Charles Berkeley (1661 - 1682)

Born 3 Dec 1661 in England

Ancestors

Died 6 Mar 1682 at age 20 in At sea - Straits of Gibraltar, Mediterranean Sea

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Biography

Charles Berkeley was born in England (probably in London) on 3 December 1661. ^[1]. He was the eldest son of Lord John Berkeley, 1st Baron of Stratton and his wife Lady Christian Berkeley, formerly Riccard.

His mother had been married twice before, but by the time she married Sir John Berkeley, her only son and Charles' elder brother, John Gayer, had died.

Charles was born just after the Restoration of the Monarchy, and his father was an intimate of the new King, Charles II. King Charles had bestowed the title Baron of Stratton upon John Berkeley in 1658 for John's services to the King's late father, Charles I. Both the King and John Berkeley were in exile in Europe at the time.

Charles parents did not marry until John Berkeley had returned from Europe at the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Charles had four younger siblings:
John, born about 1663, who would succeed Charles as 3rd Baron of Stratton
Anne, born about 1665, who married Sir Dudley Cullum
Maurice, who died young
William, who became the 4th Baron of Stratton

In 1672, Charles' parents entered into a marriage contract with the guardians of Mary Davies, who although only 7 years old was sole heiress to the estate of the late Alexander Davies, who owned the lands which now comprise Buckingham Palace, Green Park and Millbank. She was to be married to Charles as soon as she reached her twelfth birthday, when she would be of age to consent to the match. As part of the contract Lord Berkeley paid £5,000 immediately to John Tregonwell, Mary's stepfather, partly in recompense for money spent in finishing Alexander Davies's mansion and in the upbringing of Mary; he also agreed to settle land of a considerable annual value either on, or in trust for, the couple by the time of the ceremony. However, the marriage never took place - John Berkeley had overstretched himself financially with the building Berkeley House in Picadilly, and Mary was eventually married to Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet^[2]

After the failed attempt to secure a marriage with Mary Davies, Charles' parents attempted to secure the hand of the Lady Essex Rich for him in 1673. ^[3] Essex Rich was the co-heir to the fortune of Robert Rich, 3rd Earl of Warwick, and a second cousin to the Honorable Henry Rich, Christian Berkeley's second husband. Essex was twenty one years old at the time at the time and Charles was twelve. Essex eventually married Daniel Finch, son of Sir Heneage Finch, First Earl of Nottingham in 1674.

In 1675, when Charles was fourteen, he embarked on his military career, firstly in the French army, and then two years later on returning to England, he received a commission in the King's Horse Guards. However, he forsook the Army for a naval career and on the 2 July 1681 he was given command of The Tyger at the age of nineteen. ^[1]

Charles died of smallpox aged 20, whilst on duty near the Straits of Gibraltar on 6 March 1682. His body was embalmed on board ship and returned to his family in Twickenham later that year. ^[1]
He was buried in the Berkeley family church of St Mary Twickenham, Middlesex on 21 September 1682:

September 21 Charles Lord Berkeley paid the penalty of the Act ^{[4] [5]}

The Penalty of the Act referred to the fact that Charles was not buried in a woollen shroud as was dictated by an Act of Parliament to support the wool trade, and was probably buried in a linen or silk shroud. ^[6], and his family had paid the fine for this.

Charles died unmarried and with no children. Upon his death, the title of Baron of Stratton passed to his younger brother John.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The date comes from the calculation of Charles being 20 years, 3 months and 3 days at his death. Charnock, Biographia Navalis; or, Impartial Memoirs of the Lives ... of Officers of the Navy of Great Britain from ... 1660. Google books page 88
2. ↑ The Berkeley family in: Survey of London: Volume 39, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 1 (General History). The Acquisition of the Estate Pages 1-5 Originally published by London County Council, London, 1977. British History online
3. ↑ The Rich family in: Fell-Smith, Charlotte. Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick, 1625-1678 : Her Family and Friends. London : Longmans, Green, 1901. Page 299 Internet Archive
4. ↑ ‘Ancestry.Com - London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812’. Parish Register of St Mary Twickenham. Parish Register of St Mary Twickenham.
5. ↑ Cahrles Berkeley in: Cobbett, Richard Stuteley. Memorials of Twickenham: Parochial and Topographical. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1872. Internet Archive
6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burying_in_Woollen_Acts

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