Stone; died 14 July 1892; will proved 26 August 1892 (effects £1,254);

(2) Anthony John Wright-Biddulph (1830-94) (q.v.);

(3) Clementina Maria Wright-Biddulph (1832-1906), baptised at Bartlow (Cambs), 2 June 1832; married, 4 August 1860 at the RC Chapel, Blake St., York and St Michael-le-Belfry, York, Charles James Radcliffe (1829-1908), second son of Sir Joseph Radcliffe (1799-1872), 2nd bt. of Rudding Park (Yorks), and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 27 April 1906;

(4) Geraldine Maria Wright-Biddulph (1835-1917), born 26 November and baptised at Bartlow, 27 November 1835; married, 14 April 1863, Godfrey Edward Alister Radcliffe (1832-1923), fourth son of Sir Joseph Radcliffe, 2nd bt. of Rudding Park (Yorks), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 13 February 1917.

He seems to have lived at Waltons, Linton (Cambs) until he inherited Burton Park and Brambletye from his first cousin once removed in 1835. He evidently let Burton Park and lived latterly at Tunbridge Wells (Kent).

He died after a protracted illness, 14 January and was buried at Burton, 20 January 1854. His widow lived latterly with her grandson, Godfrey Radcliffe at Grosmont (Mon.) and died intestate, 4 April 1884.

Wright-Biddulph, Anthony John (1830-95). Only son of Anthony George Wright (later Wright-Biddulph) (1785-1854) and his wife Catherine Dorothea, daughter of Simon Thomas Scrope of Danby Hall (Yorks NR), baptised at Bartlow (Cambs), 27 January 1830. JP and DL for Sussex; High Sheriff of Sussex, 1880. In the 1860s he built a new Roman Catholic church, designed by Gilbert Blount, at Duncton (Sussex), consecrated in 1869, and in the 1870s he appeared as a witness for the claimant in the famous 'Tichborne Claimant' case, remaining a supporter despite the accumulating weight of evidence against the claim. He married 1st, Jan-Mar 1855 in London, Sarah Année (c.1834-86), daughter of J. Downes, and 2nd, 22 November 1887 at Portsmouth RC Cathedral, Diana (1848-1931), novelist, fourth daughter of Sir Harry Dent Goring (1801-59), 8th bt. of Highden (Sussex), and widow of Capt. W. Digby Lloyd (d. 1883), of 67th Regt., but had no issue.

He inherited Burton Park and Brambletye from his father in 1854, but sold Brambletye in 1866. At his death Burton Park passed to his widow who sold it shortly afterwards.

He died 12 August 1895, and was buried in the crypt of his new church at Duncton; his will was proved 4 December 1895 (effects £4,785). His first wife died 15 June 1886. His widow died 16 February 1931 and was buried at Duncton (Sussex); her will was proved 25 March 1931 (estate £7,802).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1838, vol. 3, pp. 283-85; 1898, vol. 1, p. 112;  J. Dallaway & E. Cartwright, A history of the western division of the county of Sussex, vol. 2, part 1, 1832, pp. 280-84; T.G. Holt, 'Burton Park: a centre of recusancy in Sussex', Recusant History 13 (2), 1975, pp. 106-22; T.P. Hudson, 'Burton Park, Sussex: a further note', Recusant History 22 (1), 1994, pp. 26-28; J. Farrant, Sussex Depicted, 2001, p. 183; E. Williamson, T. Hudson, J. Musson & I. Nairn, The buildings of England: Sussex - West, 2019, pp. 178-80; C. Wakeling & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Staffordshire, 2nd edn., 2024, pp. 140-41;

http://publicaccess.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/portal/servlets/AttachmentShowServlet?ImageName=325412

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive, although there are many miscellaneous documents in the Staffordshire and West Sussex Record Offices.

Coat of arms

Biddulph of Biddulph: Vert, an eagle displayed argent, armed and langued gules.

Wright-Biddulph of Burton Park: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, vert, an eagle displayed argent, armed and langued gules (for Biddulph); 2nd and 3rd, azure, two bars argent and in chief a leopard's face or (for Wright).

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• Catholic families are always more difficult to do detailed genealogy for, but the Biddulphs have been particularly invisible in the historical record. I shall therefore be especially grateful if anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article. 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 22 October 2025 and updated 23 October and 25 November 2025.

(582) Berkeley of Spetchley Park

Berkeley of Spetchley

This branch of the Berkeley family is descended from Thomas Berkeley (d. 1484), fourth son of James de Berkeley (c.1394-1463), 1st Baron Berkeley. Thomas himself settled at Dursley (Glos) and had at least four sons, of whom one of the younger, Richard Berkeley, was the ancestor of this family. He in turn had five sons, of whom the fourth, William Berkeley (d. 1552), settled at Hereford, where he was a merchant and served as Mayor, 1543-44 and MP for the City, 1547. His eldest son, William Berkeley (d. 1583), who is often confused with his father, had at least eight sons, of who only two produced issue. The younger was Rowland Berkeley (1548-1611), with whom the genealogy below begins. He moved from Hereford to Worcester, where he became a cloth merchant and clothier and came to occupy an important place in the administration of the city, serving as bailiff, 1585-88, first Master of the Clothiers' Company, 1590, and MP on four occasions between 1593 and 1604. He lived in a house in the Cornmarket, and he and his wife produced sixteen children between 1575 and 1594, all but one of whom survived to adulthood. From about 1600 he began investing his wealth in the purchase of manors and lands across Worcestershire, and at his death these were divided between his two eldest sons. William Berkeley (1583-1658) received the manors of Cowleigh in Mathon (Worcs) and Acton Beauchamp (Worcs), and went on to purchase Cotheridge Court. An account of him and his descendants is given in my post on the Berkeleys of Cotheridge. Rowland's second son, Sir Robert Berkeley (1584-1656) received the manor of Spetchley (Worcs), and enlarged his estate by the purchase of White Ladies Aston (Worcs) in 1612. He had been educated for a legal career and became first a serjeant-at-law and later a justice of King's Bench; he was knighted in 1627. For much of the 1630s he was occupied as an assize judge, but he was one of the justices who endorsed the legality of Ship Money in 1637 and the following year he was the judge in a test case brought by John Hampden which ruled that it was a prerogative levy and not a tax, and therefore did not require parliamentary sanction. In the run up to the Civil War, this was an inflammatory verdict in Parliamentary eyes, and he was arrested (in his own court!), imprisoned and stripped of all his public appointments by Parliament. In 1643 he was fined the colossal sum of £20,000, but prompt payment of half the fine was enough to secure his release and the waiver of the remaining penalty. 

Sir Robert's tribulations were not over, however, for during the siege of Worcester in 1646 his house at Spetchley was seized and used as the headquarters of the parliamentary army. Five years later, Scottish soldiers heading for the Battle of Worcester managed to burn it down, and Sir Robert was obliged to convert the surviving stable block into a temporary residence. His eldest son, Thomas Berkeley (1630-93), fought on the Royalist side in the 1651 Battle of Worcester. He escaped after the Parliamentarian victory and fled into exile on the Continent. He had already displeased his father by marrying a Roman Catholic, and while in Brussels he converted to Catholicism himself. This caused his father to disinherit him, but it seems likely that this was a pragmatic response to the potential impact of the penal laws rather than just a penalty for disobedience. An arrangement seems to have been agreed whereby Thomas would be excluded from the succession in favour of his eldest son, Robert Berkeley (1650-94), who would be raised in the Protestant faith, while Thomas' other son was brought up as a Catholic. At the same time, Sir Robert settled the estate on himself and after his death on trustees drawn from his Protestant friends, with the young Robert as tenant for life, so that in the event of his dying young, ownership would not pass directly into Catholic hands, and thus the worst consequences of the penal laws could be avoided. Many Catholic families took similar steps at this time. Thomas was given permission to live at Spetchley until his son came of age, but soon made a home at Ravenshill in Tibberton (Worcs), which became a centre for the Catholic faith.

Robert Berkeley (1650-94) was sent to Christ Church, Oxford and educated by the celebrated Dr John Fell, who was Dean there and also Bishop of Oxford (the Berkeleys and the Fells were connected by marriage). He selected as his wife a serious young woman, Elizabeth Blake (1661-1709), a friend of leading philosophers and divines, whose prayer book, A method of devotion, went through several editions in her lifetime. Unfortunately, Robert and Elizabeth had no children, and when he died at the beginning of 1694, just a few weeks after his father, the situation for which his grandfather had provided came to pass. Robert's successor as life tenant at Spetchley was his younger brother, Thomas Berkeley (1652-1719), and his descendants at Spetchley have remained Catholic ever since. Through his own marriage to Elizabeth Holyoake and the marriages he arranged for his children, Thomas allied himself with several of the leading Catholic families of the Midlands, including the Howards (later Stafford-Howards). Some mystery attaches to his eldest son, Robert Berkeley (b. 1682), however. Robert, who was 'half a year old' at the time of the heralds' visitation in 1683, was mentioned in his uncle's will written in 1692 but is not heard of again. His father's will in 1719 makes no reference to him, but still refers to his other sons as 'my second son' and 'my third son', as though Robert was still alive. No burial record for him has been traced, and it is uncertain whether he predeceased his father or was still alive in 1719 but had been disinherited.

The house at Spetchley at this time was still the partially moated converted stable block which Sir Robert Berkeley had made into a 'temporary residence' in the early 1650s. Illustrations of the house in the 18th century show that it was added to in a piecemeal fashion but not comprehensively rebuilt, and the impact of the penal laws on the status and wealth of the family are probably largely responsible for this. In 1719 the estate passed to Thomas' second son, John Berkeley (1683-1741), who was succeeded by his only surviving son, Thomas Berkeley (c.1720-42), who died only a few months later. The estate then reverted to John's younger brother, Thomas Berkeley (1685-1766), who may have been non-resident, as he is said to have died in France. His son, Robert Berkeley (c.1713-1804) is one of the more interesting figures in the story of the estate, as he was an active campaigner for Catholic emancipation. He also chose as his chaplain a series of men with literary aspirations, which he supported and encouraged. It was during his lifetime (and partly due to his own efforts) that the limitations on the Catholic gentry began to be relieved, and he was able to build a new wing at Spetchley containing a Catholic chapel. He married three times but had no children of his own, although after 1780 he adopted the orphaned son and daughters of his brother, John Berkeley (1720-78), and brought them up at Spetchley. The son, Robert Berkeley (1764-1845), became his heir, and also inherited Clytha Park (Mon.), which he sold on inheriting Spetchley. This, no doubt, was how he acquired the funds to rebuild Spetchley on a grand scale between 1811 and 1818, to the designs of the Catholic architect, John Tasker. For reasons which are unclear, however, he did not live in his new house for very long, before handing it over to his only surviving child, and retiring to Bath (Som.).

Robert Berkeley (1794-1874), who took over the reins at Spetchley, was an active and benevolent landlord, devoted to the improvement of his estates but not much interested in public life. He and his wife Henrietta, the daughter and co-heiress of an 'Indian nabob', had six sons and five daughters, only one of whom died in childhood, and several of them made marriages into notable Catholic families, such as the Feildings, Earls of Denbigh, and the Welds. His heir was his eldest son, Robert Berkeley (1823-97), who was educated at Oscott College in Birmingham and in Rome, and became a JP and Deputy Lieutenant for Worcestershire. He married Lady Catherine Browne, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Kenmare, and had six sons and six daughters. One of the sons became a Catholic priest and one of the daughters became a Sister of Charity undertaking humanitarian work in China, while most of the other sons pursued careers in the army or colonial administration. The heir to Spetchley was Robert Valentine Berkeley (1853-1940), who was not only a JP and DL, but served as Chairman of Quarter Sessions and as High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1909-10. He did not marry until he was nearly forty, but he and his wife Rose created the fine gardens at Spetchley Park with the help of his sister-in-law, and he also carried out improvements to the house in 1907-10. 

When R.V. Berkeley died in 1940, during the Second World War, his only son and heir, Robert George Wilmot Berkeley (1898-1969), was serving as an officer in the Worcestershire Yeomanry, and Spetchley Park was reserved for possible use by the Government in the event of invasion. Since it was happily never needed for this role, it was later used as a rest home for American air force personnel. In 1942, R.G.W. Berkeley also inherited Berkeley Castle (Glos), the seat of the senior branch of the family, on the death of the 8th and last Earl of Berkeley. Both R.G.W. Berkeley and his son, Robert John Grantley Berkeley (1931-2017), used both houses, but Berkeley Castle, which was open to the public on a regular basis from the 1950s onwards, and was the centre of a more extensive estate, perhaps inevitably claimed more of their attention. On the death of John Berkeley in 2017, the estates were divided between his two sons, with the elder, Charles, taking over Berkeley Castle, and the younger, Henry, receiving Spetchley Park, which he has since restored and rejuvenated. The gardens at Spetchley are open to the public on a regular basis, but not the house or chapel, although the redecorated interiors were extensively illustrated in Country Life magazine in 2023.

Spetchley Park, Worcestershire

Little seems to be known about the Tudor or earlier house which Rowland Berkeley acquired in 1606 except that it stood on a moated or at least partially moated site, since according to Nash it was burnt down by Scottish Presbyterian soldiers shortly before the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Sir Robert Berkeley (1584-1656), an elderly Royalist, evidently did not feel able to rebuild the house, and instead hurriedly fitted up the former stable block as a temporary residence, where he 'lived with content and even dignity upon the wreck of his fortune'. His successors, being Roman Catholics and financially pressured by the penal laws, did no more than tinker with this building for more than a century. 

Spetchley Park: the house in 1784, with the gabled former stable block on the left and two 18th century additions on the right.
Image: Worcestershire Archives & Archaeology Service x899:192 BA2432, no. 42b

Eighteenth century views of the house show it as consisting of a low gabled range - presumably the original stable block - with a taller projecting wing at one end and a balancing but detached building at the other end. To this the 18th century added two sash windowed blocks at different dates, one of which may have been the new wing added by Robert Berkeley (c.1712-1804) which contained a grand dining room and a Catholic chapel, although if so the wing must have been built before the 1791 Catholic Relief Act, as both wings are shown on a drawing dated 1784. A plan of 1805 shows that a second, parallel range existed behind the sash windowed blocks, which was separated from them by a very narrow courtyard; this was perhaps a service range.

In 1804, Robert Berkeley was succeeded by his nephew, another Robert, who engaged George Byfield (c.1756-1813) to make further changes to the house. Byfield, who was noted chiefly as a designer of prisons, also designed several modest country houses in the Worcestershire area, and was presumably recommended to Berkeley by one of his other clients. He exhibited 'A design for the improvements now making at Spetchley Park' at the Royal Academy in 1807, but something happened to alter Robert Berkeley's intentions, and by 1811 work was beginning on a completely new Greek Revival house, designed by John Tasker (c.1738-1816), a Roman Catholic architect who worked almost exclusively for Catholic clients. By 1811, Tasker was approaching the end of his career (and indeed, work was not completed until about 1818, two years after his death), but it is clear that he was at the height of his powers when he designed Spetchley, as it is arguably his most impressive and successful building.

Spetchley Park: drawing, attributed to John Tasker, showing the proposed mansion, c.1811. Image: Historic England.

The new house is a fine, well-proportioned, two-storey building of honey-coloured Bath stone, facing west and south across the park. The entrance front, on the west, has a giant portico of four unfluted Ionic columns and a deep pedimented with a cartouche of the Berkeley arms. To either side of the portico this front has just a single bay, although to its left there is a recessed service wing. 

Spetchley Park: the house from the south-west, c.1912. Image: Victoria County History.

Spetchley Park: south front.

The eleven bay south front is almost equally severe, with a two-storey semicircular bow articulated by giant unfluted Ionic pilasters occupying the central three bays, which is separated by three plain bays on either side from the wider end bays. The end bays are given sufficient weight to balance the bowed centre by projecting slightly and being framed by simplified Tuscan pilasters, and by pedimented tripartite windows on the ground floor with a broad rectangular moulded panel above instead of a window.

Spetchley Park; the inner hall, looking towards the staircase, 1984.
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

Spetchley Park: simplified ground plan
with original room names.
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

The interior planning of the house is elegantly contrived. The portico leads into an entrance hall which opens through a screen of scagliola Ionic columns into a wide inner hall, at the end of which a further screen of matching columns separates it from a large rectangular staircase hall. The sequence of three spaces was designed to be capable of being used flexibly, with folding walls that could be cranked out to make solid divisions behind the screens, which have recently been restored to working order. The cantilevered stone staircase has a fine iron balustrade supporting the handrail, and rises to a corridor running east-west through the first floor, from which open the principal bedrooms, although the central room, behind the bow, was evidently used as a ladies' sitting room in the early 19th century. The main reception rooms are along the south front, and were originally intended to be (from east to west), the drawing room, library (behind the bow) and dining room; all have simple Grecian chimneypieces and restrained plasterwork. At the west end of the house, the hall was flanked by a morning room - later a billiard room and now a sitting room - and a study. The entire east end of the house was occupied by a tall new Roman Catholic chapel, with additional bedrooms above it and a public entrance on its north side.

The house was remarkably little altered in the 19th century, but after a century some modernisation and redecoration was overdue. Robert Valentine Berkeley (1853-1940), who inherited in 1897, undertook a programme of improvements involving new plumbing and lighting, and the addition of a nursery floor above the Regency service wing. The work was done under the supervision of Edward Prioleau Warren (1856-1937), and further minor changes were made in 1911, including the insertion of a Venetian window in the staircase hall, this time under the aegis of Frank E. Howard of Oxford, a young architect who is thought to have been recommended by Warren.

Spetchley Park: the Regency root house.

Sir Robert Berkeley had licence to create a deer park at Spetchley in 1625, and an area of some 160 acres was enclosed for this purpose. Little more is known about the setting of the house, however, until the early 19th century, when the grounds immediately around the new mansion were landscaped in a Reptonian manner, and a small lake was created south of the house, with a conservatory and a simple root house nearby. The root house, restored in the 1980s, is a rare survival.. Alongside the alterations to the house in the early 20th century, R.V. Berkeley and his wife Rose (d. 1922), who was a passionate horticulturalist, undertook the creation of a more formal garden, with the help of Rose's sister, Ellen Willmott. In the 1920s, the gardens were one of the first to be opened to the public under the National Gardens Scheme, and they have been carefully maintained by subsequent generations.

In 1942, Capt. R.G.W. Berkeley inherited Berkeley Castle (Glos) from his thirteenth cousin, the last Earl of Berkeley, and during the Second World War the house at Spetchley was used for a time as a rest home for US Air Force personnel. In 1969 the Berkeley and Spetchley estates were inherited by Mr John Berkeley (1931-2017), who divided his time between the two, living at Berkeley in the winter and at Spetchley in the summer. Although maintained, the house was not improved, and suffered from the subdivision of the top floor into flats for members of the family. It was therefore rather 'tired' when inherited by Mr Berkeley's younger son, Henry. In 2019 he held a major 'decluttering' sale at Sothebys, disposing of some 750 lots of the historic contents that did not have particular significance for the family, and applying the proceeds to a reordering and redecorating of the house under the direction of George Saumarez Smith of Adam Architecture and Emma Deterding of Kelling Designs. Although the scale of the dispersal sale raised some concerns, the outcome of the refurbishment has been an extremely attractive and liveable family home. The original dining room has become a family kitchen and living room; the library - which retains some of its bookcases and their contents - is now the principal drawing room; while the original drawing room has been repurposed as a formal dining room. The small room at the west end of the house originally intended as a morning room has become an informal sitting room, and has been hung with a most attractive Chinese wallpaper, copied from original panels discovered during the preparations for the sale which had never been hung but which were evidently intended for this room, as they fitted its proportions exactly. The use of bold colours - a bright yellow in the staircase hall; a deep green in the drawing room; and a rich red in the dining room - gives a contemporary feel to the interiors, but otherwise the furniture and paintings are traditional and indeed many are drawn from the historic contents of the house, so the main rooms do not have to absorb discordant modernist accents.

Descent: Philip Sheldon sold 1606 to Rowland Berkeley (1548-1611); to second son, Sir Robert Berkeley (1584-1656), kt.; to son, Thomas Berkeley (1630-93); to son, Robert Berkeley (1650-94); to brother, Thomas Berkeley (1652-1719); to son, John Berkeley (1683-1741); to son, Thomas Berkeley (c.1720-42); to uncle, Thomas Berkeley (1685-1766); to son, Robert Berkeley (c.1713-1804); to nephew, Robert Berkeley (1764-1845); to son, Robert Berkeley (1794-1874); to son, Robert Berkeley (1823-97); to son, Robert Valentine Berkeley (1853-1940); to son, Robert George Wilmot Berkeley (1898-1969); to son, Robert John Grantley Berkeley (1931-2017); to younger son, Henry John Mowbray Berkeley (b. 1969).

Berkeley family of Spetchley Park

Berkeley, Rowland (1548-1611). Eighth, but eldest surviving, son of William Berkeley of Hereford and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of William Burghill of Cowarne (Herefs), born 1548. Educated at Oxford. Merchant and clothier in Worcester. A member of 'the 48' (the governing elite of Worcester) from 1578 (Chamberlain, 1583-84; Bailiff, 1585-88); first Master of the Worcester Clothiers' Company, 1590. MP for Worcester, 1593, 1597, 1601, 1604. He married, 15 April 1574 at St Martin, Worcester, Catherine (d. 1629), daughter of Thomas Hayward of Gloucester, and had issue:

(1) Dorothy Berkeley (1575-1648), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 25 January 1575/6; married 1st, 20 January 1594/5 at St Martin, Worcester, Thomas Wylde (c.1568-1610) of The Commandery, Worcester, and had issue three sons and two daughters; married 2nd, c.1611, Rev. Dr. Richard Thornton DD (d. 1615), canon of Christ Church, Oxford and of Worcester Cathedral; died 27 September and was buried at St Peter, Worcester, 28 September 1648; 

(2) Catherine Berkeley (b. 1576), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 20 December 1576; married, 4 November 1595 at St Martin, Worcester, William Worfield (d. 1623) of Bransford (Worcs), yeoman, and had issue one son and three daughters; living in 1623 but death not traced;

(3) Elizabeth Berkeley (b. 1578), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 19 May 1578; married, 17 January 1601/2 at St Martin, Worcester, Robert Crosby (b. 1578), of Worcester; living in 1610 but death not traced;

(4) Eleanor Berkeley (b. 1579), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 28 July 1579; apparently disinherited by her father as the wording of his will suggests that one or more daughters was excluded from its provisions and she is the only one not named; married, 4 May 1598 at St Martin, Worcester, John Frogmer (d. 1636) of Claines (Worcs);

(5) Jane Berkeley (1581-1621), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 25 April 1581; married, 10 December 1599 at St Swithin, Worcester, George Stinton (d. 1627?) of Worcester; buried at St Swithin, Worcester, 13 June 1621;

(6) Joan alias Johanne Berkeley (b. 1582), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 14 April 1582; married 1st, before 1610, Rev. Henry Bright (1562-1627) of Brockbury (Herefs) and had issue one son and six daughters; married 2nd, c.1630, Edward Annesley (d. 1638) of Brookend (Oxon); living in 1638;

(7) William Berkeley (1583-1658) [for whom see my account of the Berkeleys of Cotheridge];

(8) Sir Robert Berkeley (1584-1656) (q.v.);

(9) Mary Berkeley (b. 1585), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 4 July 1585; married, 28 February 1602/3, Edmund Wynne (1583-1645) of Thornton Curtis (Lincs); living in 1610;

(10) Anne Berkeley (1586-1638), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 6 August 1586; married 1st, before 1610, Thomas Moore (d. 1633), alderman of Worcester (who founded Moore's Blue Coat School charity in 1626), and 2nd, Dr William Smith DD (1582-1658), canon of Worcester Cathedral and rector of Tredington (Worcs) and formerly Warden of Wadham College, Oxford and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1630-32; buried at Spetchley, 30 October 1638;

(11) Joyce Berkeley (b. 1588), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 25 March 1588; married [forename unknown] Newton of London; living in 1610.

(12) Edward Berkeley (1589-1669), of Worcester, baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 7 December 1589; educated at Middle Temple (admitted 1612); merchant and member of the Levant Company; married, 17 November 1616 at All Hallows, London Wall, London, Elizabeth (1599-1679), daughter of Christopher Eland of London, and had issue one son and one daughter; buried at Spetchley, 21 January 1668/9;

(13) John Berkeley (1590-1672?), of East Barnet and later Radwell (both Herts), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 21 December 1590; married, c.1620, Elizabeth, daughter of John Turner, and had issue one son and two daughters; said to have been buried at Goldington (Beds), 4 December 1672; 

(14) Henry Berkeley (b. & d. 1592), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 4 March 1591/2; died in infancy;

(15) Henry Berkeley (1593-1682), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 6 June 1593; educated at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1613; BCL 1618); lived at Welton (Northants); JP for Northamptonshire?; married 1st, 31 July 1617 at Badby (Northants), Jacomis Haywood (d. 1624) and had issue three sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 18 November 1624 at Badby, Amy (d. 1673), daughter of Thomas Glover, and had issue five sons and five or six daughters; buried at Daventry (Northants), 8 January 1681/2;

(16) Thomas Berkeley (1594-1661), baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 26 May 1594; agent for his brother Robert at Spetchley and lived latterly at Colwall (Herefs); married 1st, 3 September 1613 at Cradley (Herefs), Margaret Noxe, and had issue two sons; married 2nd, 16 June 1621 at St Martin, Worcester, Mary Browning (d. 1630) and had issue two sons and three daughters; married 3rd, 15 June 1631 at St Swithun, Worcester, Catherine, daughter of Thomas Walshe of Stockton (Worcs) and widow of Edward Mitton, and had issue six sons and one daughter; buried at Colwall, 11 July 1661.

He lived in a house in the Cornmarket, Worcester, but from about 1600 bought estates in various parts of Worcestershire, including the Cowleigh and Acton Beauchamp estates which passed to his elder son and in 1606 the Spetchley estate which he bequeathed to his second son.

He died 1 June, and was buried at Spetchley, 2 June 1611, where he and his wife are commemorated by a magnificent alabaster tomb erected in 1614 and attributed to Samuel Baldwin of Stroud; his will was proved in the PCC, 26 June 1611. His widow was buried at Spetchley, 2 January 1629/30.

Berkeley, Sir Robert (1584-1656). Second son of Rowland Berkeley (1548-1611) and his wife Catherine, daughter of Thomas Hayward of Gloucester, baptised at St Martin, Worcester, 27 July 1584. Educated at Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1597) and Middle Temple (admitted 1601; called 1608; bencher 1625-27). Barrister-at-law. Sheriff of Worcester, 1613-14; JP for Worcestershire, 1613-43; Recorder of Worcester, 1619-24; a commissioner of sewers for the Worcestershire/ Gloucestershire border, 1627-42; MP for Worcester, 1621, 1624. Serjeant-at-law, 1627 and King's Serjeant, 1627-32; a Justice of King's Bench, 1632-43 and an Assize judge, 1633-35 (Norfolk circuit), 1635-38 (Northern circuit) and 1639-40 (Midlands circuit); he was also extensively employed as a commissioner for specific purposes, 1621-42. He was a signatory of the judges’ public endorsement of the legality of Ship Money in February 1637, and the following year ruled, on a test case brought by John Hampden, that it was a prerogative levy, not a tax. Parliament saw this judgement as an attack on the Common Law, and on 12 February 1641 he was arrested in his own court and placed in the custody of one of the sheriffs of London pending his impeachment. In an extraordinary turn of events, when the other justices all rallied to the king at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was brought out of prison to preside over the Court of King's Bench for a term. Judgment was finally pronounced against him on 12 September 1643, when he was fined £20,000, barred from public office and imprisoned during pleasure. Prompt payment of half his fine secured the waiver of the rest and release from gaol, a process which may have been assisted by the fact that his wife was cousin to John Pym. He disinherited his eldest son, who had become a Roman Catholic, and passed his estates to his eldest grandson, who was raised as a Protestant. He was knighted, 14 April 1627. He married, Elizabeth (c.1590-1659), daughter and co-heir of Thomas Conyers (d. 1614) of Sockburne (Yorks) and East Barnet (Herts), and had issue:

(1) Thomas Berkeley (1630-93) (q.v.);

(2) twin, Catherine Berkeley (1631-81), eldest daughter, baptised at East Barnet, 18 August 1631; married, 1652 (settlement 16 October), Robert Cressett (1631-1702) of Upton Cressett (Shrops.), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 30 January 1680/1, and was buried at Cound (Shrops.), where she was commemorated by a monument;

(3) twin, Isabella Berkeley (1631-64), baptised at East Barnet, 18 August 1631; married, 20 July 1652 at Groombridge (Kent), Philip Packer (1618-86) of Groombridge Place (who m2, 20 December 1666, Sarah Isgar), and had issue three sons and four daughters; buried at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), 19 March 1664;

(4) Anne Berkeley (fl. 1655); unmarried in 1655, when she was mentioned in her father's will; death not traced.

He inherited the Spetchley estate from his father in 1611 and enlarged it by the purchase of the manor of White Ladies Aston (Worcs) in 1612. He created a deer park south of the house in 1625 and built a funerary chapel onto Spetchley parish church in 1614. The house on the estate was occupied by Parliamentarian troops as their headquarters during the siege of Worcester in 1646, and burned down by Scottish troops in 1651. He then converted the surviving stable block into a temporary dwelling.

He died 5 August, and was buried at Spetchley 21 August 1656, where he is commemorated by a fine black and white marble monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 25 September 1656. His widow was buried at Spetchley, 12 April 1659.

Berkeley, Thomas (1630-93). Only recorded son of Sir Robert Berkeley (1584-1656), kt., and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Conyers of East Barnet (Herts), baptised at East Barnet (Herts), 24 June 1630. He fought at the Battle of Worcester, and after the Royalists were defeated he escaped overseas and lived in exile in the Low Countries. His wife was a Catholic and while in Brussels, he converted to Catholicism. He was on this account disinherited by his father, though he was allowed to live at Spetchley until his young son Robert came of age and took up the inheritance. In 1656 he was the subject of a commission of lunacy to inquire into his state of mind and property, but this may have been a ruse to allow his property to be vested in trustees with a view to avoiding the penalties for recusancy. After his son came of age, Thomas moved to Ravenshill in Tibberton (Worcs) which he turned into a haven for Catholic priests and where he maintained a chapel. He married, about 1649, Anne (d. 1692)*, daughter of William Darell (d. 1638) of Scotney (Kent), and had issue:

(1) Robert Berkeley (1650-94) (q.v.);

(2) Thomas Berkeley (1652-1719) (q.v.);

(3) Elizabeth Berkeley (d. 1693); married, 11 April 1672 at Spetchley, Thomas Burton (1637-95) of Longner (Shrops), judge, and had issue three sons and seven daughters; died 1693;

(4) Anne Berkeley; died young.

He lived latterly at Ravenshill (Worcs)

He died 22 December, and was buried at Spetchley, 26 December 1693, where and his wife are commemorated by a standing architectural monument attributed to James Hardy, erected in 1693. His wife died 18 September 1692.

* Anne was brought up in the Catholic faith by her mother, and it was perhaps due to her influence that her younger son adopted Catholicism.

Berkeley, Robert (1650-94). Elder son of Thomas Berkeley (1630-93) and his wife Anne, daughter of William Darell of Scotney (Kent), born 15 July 1650. Although his father was a Roman Catholic, he seems to have been raised as a Protestant and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1667), where he was a pupil of the Rt Rev. Dr John Fell (1625-86), Bishop of Oxford. During the reign of King James II he and his wife lived in exile in the Netherlands, and he returned as part of the court of King William III after the Glorious Revolution. He was a friend and correspondent of John Evelyn, and shared with him an interest in trees, and he is said to have been responsible for planting the first cedars in Worcestershire. By his will, he founded the Berkeley Hospital in Worcester. He married, 11 March 1678/9 at Westminster Abbey (Middx), Elizabeth (1661-1709), a philanthropist and religious thinker* who was author of a prayer book (A method of devotion, which went through several editions in her lifetime and was republished after her death with a memoir of her life), daughter of Sir Richard Blake, kt. of St John's. Clerkenwell (Middx), but had no issue.

He inherited the Spetchley estate from his grandfather in 1656, and came of age in 1671.

He died 14 January, and was buried at Spetchley, 19 January 1693/4, where he is commemorated by a large marble monument attributed to Grinling Gibbons; his will was proved in the PCC, 2 April 1694. His widow married 2nd, 1700, as his third wife, Rt. Rev. Gilbert Burnet (1643-1715), Bishop of Salisbury, and died 3 February, being buried at Spetchley with her first husband, 12 February 1708/9.

* She was a friend of John Locke, Bishop Stillingfleet and Catharine Trotter Cockburn.

Berkeley, Thomas (1652-1719). Second son of Thomas Berkeley (1630-93) and his wife Anne, daughter of William Darell of Scotney (Kent), born in 1652. A Roman Catholic in religion, like his parents. He married, 1681/2 (licence 18 February) Elizabeth (c.1663-92), daughter and sole heiress of John or William Holyoake of Morton Bagot (Warks), and had issue, possibly among others:

(1) Robert Berkeley (b. 1682); eldest son, 'half a year old' at the 1683 Visitation; mentioned in his uncle Robert's will in 1693 but not in his father's will;

(2) John Berkeley (1683-1741) (q.v.);

(3) Thomas Berkeley (1685-1766) (q.v.);

(4) Anne/Mary Berkeley (b. c.1686); married, 1705 (licence 17 February 1704/5), Henry Stafford (later Stafford-Howard) (c.1688-1743), son of the Hon. Francis Stafford-Howard (d. 1708) and grandson of Sir William Howard (1614-80), 1st Viscount Stafford, but had no surviving issue; death not traced;

(5) Elizabeth Berkeley (b. c.1689), born about 1689; married, 1709 (licence 3 October) at Belgrave (Leics), John Beaumont Byerley (1686-1742) of Belgrave Hall, son of Charles Byerley, and had issue at least two sons and two daughters; living in 1742 when she was granted administration of her husband's estate but death not traced.

He lived at Ravenshill, Tibberton (Worcs) until he inherited the Spetchley estate from his elder brother in 1694.

He was buried at Spetchley, 7 August 1719, where he is commemorated on a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 23 December 1719. His wife was buried at Spetchley, 27 February 1691/2.

Berkeley, John (1683-1741). Second son of Thomas Berkeley (1652-1719) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and sole heiress of William Holyoake of Morton Bagot (Warks), born 1683. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married Judith Hagon (d. 1752) of Norwich (Norfk), and had issue:

(1) Elizabeth Berkeley (fl. 1719); living in 1719 but probably died young;

(2) John Berkeley (d. 1719); died young and was buried at Spetchley, 24 May 1719;

(3) Thomas Berkeley (c.1720-42) (q.v.).

He inherited the Spetchley estate from his father in 1719.

He died 2 September and was buried at Bath Abbey (Som.), 4 September 1741, where he is commemorated by a floor slab. His widow was buried at St Giles in the Fields, Holborn (Middx), 1 February 1752; her will was proved in the PCC, 25 January 1752.

Berkeley, Thomas (c.1720-42). Son of John Berkeley (1683-1741) and his wife Judith Hagon of Norwich, born after 1719. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married, about 1740, Mary (1718-67), daughter of Edward Ferrers (1678-1729) of Baddesley Clinton (Warks), but had no issue.

He inherited the Spetchley estate from his father in 1741.

He died in 1742; his will was proved in the PCC, 26 March 1743. His widow married 2nd, 22 August 1745 at Brandsby (Yorks), Francis Cholmeley of Brandsby, and had issue at least one son and four daughters; she was buried at Brandsby, 22 April 1767.

Berkeley, Thomas (1685-1766). Third son of Thomas Berkeley (1652-1719) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and sole heiress of John or William Holyoake of Morton Bagot (Warks), born 1685. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married, c.1712, Mary, daughter and heiress of Robert Davis of Clytha (Mon.), and had issue:

(1) Robert Berkeley (c.1713-1804) (q.v.);

(2) John Berkeley (1720-78) (q.v.).

He inherited the Spetchley estate from his nephew in 1742.

He is said to have died in France; his will, drafted 7 January 1765, was proved in the PCC, 22 May 1766. His wife apparently predeceased him but her date of death is unknown.

Berkeley, Robert (c.1713-1804). Elder son of Thomas Berkeley (1685-1766) and his wife Mary, daughter and heiress of Robert Davis of Clytha (Mon.), born about 1713. A Roman Catholic in religion, he supported a Catholic priest as his chaplain, and campaigned for Catholic emancipation. He published several pamphlets and is thought to have been the author of a petition to King George III by the Catholic nobility and gentry presented in 1778, which led to the passage of the Catholic Relief Act 1778. He also supported the literary efforts of his chaplains, including Thomas Phillips' Life of Cardinal Pole (1764). He married 1st, 1744 (settlement 18 May), Anne (d. 1746), daughter of John Wybarn (c.1687-1739) of Hawkwell (Kent), and sister and co-heiress of John Wybarn alias Wyborne of Flixton (Suffk), 2nd, c.1747-51, Catherine (d. 1777), daughter of Thomas Fitzherbert (d. 1765) of Norbury (Derbys) and Swinnerton (Staffs), and 3rd, 11 May 1778 at St Julian, Shrewsbury (Shrops.), Elizabeth (d. 1811), daughter of Peter Parry of Twysog (Denbighs.), but had no issue, though after the deaths of his brother John and his sister-in-law, he became the guardian of their children.

He inherited the Spetchley estate from his father in 1756, and extended the house with a new RC chapel and entertaining room. His first wife brought him an interest in manors in Essex, which he sold in 1788.

He died 20 December and was buried at Spetchley, 27 December 1804, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 18 April 1805. His first wife was buried at Spetchley, 21 April 1746. His second wife was buried at Spetchley, 24 December 1777. His widow lived latterly at Hartpury Court (Glos) and was buried at Spetchley, 11 June 1811; her will was proved in the PCC, 5 December 1811.

Berkeley, John (1720-78). Second son of Thomas Berkeley (1685-1766) and his wife Mary, daughter and heiress of Robert Davis of Clytha (Mon.), born in 1720. He married 1st, 2 May 1763 at St Paul, Covent Garden, Westminster (Middx), Catherine (d. 1766), daughter of Charles Bodenham (d. 1762) of Rotherwas (Herefs), and 2nd, 2 October 1773 at Spetchley, Jane (d. 1780), daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Compton (d. 1758), 3rd bt., of Hartpury Court (Glos), and had issue:

(1.1) Robert Berkeley (1764-1845) (q.v.);

(2.1) Catherine Berkeley (c.1774-1823), born about 1774; married, 15 April 1801 at Spetchley, Robert Canning (1773-1843) of Foxcote, Ilmington (Warks) (who m2, 18 July 1826, Maria (1804-68), daughter of Joseph Bonnor Cheston of Gloucester, and had issue two daughters), but had no issue; buried at Hartpury (Glos), 3 March 1823;

(2.2) Jane Berkeley (1777-1853), baptised at St George RC church, Worcester, 2 May 1777; she and her husband inherited Hindlip Hall from the Compton family and rebuilt it; she married, 14 May 1799, Thomas Anthony Southwell (1777-1860), 3rd Viscount Southwell, and had issue two sons and five daughters died 26 October, and was buried at Hindlip, 3 November 1853.

He lived at Hindlip Hall (Worcs) and also had a house in Foregate St., Worcester. He inherited Clytha Park (Mon.) from his father.

He died between May and July 1778; his will was proved in the PCC, 8 July 1778, and made provision for four children (William Seward, John King, Frances Jones and Mary Jones) who may have been his illegitimate offspring, although the wording of the will leaves their claim on him unexplained. His first wife died in 1766. His second wife died 20 April 1780.

Berkeley, Robert (1764-1845). Only son of John Berkeley and his first wife Catherine, daughter of Charles Bodenham of Rotherwas (Herefs), born 1764. A Roman Catholic in religion. One of the stewards of the Worcester Music Meeting, 1803. He married, 4 May 1792 at Lanfoist (Mon.), Appolonia (1772-1806), third daughter of Richard Lee of Lanfoist Place (Mon.), and had issue:

(1) Robert Berkeley (1794-1874) (q.v.);

(2) Mary Berkeley (d. 1808); died young and was buried at Spetchley, 31 March 1808;

(3) A daughter (d. 1824); died in Paris (France), 21 March 1824.

He inherited Clytha Park (Mon.) from his father but sold it to his father-in-law on inheriting the Spetchley estate from his uncle in 1804, and built a new mansion house to the designs of John Tasker in 1811-18. Soon after it was completed, he handed it over to his son and eventually moved to Bath (Som.).

He died in Bath (Som.), 14 June, and was buried at Spetchley, 21 June 1845, where he is commemorated by a memorial brass tablet by Hardman & Co; his will was proved in the PCC, 4 July 1845. His wife died 'after a tedious illness' at Clifton, Bristol, 3 September, and was buried at Spetchley, 9 September 1806.

Berkeley, Robert (1794-1874). Only son of Robert Berkeley (1764-1845) and his wife Appolonia, third daughter of Richard Lee of Lanfoist (Mon.), born 21 May 1794. JP and DL for Worcestershire; High Sheriff of Worcestershire, 1838-39. In 1832, at the first election after the Great Reform Act, he was active in the Whig interest in the electoral contest in the West Worcestershire constituency, and is said to have been offered a baronetcy afterwards (which he declined). He did not play a prominent part in the public life of the county thereafter, but was 'ardently attached to a country life' and after he moved to Spetchley, he was said to have 'never since left [it] except for very brief seasons', devoting himself to the management of his estate and to simple country pursuits such as shooting. He was an engaged and liberal landlord, who supported and encouraged his tenants in the improvement of their farms and undertook improvements of his own, including the building of a village school at Spetchley. He married, 24 January 1822 at St Marylebone (Middx), Henrietta Sophia (1795-1857), eldest daughter and co-heiress of the notorious Indian 'nabob', Paul Benfield MP (1741-1810) of London and Woodhall Park (Herts), and had issue:

(1) Robert Berkeley (1823-97) (q.v.);

(2) Mary Frances Berkeley (1825-41), born at Spetchley, 6 January 1825; died unmarried at Brussels (Belgium), 14 May 1841;

(3) Harriet Eliza Berkeley (1826-78), born 29 January 1826; died unmarried at The Hermitage, Stanbrook (Worcs), 16 November 1878; her will was proved 15 January 1879 (effects under £7,000);

(4) John Edward Berkeley (1827-47), born 6 March 1827; educated at Stonyhurst College; died at the school, 2 January, and was buried at Spetchley, 8 January 1847;

(5) Agnes Mary Caroline Berkeley (1828-60), born 17 August 1828; a Dominican nun; died 16 July 1860;

(6) Maj. Henry William Berkeley (1831-1916), born 24 February 1831; educated at Stonyhurst; an officer in the 3rd Dragoon Guards (Cornet, 1853; Lt., 1855; Capt., 1858; Maj., 1868; retired 1874); married, 18 April 1872 at St Gregory's RC church, Cheltenham (Glos), Matilda Catherine (1848-1916), daughter of George Ford Copeland of Bayshill, Cheltenham, and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 30 January 1916 and was buried at St Austin's RC church, Kenilworth (Warks); administration of goods (with will annexed) granted 13 April 1916 (estate £25,502);

(7) Emily Jane Berkeley (1832-1919), born 5 June 1832; married, 31 October 1855 at Spetchley, Simon Thomas Scrope (1822-96) of Danby Hall (Yorks), and had issue five sons and five daughters; died 20 January 1919; will proved 3 April 1919 (estate £1,643);

(8) Mary Berkeley (1833-1901), born 16 August 1833; married, 29 September 1857 at Spetchley, as his second wife, Rudolph Basil William Feilding (1823-92), 8th Earl of Denbigh, and had issue four sons and five daughters; died in Rome (Italy), 3 June 1901; will proved 24 August 1901 (estate £6,524);

(9) Frederick Charles Berkeley (1835-66), born at Spetchley, 11 February 1835; died of a heart attack in the grounds of Spetchley Park, 8 June, and was buried at Spetchley, 14 June 1866; administration of goods granted 16 July 1866 (effects under £9,000); he is commemorated by a memorial cross on the spot where he died;

(10) Charles Berkeley (1836-37), born about September 1836; died in infancy and was buried at Spetchley, 6 July 1837; 

(11) Francis Rowland Berkeley (1840-1925), born May 1840; blind from 1916; married, 26 June 1879, probably at the Brompton Oratory (Middx), Frances (1848-1925), daughter of John Weld of Leagram Park, Chipping (Lancs), and had issue two sons; died 27 September 1925; will proved 17 April 1926 (estate £7,374).

He lived at Blackmore Park before, and in the early years of, his marriage, until his father handed over Spetchley to him; he inherited the estate from his father in 1845.

He died 26 September 1874, and was buried at Spetchley, where he was commemorated by a Hardman & Co. memorial brass, like his father; his will was proved 21 November 1874 (effects under £60,000). His wife died 15 December and was buried at Spetchley, 21 December 1857.

Robert Berkeley (1823-97) 

Berkeley, Robert (1823-97). Eldest son of Robert Berkeley (1794-1874) and his wife Henrietta Sophia, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Paul Benfield MP of London, born at Blackmore Park (Worcs), 8 October and baptised at Hanley Castle (Worcs), 12 October 1823. Educated at Oscott College and in Rome. JP and DL for Worcestershire. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married, 24 March 1851, Lady (Mary) Catherine (1829-1924), daughter of Thomas Browne (1789-1871), 3rd Earl of Kenmare, and had issue:

(1) Augusta Mary Catherine Gabrielle Joseph Berkeley (1852-77), born 18 March 1852; married, 9 May 1876 at Spetchley*, as his first wife, Charles William Francis Noel (1850-1926), Viscount Campden (later 3rd Earl of Gainsborough), and had issue one daughter; died following childbirth, 5 November 1877, and was buried at Spetchley;

(2) Robert Valentine Berkeley (1853-1940) (q.v.);

(3) Mary Ida Berkeley (1854-83), born 8 September 1854; married, 9 May 1876 at Spetchley*, as his first wife, William Joseph Fitzherbert Brockholes CBE (1851-1924) of Claughton Hall (Lancs) and had issue two daughters; died 14 January 1883;

(4) Maurice Henry Berkeley (1856-1921), born 2 April 1856; an officer in the Worcestershire militia and yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1874; Lt., 1876; resigned 1880; Capt., 1884; hon. Maj.; retired 1905), who served in the Boer War; lived at Foxcote Manor, Ilmington (Warks); JP (from 1898) and DL (from 1900) for Worcestershire; died unmarried, 1 March 1921; will proved 5 May 1921 (estate £1,044);

(5) Maud Ellen Emily Henrietta Berkeley (1858-1944), born 14 March 1858; lived in Worcester with her sister Constance; died unmarried, 6 March 1944 and was buried at Spetchley; administration (with will annexed) granted to her sister Constance, 3 August 1944 (estate £10,425);

(6) Thomas Mowbray Martin Berkeley (1859-1916), born 11 November 1859; educated at Beaumont College, Windsor and RMA Sandhurst; an officer in the army (2nd Lt. 1879; Lt., 1881; Capt., 1887; Maj., 1896; Br. Lt-Col., 1900; retired 1903) who served in Egypt and the Boer War (wounded twice; mentioned in despatches); later Brigade Major in Territorials, 1905-11 and one of HM Hon. Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms, 1909; married, 12 June 1912 in the RC chapel at Foxcote, Helena Johanna Elizabeth (1861-1939), daughter of John Michael Koecher of Manchester, merchant, and widow of Capt. George Henry Jackson of the Indian army; he returned to the colours in the First World War and was killed in action in France, 20 May 1916; will proved 23 August 1916 (estate £1,840);

(7) Agnes Mary Philomena Berkeley (1861-1944), born Jul-Sept 1861; a Sister of Charity of St Vincent de Paul (as Sister Xavier) from 1882, who lived and worked in China from 1890 and developed a charitable mission called the House of Mercy on Zhoushan island from 1911, which remained in operation even after the Japanese invasion in the Second World War; she died 9 March 1944 and was buried at Zhoushan (China);

(8) Constance Mary Josephine Berkeley (1863-1946), born 15 February 1863; lived in Worcester with her sister Maud; died unmarried 8 February 1946 and was buried at Spetchley; will proved 4 July 1946 (estate £16,678);

(9) Hubert John Aloysius Berkeley (1864-1942), born 25 June 1864; after training on HMS Conway, he joined the Royal Navy (midshipman), but left the service and in 1886 joined the Malay States Civil Service, becoming District Officer in Upper Perak, 1904-14, 1918-26, a remote district which he 'administered in the fashion of a Malay chief and with little regard for higher authority'; according to his successor, he wove a legend about himself through the dissemination of anecdotes of his own eccentricity and defiance of the state government; he served in the First World War with the Worcestershire Regt. (Capt., 1915) and was appointed Companion of the Imperial Service Order, 1921; JP for Worcestershire, 1927 (Chairman of Droitwich Petty Sessions, 1940-42); a member of Worcestershire County Council; died unmarried at Clinkgate Farm, Droitwich (Worcs), 27 April 1942 and was buried at Sacred Heart & St Mary RC church, Droitwich; will proved 14 August 1942 (estate £22,609);

(10) Fr. Oswald Joseph Berkeley OSB (1866-1924), born 8 December 1866; educated at Downside and in Rome; joined the Benedictine community at Belmont (Herefs) and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, 1895; priest of Whitehaven (Cumbld.) RC church, 1898-1924, except for First World War service as an army chaplain with the rank of Major, 1914-18, during which he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the MC, 1918; died 29 April 1924 and was buried at Whitehaven; 

(11) Etheldreda Mary Margaret Henrietta Berkeley (1868-1924), born 27 May 1868; educated at St Dominic's Convent, Stone (Staffs); married, 27 July 1893, Maj. Joseph Chichester (1858-1924), of Calverleigh Court (Devon), but had no issue; died 3 December 1924 and was buried at Calverleigh; will proved 4 June 1925 (estate £50,485);

(12) Wolstan Edward Francis Berkeley (1870-1943), born 2 November 1870; a director of the Cheltenham Brewery Co.; lived at Portishead (Som.) from 1926; married, 2 July 1913 at Courtfield (Mon.), Alice, daughter of Col. Francis Baynham Vaughan of Courtfield; died 24 October 1943; will proved 24 May 1944 (estate £9,866).

He rented Overbury Court (Worcs) and later Wootton Hall, Wootton Wawen (Warks) until he moved to Spetchley, which he inherited from his father in 1874. He later moved to a smaller house, St Cloud at Powick (Worcs), which he rented from Earl Beauchamp, and handed over Spetchley to his eldest son. His widow remained at St Cloud until it was destroyed by fire in 1902 and then moved to Foxcote Manor, Ilmington (Warks).

He died 9 September, and was buried at Spetchley, 13 December 1897; his will was proved 29 December 1897 (effects £241). His widow died 26 August 1924; her will was proved 28 October 1924 (estate £371).

* A double wedding, with her sister.

Berkeley, Robert Valentine (1853-1940). Eldest son of Robert Berkeley (1823-97) and his wife Lady Mary Catherine, daughter of Thomas Browne, 3rd Earl of Kenmare, born at Overbury Court (Worcs), 29 April 1853. Educated at Beaumont College, Windsor and Oscott. JP (from 1877; Chairman of Quarter Sessions) and DL (from 1891) for Worcestershire; High Sheriff of Worcestershire, 1909-10; a member of Worcestershire County Council, (Councillor, 1889-1914; Alderman, 1914-31). An officer in the Worcestershire militia (2nd Lt., 1876; Lt., 1878; Capt., 1881; Maj., 1893; retired 1893). Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He married, 20 August 1891 at Holy Cross & All Saints RC Church, Warley (Essex), Rose (1861-1922), younger daughter of Frederick Willmott of Warley Place, and had issue:

(1) Eleanor Mary Frederica Augusta Berkeley (1892-1930), born at St Andrews (Fife), 26 August 1892; married, 5 February 1930, John Brennan (1895?-1961) of Barraghcore, Goverbridge (Co. Kilkenny), but had no issue; died intestate, 30 May 1930; administration of goods granted 19 August 1930 (estate £8,876);

(2) Rosamund Mary Berkeley (1893-94), born 20 September 1893; died in infancy, 24 March 1894;

(3) Robert George Wilmot Berkeley (1898-1969) (q.v.);

(4) Margaret Elizabeth Berkeley (1902-98), born 10 January and baptised at Torquay (Devon), 16 January 1902; a nun of the Order of Our Lady of Sion in Paris (France) from 1926; died 7 March 1998.

He occupied Spetchley from about 1880 and inherited it from his father in 1897. He carried out improvement works in the house in 1907-10. His wife and her sister laid out a garden.

He died 14 August 1940 and was buried at Spetchley, where he is commemorated by a table tomb in the churchyard; will proved 27 January 1941 (estate £3,285). His wife died 21 August 1922.

Berkeley, Robert George Wilmot (1898-1969). Only son of Robert Valentine Berkeley (1853-1940) and his wife Rose, younger daughter of Frederick Willmott of Warley Place (Essex), born 23 April 1898. Educated at Downside, the Oratory School, and Magdalen College, Oxford. An officer in the Yeomanry (2nd Lt., 1917; Lt., 1919; Capt., 1945), who served in the First World War, 1917-19, and the Second World War, 1939-45. An underwriting member of Lloyds and a company director. Deputy Master of the Berkeley Hounds, 1923-28, Joint Master, 1928-69. DL for Worcestershire from 1952; High Sheriff of Worcestershire, 1933-34; a member of Worcestershire County Council, 1928-46; a member of the council of the Three Counties Agricultural Society from 1926. He married, 23 November 1927 at the Brompton Oratory, the Hon. Myrtle Emmeline Theresa (1907-82), daughter of Charles Joseph Thaddeus Dormer (1864-1922), 14th Baron Dormer, and had issue:

(1) Rosalind Magdalen Ellen Berkeley (1928-2015), born 14 September 1928; a nun of the Order of Our Lady of Sion, Eden Grove, Holloway, London N7; died 30 November 2015;

(2) Juliet Elizabeth Mary Berkeley (1930-2019), born 6 June 1930; lived at Spetchley Park; died unmarried, 30 August 2019;

(3) Robert John Grantley Berkeley (1931-2017) (q.v.).

He inherited the Spetchley estate from his father in 1940 and the Berkeley Castle estate (Glos) from his 13th cousin, the 8th Earl of Berkeley, in 1942.

He died 28 August 1969; his will was proved 29 May 1970 (estate £759,593). His widow died 31 May 1982; her will was proved 6 August 1982 (estate £10,233).

R.J.G. Berkeley (1931-2017) 

Berkeley, Robert John Grantley (1931-2017). Only son of Robert George Wlmot Berkeley (1898-1969) and his wife, the Hon. Myrtle Emmeline Theresa, daughter of Charles Joseph Thaddeus Dormer, 14th Baron Dormer, born 24 July 1931. Educated at the Oratory School and Magdalen College, Oxford (BA). An officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1950; Lt., 1952), and later in the Warwickshire & Worcestershire Yeomanry (Lt., 1954; Capt., 1956; Maj., 1963); DL for Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire; JP for Gloucestershire, 1960-97; High Sheriff of Worcestershire, 1967-68 and Gloucestershire, 1982-83. Joint Master of Berkeley Hounds, 1960-84. He married, 25 January 1967, Georgina Bridget (b. 1939), eldest daughter of Maj. Andrew Stirling-Home-Drummond-Moray of Easter Ross (Perths.), and had issue:

(1) (Robert) Charles Berkeley (b. 1968) (q.v.);

(2) Henry John Mowbray Berkeley (b. 1969) (q.v.).

He inherited Berkeley Castle and Spetchley Park from his father in 1969.

He died 2 November 2017. His widow is now living.

Berkeley, (Robert) Charles (b. 1968). Elder son of Robert John Grantley Berkeley (1931-2017) and his wife Georgina Bridget, eldest daughter of Maj. Andrew Stirling Home Drummond Moray, born 10 October and baptised at Berkeley, 31 October 1968. Educated at Ampleforth and Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Worked for some of the major London auction houses (Christies and Sothebys). High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, 2019-20. He married, 2009, Katherine Mary (k/a Daisy) (b. 1972), three-day-event rider and Olympic equestrienne, daughter of Dave Dick, jockey, and had issue:

(1) Mary Beatrice Rose Berkeley (b. 2011), born 12 January 2011.

He inherited Berkeley Castle from his father in 2017.

Now living. His wife is now living.

Berkeley, Henry John Mowbray (b. 1969). Younger son of Robert John Grantley Berkeley (1931-2017) and his wife Georgina Bridget, eldest daughter of Maj. Andrew Stirling Home Drummond Moray, born September 1969. Educated at Ampleforth and RMA Sandhurst. An officer in the army from 1992. Joint Master of Berkeley Foxhounds, 2000. He married, 15 July 2000, Katherine Mary Anne (k/a Kate) (b. 1975), nutritionist, daughter of Rupert John Oliver Arkell (1927-86), and had issue:

(1) Violet Mary Myrtle Berkeley (b. 2008), born 4 June 2008;

(2) Wilfred John Cranfield Berkeley (b. 2010), born 7 March 2010.

He inherited Spetchley Park from his father in 2017.

Now living. His wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1969, pp. 45-46; H.A. Tipping, 'Spetchley Park', Country Life, 8-15 July 1916; A. Brooks & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Worcestershire, 2nd edn., 2007, pp. 598-99; R.J.G. Berkeley, 'The Compton family of Hartpury Court', Transactions of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, vol. 131 (2013), pp. 13-24; J. Goodall, 'Spetchley Park', Country Life, 13-20 September 2023.

Location of archives

Berkeley of Spetchley: The family archives remain in the possession of the family and are cared for by the archivist at Berkeley Castle, to whom enquiries should be addressed.

Coat of arms

Berkeley of Spetchley: Gules, a chevron argent between ten crosses pattée six in chief and four in base of the second.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide photographs or 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 27 August 2024.