Maurice BERKELEY OF THORNBURY, Esq.

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: KZPJ-VC3
• Name: The Lawyer
• Residence: Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England
• _UID: 67D81C3329614BBBB30D83F8A3891D11B31E
• Conveyance of property: 1471, Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England; Philip Meade, Burgess of Bristol, and Richard his son and heir conveyed to Maurice and his wife Isabel (daughter of the said Philip), a tenement in Thornbury, Gloucestershire called Marshallis place with close and garden attached."
• succeeded to the title of 3rd Lord Berkeley: 14 Feb 1491

Notes:

Note: Though Maurice Berkeley inherited the title of Baron from his elder brother William, the 2nd Baron, William had given Berkeley Castle to the crown: Henry VII (and his male heirs). The family did not get the Castle back until after the death of Edward VI of England in 1553. Some say that William gave the Castle and most of the rest of the huge Berkeley estate away partly because he disapproved of his nephew & heir, Maurice's marriage to Isabel Mead, as it was below his station.

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Maurice Berkeley, de jure 3rd Lord (Baron ) Berkeley (after his elder brother William, the 2nd Lord and 1st and last Marquess Berkeley whose male children all died without issue); Knight of the Body to Edward IV; married 1465 Isabel (died after 29 May 1514), daughter of Philip Mead, of Mead's Place, Wraxall, Somerset, Alderman and thrice Mayor of Bristol, and died Sep 1506. [Burke's Peerage]

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Maurice Berkeley, b. c 1435, age 56 in 1492, d. Sep 1506, age 70 years, 2nd son, Lord Berkeley; m. 1465 Isabel Mead, d. Coventry, aft. May 1514, age 70, daughter of Philip Mead, Mayor of Bristol. [Magna Charta Sureties]

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BARONY of BERKELEY (III) 1492

MAURICE [BERKELEY] de jure [apparently] LORD BERKELEY [1421] brother of the whole blood and heir, who "may bee called Maurice: the Lawier " inasmuch as though totally disinherited by his brother, and though 56 years of age at his brother's death, he recovered, within 7 years, upwards of 50 manors and other lands, the alienation of which had been effected illegally. He had been Knight of the body to Edward IV.

He married, in his 30th year (1465), Isabel (at that time a widow with 3 children who all died young), only daughter of Philip MEAD, of Mead's Place, in Wraxall, Somerset, Alderman, and three times (1458-59, 1461-62, 1468-69) Mayor of Bristol, by Isabel, his wife. She became heir to her brother Thomas Mead, inheriting lands at Thornbury, co. Gloucester, and at Wraxall, Ashton, Bedminster, and Tickeiiham, Somerset. He died September 1506, aged 70, and was buried at Austin Friars, London. His widow died after 29 May 1514, at the same age of 70, at Coventry, and was buried with him. [Complete Peerage II:135, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Berkeley,_3rd_Baron_Berkeley
"Because of his marriage to Isabel Meade, the daughter of a Bristol alderman, who was considered to be below his social status, Maurice was disinherited by his elder brother William Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1426? 1492), who died without surviving progeny. As he never therefore possessed Berkeley Castle, he had no claim to the ancient feudal barony of Berkeley, which was dependant on landholdings."

The late lord's brother, now stripped of the ancient honours and possessions of his forefathers, (though he continued through his life to be styled by courtesy Lord Berkeley,) resided, as has been stated, at Thornbury, where, of his own and his wife's, he had a fair estate.

As soon as the inquisitions after his brother's death were returned into Chancery, Maurice commenced proceedings to recover from the Crown some of the manors which the Marquess had given away, being advised that such alienations were illegal, and contrary to some old settlements and entails. In these litigations he was generally successful, the late Marquess, in his anxiety to barter his lands for honours and patronage, having often overlooked the nature of the titles by which he held them. Maurice's first success was the recovery of the manor of Sages in Slimbridge, consisting of seven tenements and 290 acres of land, and he entered into possession and held his first court there in 1499. Many other similar suits followed, with the like success, and while these were going on the manor and borough of Tetbury, and several others descended to him as one of the heirs of the lord Breouse. In 1505 he claimed and recovered the advowson of the Church of Wotton-under-Edge, but immediately made it over to the Abbey of Tewkesbury. He also commenced a suit to recover the advowson of Slimbridge, held by Magdalen College, Oxford, which was settled by a compromise. The College retaining the advowson but paying him a sum of money, and undertaking to remember him in their prayers.

In his journeys to and from London, and when visiting his manor of Callowden, near Coventry, finding that heand his suite were not received at the Monastery of Combe, in Warwickshire, with the honour and respect due to him as descendant from one of its founders, Maurice exhibited a bill in Chancery against the Abbot and Monks, claiming his rights in respect of his descent from Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, their founder, and obtained an acknowledgement of his claim.

Maurice died in 1506, and was buried in the Church of the Augustine Friars, in London. His eldest son, Maurice, succeeded him.

(Find A Grave Memorial# 67514712)
SIR MAURICE BERKELEY de jure 3rd BARON BERKELEY "the Lawier" was born about 1436 of Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, England, to Sir James de Berkeley, "The Just," 1st Baron Berkeley (1394-1463) and Isabella Mowbray (1396-1452.) He married Lady Isabel Meade, about 1465 of Berkeley Castle, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England.


BERKELEY CASTLE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND

Maurice Berkely was disinherited by his brother, and though 56 years of age at his brother's death, was able to recover, within seven years, upwards of 50 manors and other lands that had been alienated illegally.

Maurice Berkeley died in September 1506 of Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, England, age 70. He is buried at Church of the Augustine Friars, London.

LADY ISABEL MEADE was born about 1444 of Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, to Sir Philip Meade (1415-1471) and Lady Isabel Sharp (1420-1444). She married Maurice Berkeley about 1465 of Berkeley Castle, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England.

Isabel inherited lands at Thornbury, Gloucestersire, and at Wraxall, Ashton, Bedminister, and Tickenham, Somerset from her brother, Thomas.

Isabel Meade passed away 29 May 1514, at Coventry, Warwickshire, England, age 30. She was buried at Augustine Friars Church, London, England.


Children of Maurice Berkeley and Isabel Meade:

1. Maurice Berkeley, 4th Baron de Berkeley (1467)
2.Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron de Berkeley (1472-)
3.James Berkeley of Thornbury
4.Anne DE BERKELEY (1474-1523)

Maurice married Isabel MEAD in 1465 in Berkeley Castle, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England. Isabel was born about 1444 in Mead's Place, Wraxell, Somerset, England; died after 29 May 1514 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England; was buried in Austin Friar's, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: L8PF-Y9X
• Name: The Courtier
• _UID: 671E8862DC4C47BCA89D53B78D1D772F394A

Notes:

BARONY of BERKELEY (IV) 1506

MAURICE (BERKELEY), de jure (apparently) LORD BERKELEY [1421], son and heir, who "may bee called Maurice the Courtier," was born 1467, probably at Thornbury. Keeper of Kingswood Forest 1508 K.B. at the coronation, 23 June 1509; Sheriff of co. Gloucester 1509-10, and 1515-16. residing principally at Yate, co. Gloucester; Sheriff of cos. Leicester and Warwick 1516-17. Knight of the body to Henry VIII, 13 April 1512; Marshal of the Army for Spain, 1512; Captain in the army in France, 1513 and again 1523. Lieutenant of Calais 1520. He is said to have been summoned to the Parliament of 15 April 1523 (at which time he was still abroad), and to have been advised to accept the honour, though the intention, apparently, was to place him as junior Baron. He, however, never took his seat.

He married (contract 28 January 1484/5) Katharine, daughter of Sir William BERKELEY, of Stoke Gifford, co. Gloucester, by Ann, daughter of Sir Humphrey STAFFORD, she being then not much under 17. He died s.p. legit., 12 September 1523 at Calais, and was buried in Trinity chapel within the parish church there. His widow died " not full three years " afterwards, and was buried at Yate. [Complete Peerage II:135-36, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

Maurice married Katherine BERKELEY on 28 Jan 1484-1485 in Contract Date. Katherine (daughter of Maurice BERKELEY OF THORNBURY, Esq. and Isabel MEAD) was born about 1469 in Stoke Gifford, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England; died on 6 Sep 1526 in Dartford, Kent, England, United Kingdom; was buried in 1526 in Dartford Priory (Defunct), Dartford Dartford Borough Kent, England, United Kingdom. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LTCL-4WY
• _UID: 093EDBD6B69C4B3C9E2A78829A43F532970D

Katherine married Maurice "The Courtier" 4Th Baron BERKELEY, Sir on 28 Jan 1484-1485 in Contract Date. Maurice (son of Maurice BERKELEY OF THORNBURY, Esq. and Isabel MEAD) was born in 1467 in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England; died on 12 Sep 1523 in Calais, France (Dsp Legit); was buried in Trinity Chapel, Calais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LT63-HKG
• Name: Sheepmaster
• _UID: 554FA12BB9964A9DA62C07E5C61A9DC6A7E2

Notes:

Thomas Berkeley [2nd son, elder brother Maurice, 4th Lord dspl 12 Sep 1523], de jure 5th Lord (Baron) Berkeley; born 1472; knighted 9 Sep 1513 at Battle of Flodden, Constable of Berkeley Castle 1514, Sheriff of Glos Nov 1522-Nov 1523, called to Parliament 9 Aug 1529 by writ worded as being to "Thomas Berkley de Berkley"; married 1st 1504/5 Eleanor (died 1525), daughter of Sir Marmaduke Constable, of Flamborough, Yorks, and widow of William Ingleby; married 2nd 1526 Cicely (died July/Nov 1558), daughter and coheir of ? Arnold and widow of Richard Rowdon, of Gloucester, and died 22 Jan 1532/3, leaving by his 1st wife. [Burke's Peerage]

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BARONY OF BERKELEY (V) 1523, (I) 1529

THOMAS (BERKELEY), dejure (apparently) LORD BERKELEY [1421], brother and heir, who "may bee called Thomas the Sheepmaster," he "living a kind of grazier's life, having his flocks of sheep sommering in one place and wintering in other places as hee observed the feilds and pastures to bee sound and could bargaine best cheape." He was b. 1472, probably at Thornbury, and on 9 September 1513 held a command at the battle of Flodden, receiving Knighthood the same day from the Earl of Surrey. Constable of Berkeley Castle 15 May 1514. Sheriff of co. Gloucester November 1522 to November 1523. On 9 July 1528 Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, became a trustee for his cousin Thomas Berkeley, who is then described as "Lord Berkeley, Mowbray and Segrave. On 9 August 1529 was summoned to Parliament by writ directed Thome Berkley de Berkley.

He married, 1stly, 1504-05, Eleanor, widow of John INGLEBY, of Ripley co. York, daughter of Sir Marmaduke CONSTABLE, of Flamborough, co. York, by his 2nd wife Joyce, daughter of Sir Humphrey STAFFORD, of Grafton. She died 1525, and was buried at St. Augustine's, Bristol. He married, 2ndly, in 1526, Cicely, widow of Richard ROWDON, of Gloucester, daughter and coheir of, apparently (--) ARNOLD, of co. Gloucester. He died at Mangotsfield, Bristol, 22 January 1532/3, in his 61st year, and was buried at St. Augustline's. His widow, "called my Lady Cicely of Bristol," died between July and November 1558, at Bristol, and was buried at St. Augustine's. [Complete Peerage II:136-7, XIV:87, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

Thomas married Eleanor CONSTABLE between 1504 and 1505 in 2ND Husband 1St Wife. Eleanor was born about 1485 in Burton Constable, North Riding Yorkshire, England; died in 1525 in Mangotsfield, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England; was buried in St Augustines, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Cicely ARNOLD in 1526 in 2ND Husband, 2ND Wife. Cicely was born about 1472 in Llanthony, Monmouthshire, Wales; died between Jul and Nov 1558 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England; was buried in St Augustines, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LTPW-TGT
• _UID: BA4F25263B134A718A8D20580AFED89C68B8

Notes:

Anne Berkeley; m. Sir William Dennis, of Dunham, co. Gloucester. [Magna Charta Sureties]

Family/Spouse: William DENNIS, Of Dirham, Sir Knight. William was born in 1470 in Dyrham, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England; died about 1534. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• FamilySearch ID: GX4S-2ZL

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LLWF-Q3T
• _UID: 2D39CDBA4D074BA89F73988E265FA150E248

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• FamilySearch ID: GFW2-YNM

Other Events:

• _UID: 78032605F8284836BA6034E281FA809403A8

Muriel married in 1527 in Berkeley Castle, Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _UID: CB20378BE0D64853B8539608FA2FD821C905

Notes:

Isabel Dennis, daughter of Sir William Dennis, Knight, of Dunham, co. Gloucester, and Anne Berkeley. [Magna Charta Sureties]

Elizabeth married John BERKELEY, Of Stoke Gifford, Sir in England. John (son of Richard BERKELEY, Of Stoke Gifford and Elizabeth CONINGSBY) was born in 1506 in Stoke Gifford, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England; died on 28 Jun 1546 in Stoke, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 4134EDF26A9A4BAEA8229D82BE233717694A

Notes:

The following post to SGM, 30 Sep 1998, by John Carmi Parsons, gives some details of Mary:

From: John Carmi Parsons ([email protected])
Subject: Henry VIII's bastards
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval
Date: 1998/09/30

Henry VIII is said to have fathered by Mary (or Elizabeth) Berkeley, afterwards wife of Thomas Perrott of Istingston and Harroldston, Pembs., a son known as John Perrott (1527?-1592). "Commonly reputed" (_Dict. of Natl Biography_, s.v. "Perrott, sir John") as the king's son, Perrott bore a remarkable resemblance to the king and in later years openly referred to himself as Elizabeth I's brother. He was created K.B. for the coronation of Edward VI in 1547 and, in the official account of Elizabeth I's coronation procession through London, Perrott is the only individual apart from Elizabeth herself who is mentioned by name. He served as Deputy of Ireland for Elizabeth I and in connection with his tenure of that office (not his birth) he was accused of high treason but died in the Tower before he could be convicted (in fact Elizabeth may well have been preparing to pardon him at the time of his death, and later restored his son to his estates).

He married twice:

First to Anne, da. of Sir Thomas Cheyney of Shurland (Kent), and had one son, Sir Thomas Perrot, m. Dorothy Devereux, dau. of Walter, earl of Essex

Second to Jane dau. of Hugh Pruet of Thorny, Devon, and had another son William (d. unm 1597), a dau. Anne m. John Philips, and a dau. Lettice m. first, Roland Lacharn of St Bride's; second, Walter Vaughan also of St Bride's (from which marriage the present viscount St David's descends).

Sir John Perrott also left three natural children:

1-2. Sir James Perrott (1571-1637) by Sibyl Jones of co. Radnor; and also by her a dau. who m. one David Morgan, gent.

3. Elizabeth, dau. of Sir Christopher Hatton (!), he had a dau. Elizabeth m. Hugh Butler of Johnston.

Perrott's living progeny must be innumerable by now. But few biographies of Henry VIII refer to him and many historians are unaware of his existence. Has anyone any confirming evidence for his paternity?

Many historians are also unaware of the existence of at least one other bastard child of Henry VIII, his daughter Etheldreda or Audrey Malte, the child of Joan Dingley or Dyngley, said to have been a royal laundress. Joan Dingley subsequently married a man named Dobson. It appears that the king's tailor, John Malte, was persuaded to recognize Audrey as *his* illegitimate daughter, but that hardly explains the extensive lands Henry granted the girl.

Like John Perrott, Audrey seems to have been born during the years in which Henry's marriage to Katherine of Aragon was deteriorating but before Anne Boleyn became his official mistress and bedfellow--i.e., in the late 1520s. Audrey Malte married in the year of King Henry's death (1547) John Harrington (d. 1582). She was living in 1555 (Cal. Patent Rolls 1555-57, pp. 95-96), but had died without issue by around 1559 when her husband must have remarried (his eldest son by his second wife was born ca 1560). Her widower obtained much of her property after her death. See N. E. McClure, _Letters and Epigrams of Sir John Harington_ (Philadelphia, 1930), p. 64; _Misc. Genealogica et Heraldica_, N.S., iii, p. 18, and iv, p. 191.

So, with the ill-fated Henry fitz Roy, duke of Richmond, Henry VIII had in all as many as 3 bastards. This should bring about some revision of the position taken in Ives' _Anne Boleyn_ that Henry suffered from low fertility. After all, Katherine of Aragon conceived at least 6 times by Henry within 9 years (1509-18); Henry fitz Roy was conceived in 1518 or 1519, for a 7th pregnancy Henry caused within those same 9 years. As above, John Perrott and Audrey Malte were probably both born in the late 1520s after Henry had ceased to cohabit with Katherine of Aragon. Had Henry kept a single mistress in those years, there might have been a more regular pattern of births, but his sexual liaisons at that time seem to have been brief.

Anne Boleyn conceived at least 3 times between December 1532 and late 1535--that is, 3 times in 3 years. Ives' argument that Anne's pregnancies were oddly spaced, that Henry seemed "unable" to make her pregnant for more than a year after she miscarried in 1534, seems strained and tendentious.

Jane Seymour married Henry in May 1536 and must have conceived Edward VI in February 1537, only 9 months after their marriage.

Probably Henry never consummated his marriage with Anne of Cleves.

If Katherine Howard never conceived by Henry, neither did she conceive by a lover, suggesting that (a) she was lucky in this if in little else; (b) her early promiscuity left her barren through abortion, miscarriage or venereal infection; (c) she had access to some kind of efficacious contraceptive lore. Her grandmother's house had clearly been a hothouse of sexual activity among the young girls living there, who would clearly have had every reason to welcome such contraceptive information, and it might later have stood Katherine in good stead. (Or maybe not.)

If Henry VIII did cohabit with Katherine Parr, he may well have suffered from lower fertility levels by that time in his life because of his chronic osteomyelitis, resulting from a tournament injury suffered early in life. Katherine was certainly fertile at this time, for she married her 4th husband, Thomas Seymour, in May 1547 and died in childbirth in September 1548.

John Parsons

Mary married before 1526 in No Marriage. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: CC4B7D7A12B54ACDAF1EE22A2CE0E0E49541

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Ann REID (READ). Elizabeth (daughter of William REID (READ) and Catherine ROWDON) was born about 1512 in Milton, Milton, ENG; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]