Mural monument to Richard Berkeley (1579–1661), MP, St Michael's Church, Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire. He married firstly Mary Roe (1579-1615), a daughter of Robert Roe/Rowe, Esq., of the City of London, Haberdasher. (www.historyofparliamentonline.org [1]) He survived his wife by 46 years. Monument erected by their youngest and only surviving son Robert Berkeley. (Per inscription on top brass tablet).

The bottom brass tablet is in memory of Henry Berkeley, Esq. (1559-1607) (father of the above Richard Berkeley (1579–1661)), son and heir of Sir Richard Berkeley (1531–1604) of Stoke Gifford. Henry Berkeley, Esq. (1559-1606/7) married Muriel Throckmorton, a daughter of Thomas Throgmorton, Esq. (1534-1615), of Coughton Court, Warwickshire, twice MP for Warwickshire (in 1558 and 1559) eldest son and heir of Sir Robert Throckmorton (d.1581) of Coughton by his wife Muriel Berkeley, a daughter of Thomas Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley (Source: History of Parliament biography of "THROCKMORTON, Thomas (1534-1615), of Coughton, Warws. and Weston Underwood, Bucks"[2]). Henry Berkeley, Esq. (1559-1607) had three surviving children: Richard Berkeley (1579–1661), of Stoke Gifford and Berkeley Plantation, MP; Elizabeth Berkeley; Margaret Berkeley (wife of John Tomlism of Bristol). (Per inscription on bottom brass tablet; also per www.tudorplace.com[3]). The brass tablets appear not to be in their original positions, or possibly are not original, as the lower one refers to an earlier member of the family than the top tablet.

Genealogy

The Berkeley family of Stoke Gifford was descended from Maurice de Berkeley (d.1347), killed at the Siege of Calais, who had acquired the manor of Stoke Gifford in 1337, the second son of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley, 7th feudal baron of Berkeley (1271–1326), Maurice the Magnanimous, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. See pedigree in Cokayne, G. E. & Gibbs, Vicary, eds. (1912). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct or dormant (Bass to Canning). Vol.2 (2nd ed.). London: The St. Catherine Press, p.234.

• Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley, 7th feudal baron of Berkeley (1271–1326), Maurice the Magnanimous, of Berkeley Castle. His eldest son and heir was Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley, 8th feudal baron of Berkeley (1293/6–1361) Thomas the Rich. His second son was:

• Maurice de Berkeley (d.1347), killed at the Siege of Calais, who had acquired the manor of Stoke Gifford in 1337. He is commemorated by his coat of arms in the great east window of Gloucester Cathedral, with the arms of other knights who fought at the Battle of Crecy and the Calais campaign. He married Margery De Vere, possibly a daughter of Alphonse De Vere, Knight, of Aston Sanford, Buckinghamshire and Great Hormead, Hertfordshire.

• Sir Thomas Berkeley (d.1361)^[1][2] of Uley and Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire, who married Katherine Botetourt (d.1388), one of the three daughters and co-heiresses of w:John Botetourt, 2nd Baron Botetourt (d.1385). He thus inherited a one third claim to the barony of Botetourt. His only son and heir was:

• Sir Maurice Berkeley (1358-1400), of Uley and Stoke Gifford, MP for Gloucestershire in 1391 (History of Parliament biog[4]). He was a great-grandson of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley, 7th feudal baron of Berkeley (1271–1326), Maurice the Magnanimous, of Berkeley Castle. "His paternal inheritance included the manors of Kings Weston, Aylburton, Bradley and Uley, in Gloucestershire, Kingston Seymour in Somerset, and Brigmerston and Milston in Wiltshire, besides smaller properties in Hampshire. In addition, when his relative w:John Maltravers, 1st Baron Maltravers (1290?–1364) (the husband of Milicent de Berkeley, a daughter of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley) died without male issue in 1364, he inherited the manors of Rockhampton, Stoke Gifford and Wallscourt (Gloucestershire), under the terms of an entail". (History of Parliament biog) He married Joan Dynham (d.1412), daughter of Sir John Dynham of Hartland, Devon. His only son^[3] and heir was:

• Sir Maurice Berkeley (9 Feb 1401-1464), MP for Gloucestershire in 1425 and 1429. Born posthumously. "He was made a ward of one of the ‘King’s knights’, Sir Francis Court, and was destined to be even wealthier than his father, for in 1407, when his father's first cousin Joyce, Lady Burnell (wife of Hugh Burnell, Baron Burnell and daughter of John de Botetourt (dvp.1369), son and heir apparent of the 2nd Baron) suo jure Baroness Botetourt, died childless, he inherited a third part of the abeyant barony of Botetourt. On proving his age in 1423 he took possession of both the Berkeley and his share of the Botetourt estates, and as Sir Maurice Berkeley he was returned for Gloucestershire to the Parliaments of 1425 and 1429". (History of Parliament biog). He married Ellen Montfort, a daughter of William Montfort/Mountfort (d.1452), of Coleshill in Arden, Warwickshire, 8 times a MP for Warwickshire.^[4] William Montfort was buried at St Mary's Church, Aldridge, Staffordshire. The effigies of Sir Maurice Berkeley and Ellen Mountford survive under an elaborate stone canopy in the chancel of The Gaunts Chapel (now St Mark's Church) in Bristol (see[5])

• William Berkeley (d.1501) of Stoke Gifford, married Anne Stafford (origins uncertain), possibly a daughter of Sir Humphrey Stafford (1400-1467) of Grafton, Worcestershire (per www.tudorplace.com [6]), Governor of Calais. (see http://www.multiwords.de/genealogy/berkeley04.htm). She cannot be the same lady who re-married to w:John Clinton, 6th Baron Clinton (c.1429-1488), of Maxstoke, who died before William Berkeley.

• Richard Berkeley (d.1514) of Stoke Gifford married Elizabeth Coningsby, a daughter of Sir Humphrey Coningsby (c.1459-1535), a Justice of the King's Bench. (see http://www.multiwords.de/genealogy/berkeley04.htm)

• Sir John Berkeley (d. 1546) of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire, married Isabel Denys, a daughter of Sir w:William Denys (d. 1535) of Dyrham, Gloucestershire, by Anne Berkeley, daughter of Maurice Berkeley, de jure 3rd Baron Berkeley (1436–1506). His younger brother was Sir Maurice Berkeley (c.1514–1581) of Bruton in Somerset and of Berkeley House, Clerkenwell, Middlesex, who served as Chief Banner Bearer of England to Kings Henry VIII and Edward VI and to Queen Elizabeth I. The family of "Berkeley of Bruton", which Maurice founded, included many notable figures until the 18th century, including five Barons Berkeley of Stratton (extinct in 1773), and four Viscount Fitzhardinges (extinct in 1712), as well as William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia. Today Berkeley Square, Berkeley Street, Bruton Street and Stratton Street in Mayfair cover the site of the demolished Berkeley House, their London townhouse. Sir John Berkeley's son and heir was:

• • Sir Richard Berkeley (1531 – 1604) of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire, MP for Gloucestershire in 1604, Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1564, and Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1568. In 1595 he was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London. In 1553, aged just 22 just after coming out of wardship and gaining possession of his inheritance, he rebuilt the manor house at Stoke Gifford. His effigy is in the Gaunts Chapel, Bristol. Sir Richard Berkeley married firstly Elizabeth Read, daughter of William Read of Milton (or Mitton^[5]), Esq., by whom he had issue:
    • Henry Berkeley (died 1606), of Stoke Gifford, who married Mary (or Mirryell) Throckmorton, daughter of Thomas Throckmorton of w:Coughton Court, Warwickshire. He was father of
      • Richard Berkeley (1579–1661), MP, mural monument in St Michael's Church, Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire. He married firstly Mary Roe/Rowe (1579-1615), a daughter of Robert Roe/Rowe, Esq., of the City of London, Haberdasher. (www.historyofparliamentonline.org [7]). His eldest son and heir apparent was:
        • (Predeceased father - Sir Maurice Berkeley (1599–1654), a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire. He married Elizabeth Cooke, a daughter of Sir Edward Cooke of Stoke, a Privy Counsellor to King James). His son and heir to his grandfather Richard Berkeley (1579–1661) was:
          • Richard Berkeley of Stoke Gifford, who married Elizabeth Symmes, a daughter of Harry Symmes of Frampton Cotterell in Gloucestershire. His eldest son died in 1685. His second son and eventual heir was:
            • w:John Symmes Berkeley, Esquire (1663–1736), of Stoke Gifford, twice MP for Gloucestershire, the lord of the manor of Stoke Gifford whose house was drawn by Johannes Kip in 1707. He married secondly Elizabeth Norborne, a daughter and co-heiress of Walter Norborne of Calne, Wiltshire and the widow of Edward Devereux, 8th Viscount Hereford.
              • w:Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (c.1717-1770), courtier, member of parliament, and governor of the colony of Virginia. The barony of Botetourt was called out of abeyance in 1764. He rebuilt Stoke Gifford House. Died unmarried, last in the senior male line. His heir was his sister Elizabeth Berkeley (Duchess of Beaufort), the wife of Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort.

Heraldry

• Top: Gules, a chevron ermine between ten crosses pattée argent (Berkeley of Bruton Abbey, Somerset) quartering Or, a saltire engrailed sable (Botetourt), with crest above: A bishop's mitre (Berkeley).
• Top cornice:

• Left: Berkeley
• Centre: Berkeley impaling Gules, a quatrefoil or (Roe of London)
• Right: Gules, a quatrefoil or (Roe of the City of London) (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.866 "Roe of Higham Hall, Essex & Muswell Hill, Middlesex")

• Mid-cornice:

• Left: Berkeley
• Right: Berkeley impaling Gules, on a chevron argent three bars gemelles sable (Throckmorton)

Top inscription

To Richard Berkeley, Esqr, and Mary his wife (daughter of Robert Roe of London, Esqr) deare father and mother, a clue to their love, of whom Robert Berkeley their youngest son and only now living hath sett up this remembrance of them. Shee when shee had passed neare 36 yeres in the exercise of religioues and morall duties and they boathe had lived together almost halfe a yeare upwards of 17 (without knoweing the other 2 whose comforts they envyed) died the 24th of July in the yeare of our Lord 1615. He lived upwards of 46 yeres after and dyed in the 83d yere of his age the 12th day of May 1661. Theire soules are in Heaven theire bodies lye here. Here hee layd hers and here when death should divide him his will was his bodie should be laid, trusting in God's mercy his soule should soone be with hers, and theire bodies in the meanetime lyinge here together, together from thence at our Saviour's call should arise for ever after bodies and soules to enjoy the all happying vision

Bottom inscription