(580) Berkeley of Bruton Abbey, Viscounts Fitzhardinge of Berehaven and Barons Berkeley of Stratton

Berkeley of Bruton Abbey

The Berkeleys of Bruton Abbey were a cadet branch of the Berkeleys of Stoke Gifford (Glos), who will be the subject of a future post and who were, in turn, descended from the stem Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle. This branch begins with Sir Maurice Berkeley (d. 1581), kt., a younger son of Sir Richard Berkeley (d. 1514) of Stoke Gifford, who is a classic instance of the so-called 'new men' of the Tudor period. His status as the younger son of a cadet branch of an established family, coupled with the early death of his father and the remarriage of his mother gave him exactly the sort of background from which the Tudors drew the burgeoning cadre of officials who operated the increasingly bureaucratic state. Like many of them, he probably gained a legal training at the inns of court (he was attached to Strand Inn by 1538), but he was found a junior post with the court of common pleas by his stepfather, Sir John Fitzjames, a senior judge. He was evidently a bright young man who applied himself and used the opportunities for learning that came his way, for a couple of years later Fitzjames wanted to make Maurice his clerk. Thomas Cromwell - then at the height of his power and influence - wanted that job for one of his own protégés, however, and a deal was done by which Fitzjames accepted Cromwell's nominee and Cromwell took Maurice into his own household. From there he progressed - as so many did - into the royal household, becoming a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and and MP, and also gaining military experience, which led to his appointment as Chief Banner Bearer of England and Constable of Berkeley Castle (then in royal hands). His position at court left him well-placed to profit from the dissolution of the monasteries, and he acquired the site of Bruton Abbey in 1541 and built himself a new mansion there, reusing part of the monastic buildings and demolishing the rest. He kept a low profile during the reign of Catholic Queen Mary, and was not obliged to go into exile.

St John's Gate, Clerkenwell (Middx), with the gabled facade of
Berkeley House visible to the right, engraved by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1661

When Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 his return to favour was no doubt assisted by the fact that his first wife had been one of the Queen's governesses, and he returned to Parliament and to the magistracy. After his first wife died in 1559, he married one of Queen's gentlewomen, further cementing his connections with the monarch, and in his later years he built himself a grand house at Clerkenwell, just outside London, apparently on land that had been part of the site of Clerkenwell Priory, the home of the Grand Prior of the order of Knights Hospitallers until the dissolution of the monasteries.

Sir Maurice ensured his five sons had lands or careers, and that his four daughters had sufficient marriage portions to attract suitable husbands. His eldest son and heir was Sir Henry Berkeley (c.1547-1601), who was educated at the Middle Temple and continued with the roles in parliament and local administration which his father had established, but who was not a courtier. He appears to have been rather less circumspect than his father and pursued expensive feuds in the law courts against powerful opponents, but he was still able to provide estates for his younger sons at Yarlington and Pylle (Som.), and the Berkeleys (later Portmans) of Pylle will be the subject of a future post. When he died, relatively young, in 1601, he left his widow a life interest in Bruton Abbey, although before her death she had evidently moved to the city of Wells.

Sir Henry's heir was his eldest son, Sir Maurice Berkeley (c.1576-1617), who was educated at Queen's College, Oxford and the Middle Temple. His father's legal issues with the Earl of Essex do not seem to have prevented him serving under the earl in the expedition to Cadiz in 1596, when he was knighted, and he was on the continent again two years' later with his distant relative, Sir Robert Cecil, who may quietly have assisted his career. From 1597 onwards he was an assiduous parliamentarian, and he was an early investor in both the Virginia Company and the East India Company. He never gained possession of Bruton Abbey, as his mother lived until a few months before his own death, and he may have lived chiefly at the Clerkenwell house, although he also seems to have lived in a house on the Bruton estate at North Brewham (Som.). Sir Maurice had five sons and two daughters, and the three sons (Charles, William and John) who lived to adulthood all had illustrious careers and were knighted. Sir Charles, as the eldest, inherited Bruton Abbey, and was an MP whenever parliament was sitting up to 1640 and after the restoration; Sir William made his career in the New World, as Governor of Virginia, 1642-52 and 1660-77; while Sir John was a prominent Royalist who went into exile with the royal family and was raised to the peerage as Baron Berkeley of Stratton in 1658.

Sir Charles had a large family of fifteen children, many of whom died young. His second son was Charles Berkeley (1629-65), who grew up during the Civil War, when he was sent to travel on the Continent for his education and safety. He then joined an English regiment serving with the French army, before taking command of the Duke of York's Life Guards in 1657. He was a close friend of both King Charles II and the Duke of York, and after the Restoration he was immediately knighted and became MP for New Romney. In 1662 he was made Keeper of the Privy Purse, and the following year raised to the Irish peerage as Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven. High in the favour of the royal brothers, he was advanced to an English peerage, as Earl of Falmouth, in 1665, and although there were mutterings at court to the effect that he did not possess 'a single acre' of land to support these dignities, it was rumoured that the king intended to further advance him to a dukedom. This was prevented, however, by his death, unmarried, in the battle of Southwold Bay in June 1665. His English peerage died with him, but his Irish honours had been granted with a special remainder to his father and his father's male heirs, so the elder Sir Charles inherited the viscountcy, and when he died in 1668 it passed to his eldest son, Sir Maurice Berkeley (1628-90), 1st bt.

Sir Maurice was a little too young to take an active part in the Civil War, and at the beginning of 1649 he married Anne Lee, whose stepfather was Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, Lord High Admiral under the Commonwealth, whose presence in his life may have restrained him from any overt support for the Royalist cause. But when the Council of State decided in 1660 to invite Charles II to return to the throne, he was first across the channel with the joyous news, and he was rewarded by the king with a baronetcy. For some years after the Restoration, he divided his time between England and Ireland, and was an active MP in both countries. After his father's death he inherited the Bruton Abbey estate and concentrated on English affairs, becoming a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and an officer in the Life Guards for the remainder of the reign. He fell from favour under James II, but after William III's assumption of power he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Somerset and held the post until his death the following year. He had no surviving legitimate sons to inherit the peerage, although his will made provision for two illegitimate sons, so on his death the viscountcy passed to his youngest brother, Brig-Gen. John Berkeley (1650-1712), 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge, a career soldier who became Master of Horse to HRH Princess Anne in 1685 and held the post until 1702 when she ascended the throne as Queen Anne. He then became her Treasurer of the Chamber, serving in that capacity until his death. He married and had two daughters but no sons, so on his death the viscountcy created in 1663 became extinct. Perhaps because he had no son to succeed him, he had sold the Bruton Abbey estate in 1698 to Sir John Brownlow, but that was not the end of the family's association with the property.

I have already mentioned Sir John Berkeley (1607-78), kt., who was created 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton in 1658. An important military commander during the Civil War, he was much trusted by the Duke of York (later James II) but less so by King Charles II, who recognised that he was motivated chiefly by self-interest. This was in contrast to his nephew Charles, who was equally beloved by both royal brothers and who rose further and faster in the peerage as a result. Nonetheless, he did well at the Restoration, being granted several important posts, and he sought to reflect his importance by building a splendid house on the north side of Piccadilly, on the site later occupied by Devonshire House.

Berkeley House, Piccadilly. Image: British Museum. Some rights reserved.

Berkeley House was a nine-bay, two storey house, linked by quadrant wings to service blocks along the street frontage to Piccadilly, and was designed by the court architect, Hugh May. Behind was a large garden, designed in part by John Evelyn. The house and grounds are said to have cost the astonishing sum of £30,000, but even if this sum is overstated, it was clearly an expensive project, and it seems to have been financed largely by debt. Nor was it Sir John's only expense, for in 1668 he also bought an Elizabethan riverside mansion at Twickenham called Twickenham Park. After Lord Berkeley's death in 1678 his widow sold off strips of land on either side of Berkeley House, on which Stratton Street and Berkeley Street were laid out, and for several years in the 1690s the house was let to Princess Anne. After she moved out, the house was sold in 1696 to the Duke of Devonshire and renamed Devonshire House. It was subsequently rebuilt after a fire in the 1730s. Twickenham Park descended to Lord Berkeley's eldest son, who died in 1682 before coming of age, and then to his second son, John Berkeley (c.1663-97), 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton, who had a meteoric career in the Royal Navy, becoming Admiral of the Fleet in his early 30s. He cannot have had much use for a country house, and he sold Twickenham Park on coming of age.

The Admiral died without a surviving son, so on his death the barony passed to his youngest brother, the Rt. Hon. William Berkeley (c.1670-1741), 4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton. A Tory in politics, he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Tory administration of 1710-14, but was in political eclipse thereafter. His brother having sold Twickenham Park and his mother having sold Berkeley House, he was in need of a seat, and in 1717 he bought back Bruton Abbey, which had been sold by his cousin, the 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge, in 1698. William had three sons and four daughters, and was succeeeded in the peerage and at Bruton Abbey by his eldest son, the Rt. Hon. John Berkeley (1697-1773), 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton, a courtier who completed his career as Constable of the Tower of London. In 1763, while he was in this post, a serious fire damaged Bruton Abbey, and contemporary illustrations and other evidence show that it was remodelled at considerable expense in a rare neo-Jacobean style by an unidentified architect. John was married, but he and his wife had no children, so at his death the estate was bequeathed to his very distant kinsman, the 5th Earl of Berkeley, with a view to keeping it in the family name. But the Earl had no interest in honouring such a romantic wish, and having no particular use for the estate, promptly sold it to Henry Hoare. When he died in 1785 it passed to his daughter Anne, the wife of Sir Richard Hoare (d. 1787), who commenced the demolition of the house; a process that was completed by their son, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, bt., in 1789.

Bruton Abbey, Somerset

The house of the Berkeleys at Bruton, which was pulled down in 1786-89, is known chiefly from four watercolours of the principal elevations (now at Stourhead) made by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm in 1786, and from a plan of the ground floor (now in the Wiltshire & Swindon Record Office) made at much the same time, although it survives only as a later copy. Other documentary evidence for the development of the house is remarkably slight, so there are limitations to how far its architectural development can be unravelled.

Bruton Abbey: watercolour by S.H. Grimm of the south front, 1786. Image: © National Trust / David Cousins.

Grimm's drawings clearly show that the house was fundamentally Tudor, with later additions, but there are grounds for thinking that some of the medieval buildings of the Augustinian priory (later abbey) at Bruton were incorporated in the structure. The Abbey was dissolved in 1539 and the site was quickly leased to John Drew of Bristol and from 1541 to Sir Maurice Berkeley, the king's banner bearer, who bought the freehold in 1546. It was almost certainly Sir Maurice who created the Tudor house, and the plan of the 1780s shows that it consisted of four irregular ranges set around a subdivided courtyard.

Bruton Abbey: redrawn ground floor plan, taken from a Victorian plan in the Wiltshire Record Office, which itself must be a redrawing of an earlier document.  To assist interpretation, I have reorientated the plan with north at the top.

A quadrangular arrangement like this was, of course, a frequent layout for early Tudor great houses, and the many post-dissolution monastic conversions often repurposed monastic cloister garths as their central courtyards and remodelled some or all of the surrounding ranges for domestic purposes. At Bruton, however, while the north, west and south ranges are aligned on the same axis and the west and south fronts are essentially symmetrical, the east range is on a completely different alignment and is much more irregular internally than the other ranges. Geophysical surveys and some trial excavation work on the site since 2012 have confirmed that this east range inherited its alignment from, and probably incorporated parts of, the western range of the claustral buildings of the abbey, but the rest of the Tudor house was a new construction on land to the west of the abbey site, while the rest of the abbey buildings were probably pulled down in the 1540s. The fragment of the abbey buildings which were remodelled as part of the new house are likely to have included the abbot's lodging and/or the abbey guest house, which were normally housed in the west cloister range of a standard monastic plan. They may have been kept as being relatively new in Tudor times, since it is known that major improvements were made to the abbey in the early 16th century by Abbot William Gilbert (1494-1533), who secured its advancement to abbatial status in 1511.

Bruton Abbey: watercolour by S.H. Grimm of the east front, 1786. Image: © National Trust / David Cousins.

Bruton Abbey House was evidently maintained in good order and regularly occupied by the Berkeley family throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, for Charles I visited in 1621 and 1644 and James II came to dinner in 1686. Unfortunately, in 1763 the house suffered a serious fire, although it was said at the time that had there been a fire engine near at hand 'the damage would have been trifling'. Sadly, the nearest appliance was at Castle Cary, and by the time it reached the house the great hall and staircase had been gutted and the damage was estimated at £10,000. The house was evidently quickly restored, for Princess Amelia is recorded as visiting in 1767. A visitor in 1789, on the eve of demolition, saw 'rooms fitted up with cornices of stucco and numerous mottoes', one of which commemorated Princess Amelia's visit. Grimm's view of the east front shows that the centre of this side was then a Georgian block with three large round-headed first floor windows above a plain doorway. Stylistically, this is unlikely to be a repair after the fire, and the ground plan suggests that it was merely a screen wall to an internal yard, but it is evidence of alterations to the house continuing in the early Georgian period. 

Bruton Abbey: watercolour by S.H. Grimm of the north front, 1786. Image: © National Trust / David Cousins.

The ground floor plan gives the names of most of the rooms marked, but they are largely service rooms, so it would seem that the family rooms were mostly on the first floor. Only in the west range of the ground floor were there any polite apartments: a parlour in the south-west corner, and a library and bedchamber in the north-west corner. The grandest entrance to the house was that on the south side, where the doorcase is flanked by a pair of half-octagonal turrets that project above the crenellated three-storey south range. But according to the plan, this entrance led into a passage which in turn led into an internal courtyard. One possible place for a staircase leading up to the grander rooms above is the unnamed space at the south end of the passage behind the west front, but one wonders why it was not marked. The large windows on the south and west fronts suggest that the principal rooms were on the upper floors of these ranges, but in the absence of a plan we have no information about how they were arranged.

Bruton Abbey: drawing of the north and west fronts c.1748, which shows that the house had been radically altered before the Grimm views were drawn.

Further evidence is provided by a drawing of the house from the north-west, apparently 'taken in 1748', which shows a two-storey gabled west front with low towers at either end and lower outbuildings to either side, all set behind a high precinct wall. Grimm's view of the west front, made just forty years later, shows it as having a three-storey crenellated centre recessed between lower projecting wings that are stepped back in a complex pattern. We know from recent work on the site that the footprint of the house shown on the plan above and reflected in the Grimm drawings is what actually existed prior to demolition, so it is clear that between 1748 and the 1780s the west range had been substantially remodelled, adding an extra storey to the centre and the flanking towers. With the eye of faith, the complex recession shown by Grimm can also be traced in the earlier drawing, but the remodelling gave the elevation a much more powerfully Jacobean feel than it possessed before. It seems likely that the cue for the campaign was the 1763 fire, but it would be interesting to know who the architect was, for work in this style at this time is extremely uncommon.

Bruton Abbey: watercolour by S.H. Grimm of the west front, 1786. Image: © National Trust / David Cousins.

In 1776, the heirs of the last Lord Berkeley of Stratton sold the Bruton Abbey estate to the Hoares of Stourhead (Wilts). Understandably, they preferred their new house at Stourhead and its spectacular park, and in 1786 it was decided to reduce Bruton Abbey in size and dispose of the surplus materials. By 1789 the intention had changed to complete demolition, and the house was levelled to the ground and the building materials were sold by the cartload. However, the foundations were not robbed out and at least one cellar was simply covered over, only to be discovered in 1857 when part of its vault collapsed. By then, the site of the mansion and of the former abbey buildings had become part of the playing fields of the adjacent King's School.

A park of some 30 acres had apparently been created by the canons of Bruton around the abbey site, and was recorded in 1545-6. Within it lay pillow mounds for rabbits, and fishponds, both of which will have supplemented the monastic diet. Probably in the late 16th century, judging by dendrochronological evidence, a three-storey prospect tower (now in the care of the National Trust) was erected within the park, perhaps initially for use as a standing from which to watch deer coursing, although it was later used as a dwelling and a dovecote. By the early 18th century the park contained 60 acres and had been surrounded by a stone wall, and short avenues of trees had been laid out radiating from the tower. In the early 1760s the grounds immediately around the house had been landscaped with lawns, ponds, trees, and walks, but the gardens and deer park were abandoned when the house was pulled down in the 1780s. An obelisk, said to commemorate a favourite horse, was still standing in the park in the 1940s, but has since disappeared.

Descent: Crown leased 1541 and sold 1546 to Sir Maurice Berkeley (d. 1581), kt.; to son, Sir Henry Berkeley (c.1547-1601), kt.; to son, Sir Maurice Berkeley (c.1576-1617), kt.; to son, Sir Charles Berkeley (1599-1668), kt., 2nd Baron Fitzhardinge; to son, Sir Maurice Berkeley (1628-90), 1st bt. and 3rd Baron Fitzhardinge; to brother, John Berkeley (1650-1712), 4th Baron Fitzhardinge, who sold 1698 to Sir William Brownlow; sold 1717 to William Berkeley (c.1670-1741), 4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton; to son, Hon. Charles Berkeley (1701-65); to brother, John Berkeley (1697-1773), 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton; to Frederick Augustus Berkeley (1745-1808), 5th Earl of Berkeley, who sold 1776 to Henry Hoare (d. 1785); to daughter Anne, wife of Sir Richard Hoare (d. 1787), bt.; to son, Sir Richard Colt Hoare (d. 1838), bt., who demolished the house.

Berkeley family of Bruton Abbey, Barons Berkeley of Stratton and Viscounts Fitzhardinge

Berkeley, Sir Maurice (d. 1581), kt. Second son of Sir Richard Berkeley (d. 1514) of Stoke Gifford (Glos) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Humphrey Coningsby, kt, born before 1514. Probably educated at Strand Inn, London, to which he was attached by 1538, and later a member of the Middle Temple (admitted before 1551). He gained a position in the office of the protonotary of common pleas in 1535  thanks to the influence of his mother's second husband, Sir John FitzJames, who was Lord Chief Justice of King's Bench, 1526-39. In 1537 he moved into the employment of Thomas Cromwell, and then in 1539 into the royal court as a officer of the Privy Chamber (Gentleman Usher, 1539; Gentleman, 1550). This gave him an opportunity to launch a military career and he commanded a troop of horse in France in 1544, and was knighted on his return, 30 September 1544. He was appointed Constable of Berkeley Castle in 1544 and succeeded his elder brother as Chief Banner Bearer for England in 1545, a position to which he was reappointed by King Edward VI. Although in 1553 he signed the instrument settling the Crown on Lady Jane Grey, he seems to have played no further part in the succession crisis and was eventually pardoned. After the collapse of Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion, early in 1554, he was said to have met Wyatt accidentally and persuaded him to turn himself into the authorities, which may have helped his case. As a Protestant, he wisely kept a low profile during the reign of Queen Mary I, but he returned to favour under Queen Elizabeth I. He was MP for Somerset, 1547, Bletchingley, 1553, Somerset, 1563-66, 1572-81; JP for Somerset (from 1559); and High Sheriff of Dorset and Somerset, 1567-68. Portraits of Sir Maurice and his second wife, painted by Federico Zuccari between 1574 and 1580, are in the collection at Berkeley Castle. He married 1st, Catherine (d. 1559), daughter of William Blount (1478-1534), 4th Baron Mountjoy and widow of John Champernowne (d. c.1541) of Modbury (Devon), 'an accomplished lady', who was governess to the Princess Elizabeth; and 2nd, 1562, Elizabeth (d. 1585), one of Queen Elizabeth I's gentlewomen and the daughter of Anthony Sondes (d. 1575) of Throwley (Kent), and had issue:

(1.1) Sir Henry Berkeley (c.1547-1601), kt. (q.v.);

(1.2) Sir Edward Berkeley (c.1550-96), born about 1550; a professional soldier, who spent most of his life in Ireland and was a captain of foot by 1574; MP for Antrim in the Irish parliament, 1585, and for Old Sarum in the English parliament, 1586; Constable of Askeaton Castle (Co. Limerick) by 1586; in 1588 he served in the Netherlands under the Earl of Leicester, and was knighted; he lived latterly at Sollers Hope (Herefs); married Elizabeth Berkeley (fl. 1596), but at his death also left a mistress, Lucy Whitton, who was living at Askeaton Castle with their child; will proved in the PCC, 29 November 1596;

(1.3) Gertrude Berkeley (d. 1620); married, 8 April 1577 at Cloford (Som.), Edward Horner (d. 1606) of Leigh-on-Mendip (Som.), but had no issue; buried at Leigh-on-Mendip, 1620;

(1.4) Anne Berkeley (d. 1590); married, 16 June 1583 at Bruton, Nicholas Poyntz (fl. 1603) of Alderley (Glos), son of Matthew Poyntz, and had issue two sons and two daughters; buried at Alderley, 28 April 1590;

(1.5) Francis Berkeley (c.1555-1615?), born about 1555; an officer in the army (Capt.), who was serving in Ireland when mentioned in the will of his brother Edward, 1589; married, before 1597, Jane Loftus; said to have died at Askeaton, 20 December 1615; 

(1.6) Elizabeth Berkeley (1558-93), baptised at Bruton, 30 April 1558; married, 16 December 1579 at Bruton, as his fifth wife, James Percival (c.1528-94) of Weston-in-Gordano (Som.); buried at Weston-in-Gordano, 20 November 1593;

(2.1) Robert Berkeley (1563-1614), baptised at Bruton, 21 August 1563; educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1579) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1584); inherited the manor of Pattenden (Kent) from his father in 1581; MP for Chippenham, 1601; married, about 1590, Elizabeth Lougher, and had issue five sons and three daughters; died after 27 May 1614 and was buried in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral; will proved 13 June 1616;

(2.2) Margaret Berkeley (b. 1565), baptised at Bruton, 1 November 1565; death not traced;

(2.3) John Berkeley (b. 1567), baptised at Bruton, 9 February 1566/7; death not traced.

He leased the site of Bruton Abbey from 1541 and purchased the freehold in 1546, and built a new mansion house there, partly out of the abbey ruins. He built up an estate around Bruton and Brewham through further purchases in the 1540s and 1550s. He also built Berkeley House in Clerkenwell (Middx), shortly before his death.

He died 11 August 1581 and was buried at Bruton, where he and his two wives are commemorated by an elaborate monument attributed to William Arnold. An inquisition post mortem was held in 1581/2. His first wife was buried at Bruton, 25 February 1559/60. His widow died 16 June, and was buried at St James, Clerkenwell, 22 June 1585, where she was commemorated by another monument.

Berkeley, Sir Henry (c.1547-1601), kt. Eldest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley (d. 1581), kt., and his first wife Catherine, daughter of William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, born about 1547. Educated at the Middle Temple (admitted 1565). Keeper of Selwood Forest and Norwood Park (Som.) from 1581; MP for Somerset, 1584, 1586; JP (from 1582) and DL (1585-90, 1591-1601) for Somerset; High Sheriff of Somerset, 1587-88; DL for Worcestershire, 1595-1601; Colonel of the Somerset militia from c.1583. Knighted c.1585. He was evidently of a fairly litigious disposition, and pursued long-running feuds with the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Essex, the former concerning the rights he claimed in Selwood Forest. He married, 15 January 1575/6 at Great Witley (Worcs), Margaret (d. 1617), daughter of William Lygon (d. 1567) of Madresfield Court (Worcs) and widow of Sir Thomas Russell (d. 1574), kt., of Strensham (Worcs), and had issue*:

(1) Sir Maurice Berkeley (c.1576-1617), kt. (q.v.);

(2) Sir Henry Berkeley (c.1579-1667), of Yarlington House (Som.), born about 1579; educated at Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1590); an officer of foot in the army in Ireland (Capt.) until 1603; knighted in 1609; MP for Newtown (IoW), 1614, Somerset, 1626, Ilchester, 1628, 1640-41; an active Royalist in the Civil War, he was briefly imprisoned in 1646 and compounded for his estate for a fine of £1,187; in 1655 he was described as 'a desperate enemy to government, a wicked cavalier'; DL for Somerset from 1660; married, 1 February 1608** at St Margaret, Lothbury, London, Elizabeth (d. 1657), daughter of Henry Neville of Billingbear House (Berks), and had issue two sons and four daughters; buried at Yarlington, 31 August 1667; will proved 27 September 1667;

(3) Margaret Berkeley (c.1580-1657), born about 1580; married, 22 April 1600 at Bruton, Sir Lewis Pollard (1578-1645), 1st bt., of Kingsnympton (Devon), and had issue five sons and two daughters; buried at Bishop's Nympton (Devon), 7 August 1657; administration of goods granted to her son, 1657;

(4) Sir Edward Berkeley (c.1582-1654); third son, of Pylle (Som.), where he built a new manor house; knighted at Bruton, 13 September 1625; married, 29 January 1615/6 at St Cuthbert, Wells (Som.), Mary, daughter of Thomas Holland of Sussex and widow of [forename unknown] Kitson, and had issue at least three sons (from the eldest of whom descended the Berkeley (later Portman) family of Pylle, who will be the subject of a future post) and one daughter; buried at Pylle, 24 December 1654; will proved 2 March 1655.

He lived at Norwood Park, Glastonbury (Som.) until 1585. He inherited Bruton Abbey from his father in 1581, but only gained possession after his mother's death in 1585. In 1591 he bought the manor of Yarlington (Som.) and built a new manor house called Yarlington House.

He died about 27 September, and was buried at Bruton, 1 October 1601; his will was proved 21 October 1601. His widow died after 9 February 1616/7; her will was proved 28 June 1617.

* Some accounts of the family include another son, Sir Charles Berkeley, but I have found no evidence of his existence in contemporary records, and he is not mentioned in the wills of either parent.

** This is very probably the correct marriage, although the groom's name is given as Bartlet. The bride's name is given as Neville, though by some accounts she was the widow of William Glover.

Sir Maurice Berkeley (c.1576-1617) 

Berkeley, Sir Maurice (c.1576-1617), kt. Eldest son of Sir Henry Berkeley (c.1547-1601) and his wife Margaret, daughter of William Lygon of Madresfield Court (Worcs) and widow of Sir Thomas Russell of Strensham (Worcs), born about 1576. Educated at Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1590; BA 1593) and the Middle Temple (admitted 1594). He volunteered to serve in the expedition to Cadiz, 1596, and was knighted by the Earl of Essex while serving under him there, 27 June 1596. In 1598 he accompanied Sir Robert Cecil (to whom he was distantly related through his mother) on an embassy to France. MP for Truro, 1597-98, Somerset, 1601, 1614 and Minehead, 1604-10; after 1603 he opposed the union of England and Scotland, and particularly objected to the name of Great Britain being applied to the kingdom. JP, 1602-17 and DL, 1608-17 for Somerset; Colonel of Foot in Somerset militia, c.1605-09. He became a member of Queen Anne of Denmark's Council in 1603 , with oversight of her interests in Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire; and of the Council for Virginia, 1607. He was also a member of the Virginia Company from 1609 and of the East India Company from 1611, and became an undertaker in the plantation of Ulster, but failed to develop his estate in Co. Donegal and relinquished his lands there in 1613. He was a Puritan in religion. He married, by 1597, Elizabeth (1579-1626),  daughter of Sir William Killigrew MP (d. 1622), kt., Chamberlain of the Exchequer, and widow of Sir Henry Trelawny, and had issue:

(1) Sir Charles Berkeley (1599-1668), kt., 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge (q.v.);

(2) Henry Berkeley (c.1601-31?), born about 1601; second son, living in 1617 but said to have died at Abra (Phillippines), in about 1631;

(3) Maurice Berkeley (c.1603-33?); third son; educated at Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1615; BA 1618; MA 1621); perhaps the man of this name buried at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), 11 May 1633;

(4) Sir William Berkeley (1605-77); educated at Queen's College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1623; BA 1624) and the Middle Temple (admitted 1624); Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, 1625-46 (MA 1629); one of the Commissioners of Canada, 1632; a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King Charles I; author of The Lost Lady, a tragedy, 1638; Governor of Virginia, 1642-52, 1660-77; died 9 July and was buried at Twickenham (Middx), 13 July 1677;

(5) Sir John Berkeley (1607-78), kt., 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton (q.v.);

(6) Margaret Berkeley (1608-54), baptised at Brewham (Som.), 10 April 1608; married, 9 May 1629 at Bruton, Sir Popham Southcott (1603-43) of Bovey Tracy (Devon), and had issue at least two sons and one daughter; buried at Bovey Tracy, 27 April 1654;

(7) Jane Berkeley (b. 1610), baptised at Bruton, 27 December 1610.

He inherited Bruton Abbey from his father in 1601, but never gained possession of the house as his mother, who had a life interest, lived until 1617.

He died, 'heavily indebted' on 1 May and was buried at Bruton, 8 May 1617; his will was proved in the PCC, 28 July 1617 and an inquisition post mortem was held, 19 August 1617. His widow died between 18 April and 23 May 1626.

Charles Berkeley (1599-1668), 
2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge*

Berkeley, Sir Charles (1599-1668), kt., 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven. Eldest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley (c.1576-1617) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Killigrew, kt., born 14 December 1599 and baptised at St Margaret, Lothbury, London, 3 January 1599/1600. Educated at Eton and Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1615). At his father's death he was still a minor, and his mother and maternal grandfather purchased his wardship. He was knighted at Beaulieu, 26 August 1623. MP for Somerset, 1621-22, Bodmin, 1624-25, Heytesbury, 1625-26, 1628-29, 1661-68 and Bath, April 1640. DL for Somerset, 1625-37; JP for Somerset, 1643-45; JP for Somerset, Middlesex and Westminster, 1660-68; Col. of Somerset militia horse, 1625-37. He was involved the disafforestation of Selwood Forest, 1629-36, and perhaps on the basis of his experience there was made Ranger of Cranborne Chase by the Earl of Salisbury, 1637-45. An active royalist in the civil war, he was taken prisoner at Gloucester in 1642, suffered heavy losses to his estate, and eventually compounded on the Exeter Articles, 13 April 1646. He was made Comptroller of the Household to Prince Charles, 1648, and at the restoration he was re-appointed Comptroller to Charles as King, 1660-62; Treasurer of the Household, 1662-68. He succeeded his second son (by special remainder) in his Irish honours at the latter's death in 1665 as Baron Berkeley of Rathdown and Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven, and took his seat in the Irish House of Lords by proxy (as Viscount Berehaven), 23 May 1666. He married, 6 September 1627 at St Breage (Cornw.), Penelope (d. 1669), daughter of Sir William Godolphin of Godolphin House (Cornw.), and had issue:

(1) Sir Maurice Berkeley (1628-90), 1st bt., 3rd Viscount Fitzhardinge (q.v.);

(2) Charles Berkeley (1629-65), 1st Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven and 1st Earl of Falmouth (q.v.);

(3) Henry Berkeley (b. 1631), baptised at Bruton, 3 May 1631; died in infancy;

(4) Hon. Sir William Berkeley (1634-66), baptised at Bruton, 2 July 1634; naval officer (Lt., 1661; Capt., 1662, Rear Adm., 1665; Vice-Adm., 1666); knighted, 1664; governor of Portsmouth, 1665-66; killed at sea, 1 June 1666 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, August 1666;

(5) Elizabeth Berkeley (1635-36), baptised at Bruton, 17 October 1635; died in infancy and was buried at Bruton, 3 March 1635/6;

(6) Elizabeth Berkeley (1636-64), baptised at Bruton, 28 September 1636; married John Bridgeman of Prinknash (Glos), eldest son of George Bridgeman of Nympsfield (Glos), and had issue two sons; buried in Westminster Abbey, March 1664;

(7) Francis Berkeley (b. 1637), baptised at Bruton, 10 October 1637; died in infancy;

(8) Penelope Berkeley (b. & d. 1639), baptised at Bruton, 4 March 1638/9; died in infancy and was buried at Bruton, 25 May 1639;

(9) Penelope Berkeley (b. 1640), baptised at Bruton, 7 May 1640; died in infancy in or before 1643;

(10) Jane Berkeley (1641-1718), baptised at Bruton, 11 July 1641; died unmarried and was buried in Westminster Abbey, June 1718; will proved in the PCC, 12 July 1718;

(11) Penelope Berkeley (1643-45), baptised at Bruton, 30 September 1643; died in infancy and was buried at Bruton, 1645;

(12) Isabella Berkeley (b. 1646), baptised at Bruton, 4 January 1646/7; 

(13) Mary Berkeley (1648-52), baptised at Bruton, 17 February 1647/8; died young, 28 April 1652;

(14) John Berkeley (1650-1712), 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge (q.v.);

(15) Dorothy Berkeley (b. 1652), baptised at Bruton, July 1652; died in infancy.

He inherited Bruton Abbey from his father in 1617.

He died of a stroke at Whitehall, 12 June, and was buried at Bruton, 26 June 1668; his will was proved in the PCC, 27 June 1668. His widow was buried at Bruton, 29 April 1669; her will was proved in the PCC, 18 May 1669.

* This image is often reproduced as a picture of Charles Berkeley (1629-65), 1st Viscount Fitzhardinge, who was only 20 when it was painted by Sir Peter Lely in 1650. Since it clearly shows a man in middle age it must be of the 1st Viscount's father, who succeeded as 2nd Viscount on his son's death.

Berkeley, Charles (1629-65), 1st Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven and 1st Earl of Falmouth. Second son of Sir Charles Berkeley (1599-1668), kt. and his wife Penelope, daughter of Sir William Godolphin of Godolphin House (Cornw.), baptised at Bruton, 11 January 1629/30. He travelled abroad, 1644-48, when the Royalist sympathies of his father made it unsafe for him to be in England, and then served in Lord Digby's regiment in the French army (Cornet, 1652-56) before taking command of the Duke of York's Life Guards (Capt., 1657-58 (wounded, 1658) and 1661-65). He was a close friend of both King Charles II and the Duke of York and was Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of York, 1656-62 and Keeper of the Privy Purse, 1662-65. For his loyalty to King Charles II during his exile on the Continent during the Commonwealth, he was knighted at Whitehall, 30 May 1660, and he was later raised to the peerage of Ireland as Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven and Baron Berkeley of Rathdown, 14 July 1663, with special remainder to his father and the latter's issue. He was further advanced to be Earl of Falmouth and Baron Botetourt of Langport, without special remainders, in the English peerage, 17 March 1664/5. It was rumoured that the king intended to elevate him further to a dukedom, but was prevented by his friend's death. He was MP for New Romney, 1661-65; Lt-Governor of Portsmouth, 1662-65; a Commissioner in Ireland, 1663; envoy to the court of Louis XIV, 1661 and 1664. He was one of the peers given honorary degrees (MA) by the University of Oxford, 28 September 1663. He was loyal, hard-working, remarkably unacquisitive, and generous to others, and according to Burnet, "he would have proved one of the best favourites that ever was; that he would have promoted men of merit and have set the King on to great and worthy things, and that he would not have been insolent nor assumed much to himself, but that he knew his own defects, and would have depended on wiser men’s counsels". He married, 18 December 1664, Mary (1645-79), daughter of Col. Hervey Bagot of Pipe Hall (Warks) and granddaughter of Sir Henry Bagot, bt., of Blithfield (Staffs), and had issue:

(1) Lady Mary Berkeley (c.1665-93), born in 1665 or 1666; married, 2 May 1681 at Westminster Abbey (div. 1684) Sir Gilbert Gerrard (later Cosin-Gerard) (c.1662-c.1730), 2nd bt., of Fiskerton (Lincs) and Brafferton (Yorkshire NR), son of Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st bt., but had no issue; died 18 April and was buried at Bexley (Kent), 23 April 1693. 

He lived abroad until 1660, and then probably in Whitehall.

He was killed at the Battle of Southwold Bay, 3 June 1665, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 22 June 1665; on his death his English peerages became extinct but his Irish peerages devolved on his father. His will was proved 29 June 1665. His widow married 2nd, June 1674, as his first wife, Charles Sackville (1643-1706), Lord Buckhurst and later 1st Earl of Middlesex and 6th Earl of Dorset, and died 12 September 1679, being buried at Withyham (Sussex) the same day.

Berkeley, Rt. Hon. Sir Maurice (1628-90), 1st bt., 3rd Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven. Eldest son of Sir Charles Berkeley (1599-1668), kt. and his wife Penelope, daughter of Sir William Godolphin of Godolphin House (Cornw.), baptised at Bruton, 15 December 1628. He was just too young to participate in the Civil War and took no part in the Royalist conspiracies of the Commonwealth period, perhaps because his wife's stepfather, the Earl of Warwick, was Lord High Admiral and a prominent member of the government; but he took to the exiled court the news that General Monck and the Council of State had declared in favour of the restoration of the monarchy, 1660. He was rewarded with a baronetcy, created 2 July 1660, and a position in the household of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, although this did not last long as the Prince died of smallpox shortly afterwards. A Tory in politics, he was MP for Lanesborough in the Irish parliament, 1665-66, Vice-President of Connaught, 1662-66, and was a member of the Irish Privy Council from 1663. At the same time he was MP for Wells in the English parliament, 1661-79 and for Bath, 1681, 1685-87, 1689-90, and he managed to be active in both England and Ireland. A Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, 1660, 1668-85. Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, 1689-90 (DL, 1662-87); High Steward of Bath, 1685-88, 1688-90. An officer in the Somerset militia horse, 1660, and infantry, 1667 and later an officer in the Life Guards (Capt.), 1676-85. A Fellow of the Royal Society from 1667. He succeeded his father as 3rd Viscount Fitzhardinge, 12 June 1668. He married, 1 January 1648/9 at Bruton, Anne (1623-1704), eldest  daughter and co-heir of Sir Henry Lee (d. 1631), 1st bt., of Quarrendon (Bucks), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Elinor Berkeley (b. 1650), born 14 February 1649/50 and was baptised at Bruton; married, after 1674 and before 1690, as his second wife, Hugh Montgomery (1651-1717), 2nd Earl of Mount Alexander, but had no surviving issue;

(2) Ann Berkeley (1653-62), baptised at Bruton, 4 March 1652/3; died young and was buried at Bruton, 13 August 1662;

(3) Elizabeth Berkeley (1655-57), born 26 September and baptised at Bruton, 4 October 1655; died in infancy and was buried at Bruton, 7 March 1656/7;

(4) Hon. Jane Berkeley (b. 1659), baptised at Bruton, 29 November 1659; married, 24 May 1683 at St Dunstan-in-the-East, London, George Berkeley (d. 1685) of Stoke Gifford (Glos), eldest son of Richard Berkeley (d. 1671) of Stoke Gifford, but had no issue;

(5) Charles Berkeley (b. 1661), born 4 July and baptised at St James, Clerkenwell, 15 July 1661; died young.

He also had illegitimate issue by Mary Rutley (fl. 1690):

(X1) Francis Berkeley alias Rutley; mentioned in his father's will in 1690, when he was a minor;

(X2) Maurice Berkeley alias Rutley; mentioned in his father's will in 1690, when he was a minor.

He inherited Bruton Abbey from his father in 1668.

He was buried at Bruton, 10 June 1690, when his baronetcy became extinct and his peerage passed to his youngest brother; his will was proved 27 June 1690. His widow married 2nd, 4 September 1695 at Bruton, George Fenn, and was buried at Bruton, 23 November 1704.

Berkeley, John (1650-1712), 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge of Berehaven. Sixth and youngest son of Sir Charles Berkeley (1599-1668), kt. and his wife Penelope, daughter of Sir William Godolphin of Godolphin House (Cornw.), baptised at Bruton, 18 April 1650. Page of Honour to King Charles II, 1668-72. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1673; Capt., 1675; Lt-Col., 1678; Col. of the 4th Dragoons, 1685-88, 1688-1712; Brig-Gen., 1690), who fought at the Battle of Sedgemoor, 1685. He was joint Searcher of Customs at Gravesend, 1681-94 (a post he discharged by deputy) and Master of Horse to HRH Princess Anne, 1685-1702. Tory MP for Hindon, 1691-95 and for New Windsor, 1695-1710. A teller of the Exchequer, 1693-1712; Treasurer of the Chamber to HM Queen Anne, 1702-12. He succeeded his elder brother as 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge in 1690 and took his seat in the Irish House of Lords, 5 October 1692. Custos Rotulorum for Somerset, 1690-1712. He married, probably about 1675, Barbara (c.1656-1708), Governess to the young Duke of Gloucester (d. 1700), eldest daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, Knight Marshal, and sister of 1st Earl of Jersey, and had issue:

(1) Hon. Mary Berkeley (d. 1738); married, 27 May 1703 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Hall (Staffs), who in 1717 was raised to the Irish peerage as Viscount Chetwynd, with remainder to the heirs male of his father; died 28 February 1737/8 and was buried at Ingestre;

(2) Hon. Katherine (or Frances) Berkeley (d. by 1720); married, about May 1706, as his first wife, Sir Thomas Clarges (1688-1755), 2nd bt., of Aston near Stevenage (Herts), MP for Lostwithiel, 1713-15, and had issue two children; died before 1720.

He inherited Bruton Abbey from his elder brother in 1690 but sold it in 1698 to Sir William Brownlow.

He died of palsy, 19 December 1712, when his peerages became extinct, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where he is commemorated by a floor slab; his will was proved 3 January 1712/3. His wife died 19 September, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 22 September 1708, where she is also commemorated by a monument.

Berkeley, Sir John (1607-78), kt., 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton. Fifth and youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley (c.1576-1617) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Killigrew, kt., baptised at Hanworth (Middx), 1 February 1606/7. Educated at Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1623; BA 1625). He was employed as an ambassador to Queen Christina of Sweden, 1637-38. He became an officer in the army the following year, and took part in the campaign against the Scots in 1639, being knighted by the king at Berwick, 27 July 1639. He was MP for Heytesbury in the Short Parliament, April 1640, but was not elected to the Long Parliament which began later that year, and he was implicated in the Army Plot discovered by Parliament in the spring of 1641 and briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London before being released on bail. At the outbreak of the Civil War he conducted a supply of arms and ammunition to Holland for the Queen, whose confidence he retained throughout the Civil War. He then became an important military commander in the West of England, establishing Royalist control of Devon and Cornwall with a decisive victory over the Earl of Stamford at the Battle of Stratton (Cornw.), and capturing Exeter, although he was obliged to surrender the city on honourable terms, 13 April 1646. In the later stages of the war he was involved in trying negotiate terms for peace, and attended the king on his ill-fated flight from Hampton Court to Carisbrooke Castle (Isle of Wight). He then went into exile with the royal family, and became acting governor of the Duke of York and later Comptroller of the Duke's household, 1652. The duke seems to have trusted him, but Charles II was less certain of him, sensing that his loyalty was motivated as much by self-interest as anything. He was raised to the peerage at the Duke's request, as Baron Berkeley of Stratton*, 19 May 1658. At the Restoration, he was made a Commissioner of the Navy, 1660-64 and sworn of the Privy Council, 1663, and was also appointed Lord President of Connaught, Governor of Galway and Constable of Athlone Castle (offices which he discharged by deputy). He exchanged his navy position for the post of chief Commissioner for executing the office of Master General of the Ordnance, 1665-70, before being sent to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant, 1670-72. In 1675-76 he was ambassador to the court of Louis XIV at Versailles (France). He married, about 1660, Christian (1639-98), daughter and heiress of Andrew Riccard (c.1604-72) of London, president of the East India Co., the young widow of John Gayer (d. 1657) of Stoke Poges (Bucks), son of Sir John Gayer, kt., Lord Mayor of London in 1647, and of Henry Rich (1642-59), Lord Kensington, son of Robert Rich, 5th Earl of Warwick, and had issue:

(1) Charles Berkeley (1662-82), 2nd Baron Berkeley of Stratton (q.v.);

(2) John Berkeley (c.1663-97), 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton (q.v.);

(3) Hon. Anne Berkeley (1665-1709), baptised at Christ Church, Oxford, 26 February 1665; married, 3 September 1681 at Berkeley House, Piccadilly, Sir Dudley Cullum (1657-1720), 3rd bt., of Hawstead (Suffk), MP for Suffolk 1702-05 (who m2, 12 June 1710, Anne, daughter of James Wicks of Bury St. Edmunds), but had no issue; died 2 June 1709 and was buried at Hawstead;

(4) Maurice Berkeley (c.1667-c.1679), born about 1667; third son named in the will of his grandfather, Andrew Riccard, in 1672, but was presumably dead by 1679 when his siblings were parties to a lawsuit over the will but he was not;

(5) William Berkeley (c.1670-1741), 4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton (q.v.).

He built Berkeley House, Piccadilly, London to the designs of Hugh May in 1665-73, and bought Twickenham Park House in 1668. He also acquired important interests in the American colonies of Carolina and New Jersey, of which he was co-proprietor from 1663-78 and 1664-74, respectively. He sold his interest in New Jersey in 1674. After his death, his widow seems to have had a life interest in Berkeley House, which she sold to the Duke of Devonshire in 1696, but the family retained the rest of the large plot on which the house stood, and which was later developed as Berkeley Square, Berkeley St. and Stratton St.

He was buried at Twickenham (Middx), 5 September 1678, having died at the end of August; his will was proved in the PCC, 2 October 1678. His widow died 29 August and was buried at Twickenham, 1 September 1698.

* He took the topographical element of his title from the place where he won a military victory in 1643.

Berkeley, Charles (1662-82), 2nd Baron Berkeley of Stratton. Eldest son of Sir John Berkeley (1607-78), kt., 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, and his wife Christian, daughter and heiress of Andrew Riccard (c.1604-72) of London, and the widow of John Gayer (d. 1657) of Stoke Poges (Bucks), and of Henry Rich (1642-59), Lord Kensington, born 18 June 1662. He was at first an officer in the army (Guidon, 1677; Cornet, 1679; Lt., 1681), before switching across to join in the Royal Navy in 1681 (Capt., 1682). He succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Berkeley of Stratton, 29 August 1678. His parents attempted to arrange marriages for him while he was a child with Mary Davies (heiress to an estate including the sites of Buckingham Palace, Green Park and Millbank in London) and later with Lady Essex Rich (co-heir to the 3rd Earl of Warwick), but neither marriage was realised and he died unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Twickenham Park from his father in 1678, but died before coming of age.

He died of smallpox at sea, 6 March 1681/2, and was buried at Twickenham, 21 September 1682; administration of his goods was granted to his mother, 11 April 1684.

Berkeley, Admiral of the Fleet John (c.1663-97), 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton. Second son of Sir John Berkeley (1607-78), kt., 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, and his wife Christian, daughter and heiress of Andrew Riccard (c.1604-72) of London, and the widow of John Gayer (d. 1657) of Stoke Poges (Bucks), and of Henry Rich (1642-59), Lord Kensington, born about 1663. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1677). He joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in about 1680, and in the early 1680s was convicted of killing one Ralph Tonycliff, but was pardoned in May 1684. He was first commissioned in 1685 (Lt., 1685; Capt. 1686; Rear-Adm., 1688; Vice-Adm., 1693; Adm., 1693; Adm. of the Fleet, 1696). Although an officer in the Fleet assigned to guard against invasion from Holland in 1688, he quickly became one of the leaders of a Williamite conspiracy in the Navy and James II regarded him as one of the 'most factious and disaffected officers of the navy', but after William III seized the Crown he was regarded as a patriot and assured of rapid promotion. He also held army commissions in the Horse Guards (Cornet and Major, 1685), the 2nd Regt. of Royal Marines (Col.) and the 4th Horse, (Col., 1692-93). He was also Groom of the Stole and first Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Prince George of Denmark (1653-1708). A Tory in politics. He is recorded as fighting a duel with Col. Granville, 3 March 1691/2, and shortly afterwards married, 8 March 1691/2, Jane Martha (1672-1751), one of the Maids of Honour to Queen Mary II, daughter of Sir John Temple, kt., of East Sheen (Surrey) and sister of Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston, and had issue:

(1) Hon. William Berkeley (d. 1696); died in infancy and was buried at Twickenham (Middx), 11 April 1696;

(2) Hon. Mary Berkeley (d. 1696); died in infancy and was buried at Twickenham, 23 March 1696;

(3) Hon. Mary Berkeley (1696?-98), probably born in March or April 1696; mentioned in her father's will in April 1696 but died in infancy, 20 March 1697/8.

He inherited Twickenham Park from his elder brother in 1682, but sold it in 1685 to Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of Cardigan. 

He died of pleurisy, 27 February, and was buried at Twickenham, 5 March 1696/7; his will was proved in the PCC, 15 April 1697. His widow married 2nd, 12 May 1700 at Chiswick (Middx), as his second wife, Gen. Hans William Bentinck (1649-1709) KG, 1st Earl of Portland and had issue two sons and four daughters; in later life, as Countess of Portland, she was Governess to the daughters of King George II; she died at Whitehall, 26 June 1751, and was buried with her father at Mortlake (Surrey); her will was proved 20 July 1751.

Berkeley, Rt. Hon. William (c.1670-1741), 4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton. Fourth and youngest son of Sir John Berkeley (1607-78), kt., 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, and his wife Christian, daughter and heiress of Andrew Riccard (c.1604-72) of London, and the widow of John Gayer (d. 1657) of Stoke Poges (Bucks), and of Henry Rich (1642-59), Lord Kensington, born about 1670 and before 1672. Master of the Rolls in Ireland, 1696-1731 (at that time a sinecure, with the limited duties discharged by deputies); sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland, 1696. He succeeded his elder brother as 4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton, 27 February 1696/7. A Tory in politics, he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1710-14, First Lord of Trade and the Plantations, 1714-15, and was sworn of the Privy Council of Great Britain, 1710. He married, 30 July 1696 at All Saints, Wandsworth (Surrey), Frances (1673-1707), youngest daughter of Sir John Temple, kt., of East Sheen (Surrey), and had issue:

(1) Rt. Hon. John Berkeley (1697-1773), 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton (q.v.);

(2) Hon. Jane Berkeley (1699-1744?), baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 9 March 1698/9; unmarried and without issue; probably the woman of this name buried at Bruton, 12 April 1744;

(3) Hon. William Berkeley (1700-33), born 22 May and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 24 May 1700; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1721; Cdr., 1726; Capt., 1727); he was unmarried and without issue; died on board HMS Tiger, 25 March 1733;

(4) Hon. Charles Berkeley (1701-65), born 21 June and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, 25 June 1701; married, 13 June 1745 at Rushbrooke (Suffk), Frances, daughter of Col. John West, and had issue one daughter; buried at Bruton, 5 August 1765; will proved in the PCC, 27 September 1765;

(5) Hon. Frances Berkeley (1703-57), baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, 9 April 1703; married 1st, 3 December 1720 at Kensington (Middx), as his third wife, William Byron (1670-1736), 4th Baron Byron of Rochdale, and had issue at least four sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 31 July 1740, as his second wife, Sir Thomas Hay (d. 1769), 2nd bt., of Alderston (East Lothian); buried at Twickenham, 21 September 1757; her will was proved in the PCC, 2 November 1757;

(6) Hon. Barbara Berkeley (1704-72), born 8 November and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, 13 November 1704; married, 29 March 1726, John Trevanion (d. 1740) of Caerhayes (Cornw.), and had issue one son and two daughters; died in Bath (Som.), 16 March 1772, and was buried at St Michael Caerhayes (Cornw.); will proved in the PCC, 15 April 1772;

(7) Hon. Anne Berkeley (1707-39), born 24 June and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, 4 July 1707; married, 1737 (licence 21 May), as his second wife, James Cocks (c.1685-1750) of Bel Bar, near Hatfield (Herts), MP for Reigate, 1707-10, 1713-47, son of Charles Cocks MP of Powick (Worcs), and had issue one son; died in childbirth, 3 February 1738/9.

He inherited his family's London property (around Berkeley Square), probably on the death of his mother in 1698. He repurchased Bruton Abbey in 1717.

He died at Bruton Abbey, 24 March 1740/1, and was buried at Bruton, 28 March 1741; his will was proved 20 April 1741. His wife died following childbirth, 16 July, and was buried at Twickenham, 21 July 1707.

Berkeley, Rt. Hon. John (1697-1773), 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton. Eldest son of Rt. Hon. William Berkeley (c.1670-1741), 4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton, and his wife Frances, youngest daughter of Sir John Temple, kt., of East Sheen (Surrey), born 16 May 1697. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1713). Initially a Tory in politics, he became a friend and political follower of Lord Carteret, who sent him on an embassy to St. Petersburg in 1719 to offer British mediation between Russia and Sweden. MP for Stockbridge, 1735-41. He succeeded his father as 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton, 24 March 1740/1. Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, 1743-46. He was sworn of the Privy Council, 1752, and was Treasurer of the Royal Household, 1755-56, Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners, 1756-62, Constable of the Tower of London and Lord Lieutenant of Tower Hamlets, 1762-70. He was probably married, 24 March 1715/6 in the precincts of the Fleet prison, London to Elizabeth Bridges (d. 1776), but had no issue.

He inherited Bruton Abbey and the London estate from his father in 1741. By his will he left his estates (subject to the life interest of Mrs Anne Egerton, daughter of the Bishop of Hereford, who was the granddaughter of an aunt) to his distant cousin, Frederick Augustus Berkeley (1745-1810), 5th Earl of Berkeley.

He died 18 April 1773, when his peerage became extinct, and was buried at Bruton, 26 April 1773; his will was proved 13 May 1773. His widow died in December 1776, and was buried at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 6 January 1777.

Principal sources

Burke's Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies, 2nd edn., 1841, pp. 57-58; Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerages, 1883, pp. 46-47; G.E. C[okayne], The Complete Peerage, vol. ii, pp. 147-49, vol. v, pp. 407-10; P. Couzens, Bruton in Selwood, 1968; VCH Somerset, vol. 7, 1999, pp. 9, 18-42, 64; Sir J. Baker, The men of court, 1440-1550, 2012, p. 305; R. Gallannaugh, The Bruton Abbey project, n.d. [c.2012]; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entries on 1st and 3rd Barons Berkeley of Stratton; History of Parliament biographies of members of the family who were MPs.

Location of archives

Berkeley, John (1697-1773), 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton: political diaries, 1756-67 [Lincolnshire Archives, BNLW/4/5/4]

Coat of arms

Gules, a chevron ermine between ten crosses pattée argent.

Can you help?

• Can anyone throw any light on the architect responsible for the neo-Jacobean remodelling of Bruton Abbey in the 1760s?
• 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 5 August 2024 and was updated 6 August 2024.

(562) Bennett of North Cadbury Court and Sparkford Hall

Bennett of Cadbury and Sparkford 

The first of this family to achieve landed gentry status was James Bennett (1746-1815), a London wine merchant and grocer, who in 1792 invested some of his capital in the purchase of the reversion of the Cadbury House estate in Somerset. This meant that on the death of the current owner, which occurred in 1796, he came into possession of the estate, which consisted of most of the parishes of North and South Cadbury and Sparkford. It is a little surprising that James, who remained a partner in his London business until his death, chose to purchase an estate so far from the capital, but his use of the same coat of arms as the Bennetts of Widcombe Manor (with a crescent for difference) suggests that he may have wished to purchase a property in the area from which his forebears had come: the Widcombe family had long owned property at Maperton and around Wincanton, only a few miles from North Cadbury. Having acquired the estate, James invested in the improvement of Cadbury House, which was given a new garden front with a two-storey semi-circular bow. Very little is known about James' business, which was continued after his death by his partners, Henry Coape and Joseph Jellicoe, but it had obviously generated serious wealth, for the probate valuation of James' estate was £125,000. £50,000 of this was capital still invested in the partnership, and James' will gave his partners several years to release this to his executors.

James Bennett (1746-1815) and his family 
by Samuel Woodforde. Image: Tate Gallery. Some rights reserved.

James left two sons and four daughters, two of whom were married and had been provided for under their marriage settlements. His younger daughters were left portions payable from his personal estate, and his real estate was divided between the two sons. The elder, James Bennett (1792-1872), was left Cadbury House and the portion of the estate in North and South Cadbury, while the younger, Henry Bennett (1795-1874) was left the part of the estate in Sparkford, which did not have a house of any consequence but provided a useful income. At the time of his inheritance the younger James was an officer in the army, but he retired on half-pay in 1816 (when the army was being slimmed down after the defeat of Napoleon), and returned to Somerset to manage his estates. He and his wife produced five sons and two daughters, but his eldest son died in India while serving with the army, so the Cadbury estate descended to his second son, Frederick Wentworth Bennett (1827-81). He had a short career in the army too, but retired in 1850. Little is known about his career in the next twenty years, but after he inherited the Cadbury estate he indulged a taste for amateur dramatics and put on performances at Cadbury House for the entertainment of his tenants and neighbours, in which his two sons also took part. His elder son, Frederick James Wentworth Bennett (1856-1908) was noted more for his prowess as a composer and musician than as an actor, but he continued the tradition of entertainments at Cadbury, building a concert hall on the estate in the 1880s for these performances, and involving professional musicians as well as musically-talented neighbours. All went well until about 1890 when - perhaps as a result of the agricultural depression - he found that he could no longer afford to live at Cadbury House or to sustain the lifestyle of a gentleman. He resigned his commission in the Somerset Yeomanry Cavalry and leased out Cadbury House, and went to study at the Royal Academy of Music, presumably with a view to becoming a professional composer. By 1901 he was living with his wife and children in a suburban house in Bedford, but soon afterwards his wife left him on the grounds of his cruelty and adultery, and in 1906 they were divorced and she was granted custody of their children. F.J.W. Bennett then moved to Bournemouth with a mistress whom he passed off as his wife, but she too left him after many rows in 1908, taking most of their household furniture with her. By then he is said to have been an habitual drug user, and he died a couple of months later of an overdose. Press reports of the inquest into his death give the strong impression that the coroner who conducted it found the sordid descent of a gentleman of property into such circumstances unspeakably embarrassing, and prevented the full story being told in court; but happily the press had no such scruples and sought out the witnesses whom the court did not admit, and published the full story. The Cadbury estate was sold as soon as possible after his death, in 1910.

Henry Bennett (1795-1874), who inherited Sparkford at the tender age of 20, went to Cambridge and then travelled extensively on the continent with his mother. While they were in St Petersburg (Russia) he fell in love with Emily Moberly, the daughter of the British consul there, and they were married in 1821, before he returned to England and (reputedly at his father-in-law's request) took his degree and entered the church. For about ten years, he and his wife travelled around Europe to cities where he acted as Anglican chaplain to the British ex-pat community and visitors. This agreeable lifestyle took them to St Petersburg, Dresden, Genoa and Naples, and probably other places as well, but in 1836 the opportunity arose for Henry to appoint himself rector of South Cadbury and Sparkford, where the family owned the right of presentation. They lived in the rectory at South Cadbury and presumably employed a curate at Sparkford. In 1853, however, Henry built a new manor house at Sparkford and moved there. In 1866 he relinquished the living at South Cadbury and appointed one of his younger sons, the Rev. James Arthur Bennett (1835-90) in his place, but he remained rector of Sparkford until his death.

Henry and Emily had a remarkable total of fifteen children between 1822 and 1845 (who in turn gave him at least seventy grandchildren!), only one of whom died in infancy -  a considerable achievement when infant mortality was so high. Of the seven sons who survived to maturity, two (James and Charles) followed their father into the church and became the rectors of South Cadbury and Sparkford. James, at South Cadbury, became a noted antiquarian, and was one of the founders of the Somerset Record Society. Several of the daughters also married clergymen, one of whom rose to be Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. Of the other sons, William became a solicitor; Edward and George were civil servants (in Australia and England respectively) and Francis became a merchant in St Petersburg, like his maternal grandfather. The eldest son, Henry Edward Bennett (1822-97), who inherited the Sparkford Hall estate, was a barrister-at-law and a company director. In the 1850s he spent several years in Canada, where he met and married his wife Louisa, the daughter of the chief justice in Toronto. When H.E. Bennett died, he left the Sparkford estate to his seven surviving children jointly, and the property was let until the 1930s, when the remaining children agreed to sell it. Of the three sons who lived to maturity, the eldest became a solicitor in Frome (Som.) and Clerk of the Peace for Somerset, before retiring in 1905 and moving to Canada. The two younger sons both became distinguished clergymen. The Very Rev. Frank Selwyn Macaulay Bennett (1866-1947) was dean of Chester Cathedral between the First and Second World Wars and played an important role in ensuring English cathedrals were open to visitors, free of charge.

North Cadbury Court (aka Cadbury House), Somerset

The manor house, now known as North Cadbury Court but formerly as Cadbury House and The Manor House, is essentially a late 16th century U-plan Elizabethan stone mansion of two and a half storeys, although its west wing incorporates the roof (dated by dendrochronology to the years around 1300) and no doubt some of the fabric of its medieval predecessor. The house was evidently rebuilt between 1586 and 1592 for Sir Francis Hastings MP, a puritan pamphleteer and the brother of the 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, although Collinson's History of Somerset mentions a date of 1581 (perhaps a misreading of 1587) over one of the doors in the great hall. 

North Cadbury Court: late 17th century painting of the entrance front and church, showing the gatehouse demolished c.1715. 
Image: Matt Bristow © University of London.

North Cadbury Court: late 17th century painting of the garden front, showing the Tudor stair tower and gabled projecting wings.
Image: Matt Bristow © University of London

Two paintings, probably late 17th century overmantel panels in origin, that were returned to the house in the late 20th century, show the two main facades as they stood before later alterations. One shows the north front with the forecourt and two-storey gatehouse demolished in the first changes, made c.1715 for Francis Newman. The second painting shows the less regular south front overlooking an elaborate walled garden; this side was greatly altered in a radical, remodelling that was probably carried out by James Bennett (d. 1815) after he gained possession of the house in 1797. There was a careful restoration by Melville Seth-Ward in 1912-16 for Sir Archibald Langman, who also carried out alterations in the 1930s. The house was used as an evacuee nursery during the Second World War, and was a YMCA training centre between 1948 and 1966, before being returned to private occupation.

North Cadbury Court: entrance front in the early 20th century. Image: Historic England BB55/2934

The entirely Elizabethan north (entrance) front is of six bays and two storeys and attics, under four gables which do not align exactly with the bays below. The house is very similar in design to the five-bay Newton Surmaville House (Som.), built some twenty years later, which must have been modelled on North Cadbury but which is a slightly more sophisticated design. It is fenestrated with eight-light double-transomed windows to the outer bays and four-light transomed windows to the two central bays which contain the great hall. The second bay contains a porch projection, the fifth a balancing bay window lighting the dais end of the hall, both with classical cresting. Two shallow wings project to the south, and are unusual in being L-plan, making the south front two bays wider at either end than the entrance front. Any Elizabethan fabric in the south front is masked by the remodelling of c.1800, when the gap between the wings was infilled with a bow-fronted saloon and the facade was given plain sash windows and parapets concealing tiled roofs and dormers. The form of the roofs was further altered in 1914 to create a more unified, Georgian effect.

North Cadbury Court: garden front in the mid 20th century.

The Elizabethan plan was conventional in having a central two-storey great hall, perhaps reflecting the footprint of the medieval hall range, but the present hall is a neo-Elizabethan re-creation of 1912-16. At its high end, the windows of the two-storey bay contain original armorial glass showing the Hastings family connections. A substantial polygonal stair turret, which projected south from the hall at the high end and was lit by a window from the hall, was removed when the saloon was constructed c.1800. The service rooms lay to the east of the hall, the parlours and great chamber to the west. The great chamber has a 16th century fireplace, but the ribbed plaster ceiling looks like a 20th century re-creation. A long gallery (now subdivided), ran along the north front above the hall and great chamber, necessitating some resetting of the medieval roof timbers. A generously planned new staircase was inserted into the north end of the west wing in the 20th century, destroying any evidence of previous arrangements in this area. The ceiling above it has a huge plaster pendant copied from that at Chelvey Court (Som.). West of the staircase hall is an apsidal late 18th century cantilevered stone staircase, which was the main stair until 1914. The saloon in the centre of the south front, which was opened up through a screen of columns to the corridor behind in the early 20th century restoration, has an Adamish triglyph frieze with paterae and a yellow marble chimneypiece. Two early Georgian rooms have fielded panelling and bolection-moulded doorways. 

North Cadbury Court: the house and its setting as depicted on the 1st edn 25" plan of 1886.

In 1715, Francis Newman demolished the two-storey gatehouse which had faced the north front of the house, and replaced it with a pair of square Doulting stone ashlar gate piers. A late 17th century pair of gatepiers had already been constructed further north, and between the two and adjoining the churchyard to the west, he built an eleven-bay two-storey stable block of ashlar with re-used 17th century door heads. A concert hall was built north-west of the house before 1886, and fishponds were adapted as part of a woodland garden to the south-west, but unusually there seems no evidence of the grounds being landscaped in the 18th or early 19th centuries.

Descent: Mary, Lady Hungerford, Hastings, Botreaux and Moleyns, later wife of Sir Richard Sacheverell (d. 1534); to son, George Hastings (d. 1545), 1st Earl of Huntingdon; to son, Francis Hastings (1514-61), 2nd Earl of Huntingdon; to widow, Katherine (d. 1570) and then to son, Henry Hastings (c.1536-95), 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, who sold 1586 to brother, Sir Francis Hastings, who rebuilt the house; sold 1596 to Matthew Ewans (d. 1598) and his wife Frances (d. c.1611), later wife of Francis Kelway (d. 1602); to son, Alexander Ewans (d. c.1624); to son, Matthew Ewans (d. 1628); to son, Matthew Ewans (d. 1633); sold after his death to Arthur Duck (d. 1648); to daughters, Martha and Mary (d. by 1683), wife of William Harbord; to daughters Mary (d. 1684/5), Margaret and Grace, who all sold their shares by 1689 to Richard Newman, who settled the reunited estate on his son, Francis Holles Newman (d. 1714); to son, Francis Newman (d. 1768); to nephew, Francis Newman (d. 1796), whose heir, Francis Newman (d. 1818) sold the reversion of the manor in 1792 to James Bennett (1746-1815) and his wife Mary (1762-1853); to son, James Bennett (1792-1872); to son, Frederick Wentworth Bennett (1827-81); to son, Frederick Bennett (1856-1908); sold 1910 to Sir Archibald Langman (1872-1949), 2nd bt.; to widow, Eleanor, Lady Langman (1878-1963) and then to daughter Nora Elizabeth Ferrar (1919-2010), wife of John Archibald Montgomery (1912-90); to son, Archibald John Montgomery (b. 1957).

Sparkford Hall, Somerset

From the 17th century until 1815, the manor of Sparkford was attached to the North Cadbury Court estate and had no separate manor house. James Bennett (1746-1815), by his will, separated the two properties and bequeathed Sparkford to his younger son, the Rev. Henry Bennett (1795-1874), who after spending many years acting as a Protestant chaplain around Europe, settled back in Somerset. In 1853 he built, on a previously unoccupied site, a new square manor house of pale golden-grey Doulting stone, which has a three-bay entrance front and four-bay side and rear elevations. A large extension of two storeys and attics was added to the north side later in the 19th century as a service wing. 

Sparkford Hall: entrance front.

Sparkford Hall: the side and rear elevations.

The plain elevations are enlivened by an unusually deep stone cornice, and have wooden cross-windows on the ground floor and square four-pane sash windows on the first-floor, all set in moulded stone architraves. The window to the right of the front door was blocked up at some point and there is an intrusive asymmetrically-placed chimneystack rising between the porch and the windows to its right.

Sparkford Hall: staircase hall

The interiors are correspondingly simple, with decoration concentrated on the staircase hall in the centre of the house, where the staircase has a cast iron balustrade and rises under a coved ceiling with two large skylights in it to a first-floor balcony with a similar balustrade. The drawing room and dining room along the east front have the simplest possible cornices and can be thrown into one room for entertaining purposes. The library, in the north-west corner of the house, has bookcases recessed into the panelling. The grounds were landscaped at the time the house was built, and were described as having 'a park-like appearance' in the late 19th century, something which remains true today. The house has recently been available for private rental as a holiday house and for parties, but appears to have ceased trading in 2023.

Descent: built for Rev. Henry Bennett (1795-1874); to son, Henry Edward Bennett (1822-97), who left it jointly to his nine children, who let it and the survivors sold 1936 to Mrs. W.M. Watson; sold to Col. Aylmer (fl. 1947); sold to Brig. Edwyn Sandys Dawes Martin (b. 1895; fl. 1954); sold 1955 to Mr Stead Henry Stead-Ellis (1911-95)...

Bennett family of North Cadbury Court

Bennett, James (1746-1815). Son of James Bennett of London, citizen and salter, and his wife Elizabeth, baptised at Old Jewry Presbyterian Church, London, 30 September 1746. Apprenticed to his father, 1760. Wine merchant and grocer in London by 1766, latterly trading as Bennett, Coape & Jellicoe; the business was continued after his death as Coape & Jellicoe and he may have been largely a sleeping partner after moving to Somerset, although his will shows that he still had some £50,000 invested in the business at the time of his death. High Sheriff of Somerset, 1799-1800. He married, 14 August 1789 at Truro (Cornw.), Mary (1762-1853), daughter of Thomas Clutterbuck of Marazion (Cornw.), and had issue:

(1) Mary Bennett (1790-1867), born 1 November and baptised at St Gabriel, Fenchurch St., London, 24 November 1790; married, 6 July 1808 at Horsington (Som.), Rev. Thomas Wickham (1774-1855), of Horsington (Som.) and had issue four daughters; died at Weston-super-Mare (Som.), 12 December 1867; will proved 10 January 1868 (effects under £1,500);

(2) Eliza Bennett (1791-1873), born 8 November and baptised at St Gabriel, Fenchurch St., London, 1 December 1791; married, 13 September 1812 at North Cadbury, Capt. James Clarke (1788-1845) of Salcombe Regis (Devon), son of James Clarke of Ansford (Som.), and had issue two sons and six daughters; died 28 February and was buried at Bathwick (Som.), 5 March 1873;

(3) James Bennett (1792-1872) (q.v.);

(4) Rev. Henry Bennett (1795-1874) [for whom see below, Bennett family of Sparkford Hall];

(5) Juliana Sarah Bennett (1796-1878), born 26 December 1796 and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury, 28? March 1797; married, 8 August 1820 at St Marylebone (Middx), Charles Aaron Moody MP (1792-1867), son of Aaron Moody of Kingsdon (Som.), but had no issue; lived latterly at Chesterfield House, Tunbridge Wells (Kent), where she died 23 December 1878; will proved 12 April 1879 (effects under £45,000);

(6) Frances Anna Bennett (1799-1846), born 17 May and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury, 12 June 1799; married, 3 April 1827 at Bathwick (Som.), Rev. Richard Hill (1799-1880), rector of Timsbury (Som.), 1841-80; died Oct-Dec 1846; administration of goods granted in the PCC, July 1847 and a further grant was made 11 May 1881.

He purchased the reversion of the North Cadbury Court (aka Cadbury House) estate in 1792 and came into possession in 1796.

He died 8 January 1815 and was buried at North Cadbury, 18 January 1815, where he is commemorated by a funerary monument signed by Thomas Ashton of London; his will was proved in the PCC, 3 March 1815 (effects under £125,000). His widow died 14 June 1853 and was buried at North Cadbury.

Bennett, James (1792-1872). Elder son of James Bennett (1746-1815) and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Clutterbuck of Marazion (Cornw.), born 7 October 1792. An officer in the 14th Light Dragoons (Cornet, 1812; Lt., 1813; retired on half-pay 1816) and North Somerset Yeomanry Cavalry (Lt-Col.). JP for Somerset; High Sheriff of Somerset, 1836-37. He married, 11 January 1821 at Shepton Mallet (Som.), Annabella (1798-1878), daughter of Rev. William Provis Wickham (1767-1843) of Charlton House (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Annabella Mary Bennett (1823-81), baptised at North Cadbury, 16 May 1823; married, 5 August 1852 at West Lydford (Som.), Frederic George Urquhart (1829-81), son of Rev. Frederick Urquhart of Broadmayne (Dorset), and had issue one daughter; died 24 January 1881; will proved 12 March 1881 (effects under £800);

(2) James Wentworth Bennett (1824-49), baptised at North Cadbury, 11 July 1824; an officer in the army (Cornet, 1846; Lt. 1847); died 27 February 1849 and was buried at St John, Calcutta (India), the following day;

(3) Frederick Wentworth Bennett (1827-81) (q.v.);

(4) Charles Wentworth Bennett (1828-80), baptised at North Cadbury, 3 June 1828; lived at Pluckley (Kent); married, 15 April 1859 at Leith (Midl.), Mary Ann (1832-62), daughter of George Ellerton High of Leith, but had no issue; died 7 November 1880; will proved 9 September 1883 (effects £3,003);

(5) Edward Wentworth Bennett (1832-86), born 18 January and baptised at North Cadbury, 8 February 1832; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1850); then in the 2nd Somerset Militia (Ensign, 1854) and then in the army again (Ensign, 1855; retired 1858); died unmarried in London, 19 January 1886;

(6) Arthur Provis Wentworth Bennett (1834-73), born 11 October and baptised at North Cadbury, 26 October 1834; an officer in the Hertfordshire militia (Ensign, 1855); died unmarried, 27 April and was buried at North Cadbury, 3 May 1873; administration of goods granted 25 July 1873 (effects under £1,000); 

(7) Emma Bennett (1839-1908), baptised at North Cadbury, 11 May 1839; married 1st, 23 April 1861 at St Thomas, Portman Sq., Westminster (Middx) (div. 1882 on grounds of his cruelty and adultery), Capt. Gordon Stonhouse Hughes (1837-1901), son of Gen. Samuel Hughes, and had issue four sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 27 July 1885 at St Luke, Kentish Town (Middx), Reginald William Urquhart (1837-1910), son of Rev. Frederick Urquhart of Broadmayne (Dorset); died 8 December and was buried at Bexhill-on-Sea (Sussex), 11 December 1908; administration of goods granted 15 January 1909 (estate £273).

He inherited North Cadbury Court from his father in 1815.

He died 29 October 1872; his will was proved 22 January 1873 (effects under £30,000). His widow died 15 October 1878; her will was proved 7 December 1878 (effects under £1,500).

Bennett, Frederick Wentworth (1827-81). Second, but eldest surviving, son of James Bennett (1792-1872) and his wife Annabella, baptised at North Cadbury, 26 March 1827. Educated at Sherborne School. An officer in the army (Cornet, 1844; Lt., 1846; Capt., 1850; retired on half-pay, 1850). JP for Somerset (by 1860). He was interested in amateur dramatics, and organised occasional performances at North Cadbury for his tenants and neighbours. He married, 24 March 1855 at Sherborne (Dorset), Catherine Eliza (1827-75), only surviving child of John Croft of Wick, Brislington (Som.), and had issue:

(1) Frederick James Wentworth Bennett (1856-1908) (q.v.);

(2) Croft Charles Wentworth Bennett (1858-82), born 14 November 1858 and baptised at North Cadbury, 30 January 1859; an officer in the 1st Royal Lanarkshire Militia (2nd Lt., 1878); amateur artist and actor; died unmarried of typhoid fever at Lane's Hotel, London, 21 July 1882, and was buried at North Cadbury; administration of goods granted to his brother, 31 August 1882 (effects £1,325).

He inherited North Cadbury Court from his father in 1872, but sold some land in 1877.

He died 2 August 1881; his will was proved 3 August 1882 (effects £10,597). His wife died 5 July 1875; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 25 April 1876 (effects under £200).

Bennett, Frederick James Wentworth (1856-1908). Son of Frederick Wentworth Bennett (1827-81) and his wife Catherine Eliza, daughter of John Croft of Sherborne (Dorset), born 21 May and baptised at North Cadbury, 22 June 1856. An officer in the army (Lt., 1875; retired 1881) and North Somerset Yeomanry Cavalry (Lt., 1882; Capt., 1886; ret. 1890). JP for Somerset, 1882. A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was a noted amateur composer and musician, chiefly performing on the flute and cornet, and in 1882 he built a concert hall at North Cadbury at which he arranged concerts 'with the finest talent he could obtain'. After letting North Cadbury Court, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music. After his divorce in 1906 he set up home in a newly-built suburban villa in Bournemouth, with a lady who was understood to be his wife, but who was in reality a mistress, with whom he quarrelled repeatedly; she left him about two months before his death, taking most of the household furniture with her. In his last weeks he left alone, with no staff and only a few articles of furniture. He married, 12 June 1884 at Compton Pauncefoote (Som.) (sep. 1903; div. 1906 on grounds of his cruelty and adultery), Eleanor Catherine (1862-1944), daughter of Rev. James Senior, rector of Compton Pauncefoote, and had issue:

(1) Francis Montagu Wentworth Bennett (1885-1957), born 6 January 1885; died unmarried, 12 February 1957; will proved 10 May 1957 (estate £2,565);

(2) Victor Cyril Wentworth Bennett (1887-1918), born 4 June 1887; an officer in the merchant navy (second mate, 1908) and in the army in the First World War (2nd Lt., 1916; Lt., 1917); died of pneumonia, 13 October 1918 and was buried at Faenza Military Cemetery, Ravenna (Italy); administration of goods granted 22 May 1919 (estate £638);

(3) Una Violet Wentworth Bennett (1890-1970), born 18 January and baptised at St Stephen, South Kensington (Middx), 20 February 1890; married 1st, 7 September 1911 at St Stephen, South Kensington (div.), Percy Douglas Saxton (1883-1950), son of George Shadwell Saxton of the Ceylon Civil Service, and 2nd, Apr-Jun 1922, Maj. Frank James; died 27 August 1970; will proved 19 March 1971 (estate £10,014);

(4) Ivan Provis Wentworth Bennett (1891-1916), born 4 February and baptised at Compton Pauncefoote, 29 March 1891; educated at Wellington College; articled clerk to a solicitor; an officer in the army (Capt.); died on active service in France, 13 July 1916; administration of goods granted to his mother, 18 October 1916 (effects £308);

(5) Vere Dorothy Wentworth Bennett (1896-1973), born 1 November 1896; married, 24 February 1926 at All Souls, Langham Place, St Marylebone (Middx), Arthur Loraine Claude Fuller (1890-1958), private secretary, son of Henry Claude Fuller; died 2 December 1973; will proved 27 February 1974 (estate £25,257).

He inherited North Cadbury Court from his father in 1881, but let the house from 1890. Following his death, the estate was sold in 1910.

He was reputed to be an habitual drug user, and died of narcotic poisoning at his house in Bournemouth, on or about 21 June 1908 and was buried at North Cadbury; administration of his goods was granted 14 October 1908 (estate £13,080). His ex-wife died 22 May 1944 and was buried at North Cadbury; her will was proved 26 October 1944 (estate £1,056).

Bennett family of Sparkford Hall

Bennett, Rev. Henry (1795-1874). Younger son of James Bennett (1746-1815) and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Clutterbuck of Marazion (Cornw.), born in London, 30 October 1795 and baptised at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), 1 January 1796. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1815; LLB 1822). He travelled in Europe with his mother c.1820. Ordained deacon, 1822 and priest, 1823. Rector of South Cadbury (Som.), 1836-66 and Sparkford, 1836-74. He married, 16 July 1821 at the British chaplaincy in St Petersburg (Russia), Emily (1800-82), daughter of Edward Moberly, British consul in St. Petersburg, and had issue:

(1) Henry Edward Bennett (1822-97) (q.v.);

(2) Emily Sarah Bennett (1823-97), born 22 December 1823; married, 28 April 1846 at Sparkford, Charles Crokat (c.1815-88), of Sydenham (Kent), merchant, and had issue four sons and ten daughters; died 28 February and was buried at Parkstone (Dorset), 4 March 1897; will proved 4 May 1897 (effects £10,094);

(3) Julia Ann Bennett (1825-1901), born at Queen Camel (Som.), 1825; died unmarried at Villa Benedetta, Alassio, Liguria (Italy), 18 April 1901; will proved 1 July 1901 (estate £113);

(4) Helen Frances Bennett (1826-1905), born in St Petersburg, 13 July and baptised at the British chaplaincy there, 8 August 1826; married, 5 July 1853 at Sparkford, Very Rev. Richard William Church (1815-90), rector of Whatley (Som.) and later dean of St Paul's Cathedral, son of John Dearman Church (1781-1828), wine merchant, and had issue one son and three daughters; died 10 May and was buried at Whatley (Som.), 15 May 1905; will proved 12 July 1905 (estate £24,440);

(5) William Henry Bennett (1827-1914), born at Dresden (Germany), 11 January 1827; educated at Winchester College; solicitor; married, 17 November 1860 at Surbiton (Surrey), Helen Charlotte (1834-1923), daughter of Charles John Shebbeare, barrister-at-law, and had issue six sons and three daughters; died 15 June 1914 and was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery (Surrey);

(6) Edward James Bennett (1829-1920), born in Genoa (Italy), 13 March 1829; educated at Winchester College; emigrated to Australia, 1850, and worked in the office of the Surveyor General of Queensland; married, 18 November 1851 at Echunga, South Australia, Anne (1824-96), daughter of Robert Gooding and had issue five sons and five daughters; died at Brisbane, Queensland, 14 August 1920, and was buried at Toowong Cemetery;

(7) Mary Isabel Bennett (1830-64), born in Naples (Italy), 1830; married, 22 September 1857 at Sparkford, Rev. James Baker (1825-97) of Croft (Yorks NR), son of Rev. James Baker, and had issue one son and four daughters; died at Winchester (Hants), 11 January 1864;

(8) George Bennett (1832-1913), born at Naples (Italy), 2 August and baptised at the British chaplaincy in Naples, 2 September 1832; educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford (matriculated 1851; SCL 1854; BA and MA 1858), where he rowed and played cricket for the University; Fellow of New College, Oxford, 1855-88; civil servant in department of woods and forests; married, 14 October 1882 at St Peter, Bayswater (Middx), Mary Grafton (1849-1916), daughter of Charles Moberly of St Petersburg (Russia), merchant, but had no issue; died 11 March 1913; will proved 19 April 1913 (estate £2,308);

(9) Arthur James Bennett (1833-34), born at Woolstone House near Wincanton (Som.), 27 October 1833 and baptised at South Cadbury, 5 January 1834; died in infancy and was buried at South Cadbury, 7 May 1834;

(10) Rev. James Arthur Bennett (1835-90), born 12 June and baptised at South Cadbury, 26 July 1835; educated at Winchester College and Durham University (BA 1856); ordained deacon, 1858, and priest, 1859; curate of Ellingham (Northbld), 1858-60 and Alvechurch (Worcs), 1860-66; rector of South Cadbury (Som.), 1866-90; a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, who acted as an inspecting officer for the Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1873-91, was Hon. Sec. of the Somerset Archaeological Society, and one of the founders of the Somerset Record Society; married, 21 June 1864 at Halton in Lonsdale (Lancs), Margaret (b. c.1831), daughter of Cdr. Thomas Benn RN, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 5 December and was buried at South Cadbury, 11 December 1890;

(11) Elizabeth Mary Bennett (1836-1922), baptised at South Cadbury, 23 October 1836; married, 11 July 1861 at Sparkford, Canon Charles Marcus Church (1823-1915), principal of Wells Theological College, sub-dean of Wells Cathedral, and antiquarian, son of John Dearman Church (1781-1828), wine merchant, and had issue three sons and five daughters; died 27 April 1922; will proved 20 May 1922 (estate £4,593);

(12) Susan Fanny Bennett (1838-73), born 26 February and baptised at South Cadbury, 7 May 1838; married, 31 January 1861 at Sparkford, Archibald Hamilton Grahame (1823-89) of Stirling, accountant, son of Thomas Grahame WS, and had issue three sons and five daughters; died in childbirth, 19 June 1873;

(13) Agnes Emily Bennett (1841-99), baptised at South Cadbury, 25 August 1841; died unmarried at Alassio, Liguria (Italy), 29 September 1899; will proved 29 December 1899 (effects £120);

(14) Francis Cayley Bennett (1842-1919), born 21 July 1842; educated at Winchester College; merchant with Messrs. Cattley & Co., St. Petersburg 1858-89 (partner 1867-89, retired 1889); married 1st, 1868, Mary (1845-96), daughter of William Blessig of St Petersburg, and 2nd, 3 August 1898 at All Saints, Maidstone (Kent), Helen Drayton, daughter of Frederic Hailey of Hanwell, and had issue one son; died 25 April 1919; will proved 16 July 1919 (estate £5,099);

(15) Rev. Charles William Bennett (1845-1934), born 26 May 1845; educated at Winchester College; ordained deacon, 1871 and priest, 1872; curate of Chesterton (Staffs), 1871-73 and Beaminster (Dorset), 1873-74; rector of Sparkford, 1874-99 and vicar of Pilton (Som.), 1899-1934; rural dean of Shepton Mallet (Som.), 1917-23; married, 26 May 1864 at Earley (Berks), Mary Anne (1840-1903), daughter of Thomas Grahame WS; died 6 March 1934; administration of goods granted 25 May 1934 (estate £2,277).

He inherited the manor of Sparkford from his father in 1815, and built a new manor house in 1853. He lived at South Cadbury rectory from 1836-53.

He died 1 September, and was buried at Sparkford, 5 September 1874; his will was proved 6 November 1874 (effects under £7,000). His widow died 12 September and was buried at Sparkford, 16 September 1882.

Bennett, Henry Edward (1822-97). Eldest son of Rev. Henry Bennett (1795-1874) and his wife Emily, daughter of Edward Moberly, British consul in St. Petersburg (Russia), born 10 September 1822 and baptised at North Cadbury, 3 January 1823. Educated at Winchester, St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1840) and the Inner Temple (admitted 1845; called 1848). Barrister-at-law. He was sworn in as a special constable during the Chartist riots, 1848, and was later an officer in the Somerset militia (Lt., 1868; Capt., 1872); JP for Somerset (by 1867). A director of the Albion Life Assurance Society (retired 1875) and other companies. He married, 26 November 1857 at Toronto Cathedral (Canada), Louisa Birchall (1834-92), daughter and co-heiress of Sir James Buchanan Macaulay, chief justice of Toronto, and had issue:

(1) Emily Louisa Bennett (1858-1937), born in Canada, 19 December 1858; married, 14 June 1900 at Sparkford, Rev. Trevor Griffiths (1871-1947), rector of Sparkford (Som.), but had no issue; died 14 September 1937 and was buried at Sparkford;

(2) Kate Adelaide Bennett (1860-66), born 13 December 1860; died young, 20 April and was buried at Sparkford, 28 April 1866;

(3) Harry Macaulay Bennett (1863-1920), born 7 February 1863; educated at Winchester and St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1881; BA 1884); admitted a solicitor, 1888 and practised at Frome (Som.); appointed Clerk of the Peace for Somerset and Clerk of Somerset County Council (retired 1905); emigrated to Canada, 1906; married, 7 November 1901 at Shepton Mallet (Som.), Evelyn (b. c.1866), third daughter of George Mackenzie Mackay of Shepton Mallet, and had issue two sons; died in Vancouver, 27 September 1920 and was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada);

(4) James Buchanan Macaulay Bennett (b. & d. 1865), born 4 July and baptised at St Michael & All Angels, Paddington (Middx), 2 August 1865; died in infancy. 10 August 1865;

(5) Very Rev. Frank Selwyn Macaulay Bennett (1866-1947), born 28 October and baptised at Torquay (Devon), 28 December 1866; educated at Sherborne School and Keble College, Oxford (matriculated 1885; BA 1889; MA 1905); ordained deacon, 1892 and priest, 1894; secretary and chaplain to Bishop of Chester, 1892-97; curate of Eccleston (Ches.) and librarian to Duke of Westminster, 1895-97; vicar of Portwood (Ches), 1897-1907 and Christ Church, Chester, 1907-10; rector of Hawarden (Flints), 1910-20 and chaplain to Bishop of Chester, 1913-20; dean of Chester Cathedral, 1920-37, in which capacity he inspired and led a national movement to make cathedrals accessible to the general public 'without fence or fee', that is with long opening hours and free of charge; he was a freemason from 1911; author of M. Coué and his gospel of health (1924), A soul in the making (1925); The nature of a cathedral (1925), Expecto - an essay towards a biology of the world to come (1926) and The resurrection of the dead (1929), among other works; married, 15 November 1900 at Portwood (Ches.), Ida (1873-1951), third daughter of Clegg Livesey of Arden, Bredbury, and had issue four children, of whom one son survived infancy; died 14 November 1947 and was buried at Sparkford; will proved 30 January 1948 (estate £7,486);

(6) Mildred Rachel Bennett (1868-1954), born 11 June 1868; art lecturer and artist; apparently lived latterly with her cousin, Evelyn Mary Bennett (1864-1949) at Holmbury St Mary (Surrey); died unmarried, 22 February 1954; will proved 29 June 1954 (estate £446); 

(7) Edith Mary Bennett (1869-1946), born 13 October 1869; lived with her brother George and probably acted as his housekeeper; died unmarried, 2 February 1946, and was buried at Sparkford;

(8) Beatrice Marian Bennett (1871-1932); lived with her brother George; died unmarried, 30 October 1932, and was buried at Sparkford; will proved 6 December 1932 (estate £944);

(9) Rev. George Edward Macaulay Bennett (1873-1954), born 3 July 1873; ed. at Clifton College, Bristol and Lincoln College, Oxford (matriculated 1892; BA 1897; MA 1907), ordained deacon, 1898 and priest, 1899; vicar of Portwood (Ches.), 1907-11 and of Christ Church, Chester, 1911-34; rural dean of Chester, 1922-34; hon. canon of Chester Cathedral, 1927; vicar of Wilton (Som.), 1934-43; died unmarried, 30 May 1954 and was buried at Sparkford; will proved 29 July 1954 (estate £3,663).

He lived for some years in the 1850s in Upper Canada. He inherited Sparkford Hall from his father in 1874, but after his wife's death moved to a house in Chester. At his death Sparkford was left to his surviving children jointly.

He died 22 May and was buried at Sparkford, 26 May 1897; his will was proved 26 July 1897 (effects £2,278). His wife died 12 September and was buried at Sparkford, 17 September 1892.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1925, p. 116; A.J. Jewers, 'Heraldry in the Manor House of North Cadbury, with the heraldry and monuments in the church', Proceedings of Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Soc., 1890, pp. 137-67; J. Orbach & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Somerset - South and West, 2014, pp. 488-89; M. Siraut (ed.), VCH Somerset, vol. xi, 2015, pp. 66-70, 172-73.

Location of archives

Bennett family of North Cadbury Court and Sparkford Hall: deeds and papers, 1799-1878 [Dorset History Centre, D 148/12/62-67]

Coat of arms

Gules, a bezant between three demi-lions rampant argent, a crescent for difference.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide fuller information about the 20th and 21st century ownership of Sparkford Hall?
• 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 8 November 2023 and was updated 3 October 2024.