Sir Thomas Berkeley | |
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![]() Berkeley of Wymondham arms:- Quarterly. 1&4: gules, a chevron between ten cinquefoils argent. BERKELEY: 2&3: gules, a lion rampant ermine, crowned or. HAMELYN. [1] | |
Sheriff of Rutland | |
In office 1443–1444 [2] | |
Monarch | Henry VI |
Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire | |
In office 1454–1455 [2] | |
Monarch | Henry VI |
M.P. for Leicestershire | |
In office 1472–1475 [2] | |
Monarch | Edward IV |
Personal details | |
Born | Wymondham,Leicestershire |
Died | 1488 [3] |
Spouse | Emma/Petronella Brokesby |
Children | Maurice Berkeley Lawrence Berkeley Elizabeth Berkeley Edith Berkeley Joyce Berkeley ? Berkeley |
Parent(s) | Sir Laurence Berkeley [3] & Joan Woodford [3] |
Sir Thomas Berkeley of Wymondham,Leicestershire (died 1488) was an English lawyer,soldier and politician. He represented Leicestershire in Parliament and served as Sheriff for Rutland,Warwickshire and Leicestershire.
Berkeley was the eldest son of Laurence Berkeley of Wymondham,Leicestershire,who died in France in 1458, [3] and wife Joan Woodford,sister of the Agincourt veteran [4] Robert Woodford of Sproxton,Leicestershire,Knight Banneret. [4] [3] He was a member of the House of Berkley.
Berkeley was the great-great-grandson of Thomas Berkeley of Coston,Leicestershire,second son of Thomas de Berkeley,1st Baron Berkeley,and his wife Joan de Ferrers (d. 1309),daughter of William de Ferrers,5th Earl of Derby. [3]
Berkeley moved to Wymondham after marrying Isabel Hamelin,daughter of Sir John Hamelin of Wymondham,and niece of Sir William de Hamelin. [5] [3] [nb 1] Their coat of arms was later transmitted to the Hamlyn baronets. [7]
Berkeley was a Justice of the Peace for Leicestershire from 1442 to 1458,and Sheriff of Rutland between 1443 and 1444. [2] He was admitted as a Fellow of Lincoln's Inn in 1449 by special admission. [8]
In December 1457,Berkeley was appointed as one of Leicestershire's Commissioners of Array. The commissioners raised 226 archers to help repel Richard,Duke of York's Yorkist rebellion and again in 1459. [6] Berkeley was knighted by November 1460—perhaps having taken part in the Battle of Northampton,When the Battle of Towton ended Henry VI's reign,Berkeley accepted Edward IV as King. [6]
Towards the end of 1465,Berkeley became involved in a dispute with John Bourchier over the wardship and marriage of the underage grandson of former member of parliament Manser Marmion,whom Berkeley was accused of abducting. [9] The Marmion estate was composed of over 2,500 acres spread over several counties. As well as being an attractive prize,it was owned by way of a complex set of homages and services to multiple overlords. [9] It would seem Berkeley won and later wed his daughter Edith to the Marmion heir. [10] [11] [12]
In 1468,Berkeley accused William Purley of entering his land two years earlier and stealing 20 hares,200 rabbits,12 pheasants and 20 partridges using swords,bows,and arrows. [13] Purley was either found not guilty or let off for some reason as he appears to have later married Berkeley's daughter Joyce. [10] [14] [ non-primary source needed ]
Berkeley was appointed as Sheriff of Rutland in 1471 and as a Justice of the Peace for Rutland in 1470–1475. [2] Berkeley served in Parliament for Leicestershire between 1472 and 1475. [2]
Berkeley died in 1488. He is buried in an alabaster topped altar tomb with his wife Petronella in St Peter's Church,Wymondham.
Berkeley married Emma [1] /Petronella Brokesby or Brooksby, [3] daughter of William Brokesby, [3] Marshall of the King's Hall,and wife Joan Alderwick,and had the following issue:
Berkeley was an ancestor of Henry Berkeley,1st Baronet of Wymondham. [3]
Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland, KG (1578–1632) was an English nobleman. Despite a brief imprisonment for his involvement in the Essex Rebellion of 1601, he became prominent at the court of James I. He lived at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. In 1618 three women, the "Witches of Belvoir", were accused of witchcraft for having allegedly caused the deaths of his two young sons.
John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he inherited the title Earl of Rutland on the death of his second cousin George Manners, 7th Earl of Rutland.
Wymondham is a village in the Borough of Melton in Leicestershire, England. It is part of a civil parish which also covers the nearby hamlet of Edmondthorpe. The parish has a population of 623, increasing to 632 at the 2011 census. It is close to the county boundaries with Lincolnshire and Rutland, nearby places being Garthorpe, Teigh and South Witham.
Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley, The Wise, feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England, was a peer, soldier and diplomat. His epithet, and that of each previous and subsequent head of his family, was coined by John Smyth of Nibley (d.1641), steward of the Berkeley estates, the biographer of the family and author of "Lives of the Berkeleys".
Sir William Hussey of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, SL was an English lawyer who served as Attorney General and as Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
Robert Marmion, 3rd Baron Marmion of Tamworth was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and itinerant justice. He was reputed to have been the King's Champion but his grandson, Phillip, is the first Marmion to have a solid claim to this. Robert was descended from the lords of Fontenay-le-Marmion in Normandy, who are said to have been hereditary champions of the Dukes of Normandy.
Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden was an English politician. He was Lord Lieutenant of Rutland, Custos Rotulorum of Rutland and the Member of Parliament for Rutland.
George Carleton was a lawyer, landowner and Member of Parliament with strong Puritan sympathies. It has been suggested that he was the secret author of the Marprelate tracts, and both he and his third wife were prosecuted for their involvement in the Marprelate controversy. Ordered to appear daily before the Privy Council in April 1589, he died in early 1590 before a decision in the proceedings against him had been reached.
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There have been four different baronies held by the Marmion family, two feudal baronies, one purported barony created by Simon de Montfort and one barony by writ.
John Boyville (1391-c.1467) was a major landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Leicestershire and for Rutland respectively in 1453-4 and 1460–1.
Hugh Boyville was a landowner who held a number of public offices and served as a Member of Parliament for Rutland in 1439-40 and 1447.
Sir ManserMarmion, of Ringstone in Rippingale and Galby was an English Member of Parliament and Sheriff of Lincolnshire.
Philip Marmion, 5th and last Baron Marmion of Tamworth was King's Champion and Sheriff. He was descended from the lords of Fontenay-le-Marmion in Normandy, who are said to have been hereditary champions of the Dukes of Normandy.
William Brokesby or Brooksby of Shoby, Leicestershire was Marshall of Henry IV's Hall, represented Leicestershire in Parliament and was Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire.
Sir Robert Burdet was a Member of Parliament for Warwickshire and was Sheriff of Warwickshire.
Sir John Marmion, Baron Marmion of Winteringham was an Anglo-Norman baron who represented Lincolnshire in Parliament and fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Sir John Digby of Eye Kettleby, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, was Knight Marshal for King Henry VIII.
William Sherard, 1st Baron Sherard of Leitrim was an English official who was created Baron Sherard in the peerage of Ireland by King Charles I in 1627.
Philip Sherard, 5th Earl of Harborough, styled Lord Sherard from 1770 to 1799, was a British peer and politician.