Robert Berkeley (abt. 1610 - abt. 1690)

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1690 at about age 80 in Rendcombe, Gloucestershire, England [uncertain]

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Biography

Robert Berkeley was the youngest son of Richard Berkeley of Stoke Gifford and his wife Mary Roe Berkeley. He was probably born after 1610 and some time before her death in 1615, given the number of children she bore in her lifetime. ^[1] However, his memorial inscription ^[2] gives his age at his death in 1690 as 76, which would make his birth about 1624; this seems less likely.

Robert was the last surviving of the sons, according to the monument to his parents he erected after the death of his father in 1661. ^[3]

Robert Berkeley was "of Eycott", near Rendcomb, a leasehold he occupied until his death after 1690. ^[4] In 1662, following the death of his father Richard Berkeley, a lawsuit - "Berkeley v Guise" - ensued over the Rendcomb property, Sir Maurice Berkeley having sold the reversion to the Guise family. ^[5]

Robert proved the Will of his niece Frances, daughter of his eldest brother Sir Maurice Berkeley, on 8 February 1661. ^[6] This document mentioned but did not name his wife ("my Aunt, his wife").

According to the (incomplete) parish register of St Peter, Rendcomb, Goucestershire, ^[7] Robert Berkeley married Rebecca some time before 1650 and they had several children: including Jane (1650), Mary (1652), Richard (b. 16 May 1654), Robert (1656), Merriell (1657), Maurice (Morris) (1660). It is possible that there was a second daughter Jane, as the chancel of St Peter's holds a memorial tablet to a daughter Jane who died in 1672 (not seen in burial register). ^[2] Rebecca Berkeley's Will also names daughters Rebecca and Frances. ^[8] Burke ^[9] also names Rebecca and Frances, and daughter Rebecca erected the monument to her parents after her mother's death in 1707. ^[2]

According to the parish register, Mr. Robert Berkeley was buried at Rendcomb on 5 February 1691/2. ^[10] His memorial inscription has the date as 1690. It reads in part:

The best of Husbands; and so loving was

That he to Fathers been a Pattern has.

His wife Rebecca joined him there after her own death in 1707.

Research Note:

Sources for several details of Robert Berkeley's life are apparently missing or contradictory, but the most notable lacunae concern his wife. Burke ^[9] claims that she was Rebecca, daughter of Henry Stretton of Wiltshire. However, Burke's account of this family contains notable inaccuracies and of course provides no sources for its information. While there is ample evidence for "Rebecca" as the name of Robert's wife and the mother of his children, an appropriate Henry Stretton has been more difficult to discover in Wiltshire (or elsewhere) at this time period. There are, however, an abundance of Henry Strattons and Rebecca Strattons who might serve if we discover that Burke has mistaken the name. The difficulty would be in identifying the correct individuals out of so many.

Sources

1. ↑ The visitation of the county of Gloucester 1623, p. 9. John Maclean, ed. Visitation
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Gloucestershire, Bigland's Monumental Inscriptions: Rendcombe p. 1009 p. 1010
3. ↑ Bigland's Monumental Inscriptions - Stoke Giffard Stoke
4. ↑ "Rendcomb." A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 7. Ed. N. M. Herbert. Oxford: Oxford University Press for Victoria County History, 1981. 218-227. British History Online. Web. 6 March 2022. BHO
5. ↑ https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3916223 TNA]
6. ↑ Will of Fraunces Berkeley of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire. PROB 11/303/258. TNA
7. ↑ Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1813/Rendcomb/1566-1711 Ancestry
8. ↑ Will of Rebecca Berkeley, Widow of Rendcomb, Gloucestershire PROB 11/499/416 TNA
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Burke, Bernard. A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, p. 45. Harrison: 1883. 1883
10. ↑ Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1813/Rendcomb/1612-1812 Ancestry