Thomas Berkeley (1472 - 1533)

Born 1472 in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor (Constable) Berkeley — married about 1504 in Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, England

Descendants

Died 22 Jan 1533 at about age 61 in Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire, England

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Biography

Thomas Berkeley was a member of the aristocracy in England.

Thomas Berkeley, 5th Lord Berkeley was born in 1472 at Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England. He was the son of Sir Maurice Berkeley and Isabel Meade. He married, firstly, Eleanor Constable, daughter of Sir Marmaduke Constable and Joyce Stafford, between 1504 and 1505. He married, secondly, Cicely Arnold in 1526.

He also went by the nick-name of Thomas 'the Sheep Master'. He was invested as a Knight on 9 September 1513 from the Earl of Surrey He fought in the Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513. He held the office of Constable of Berkeley Castle on 15 May 1514. He held the office of Sheriff of Gloucestershire between November 1522 and November 1523. He succeeded to the title of 5th Lord Berkeley [E., 1421] on 12 September 1523, by writ.

Thomas Berkeley had his will drawn up on 11 Jan 1533, describing himself as Thomas Berkeley, Knight, Lord of Berkeley. ^[1] He made bequests to and named:

• my late brother Maurice, Lord Berkeley
• the Lady Cecily, my wife
• my son and heir Thomas
• my son Maurice
• his wife Frances, the niece of Walter Rowdon
• my brother John Arnold

He died on 22 January 1532/33 at Mangotsfield, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. He was buried at St. Augustine's, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. His will (dated 28 April 1532 to 11 January 1532/3) was probated on 6 June 1533

In his will he made particular note of the burial rites that he wanted; firstly to be buried in the church at Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire between the choir and his chapel; and then, a year after his death, his body to be exhumed and taken to the monastery of St Augustine at Bristol, to be reburied beside his first wife Eleanor.

Sources

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p2796.htm#i27955

1. ↑ Will: "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858"
   The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 25
   Ancestry Sharing Link Ancestry Record 5111 #874615 (accessed 15 August 2021)

• Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: 2013), Vol. I. page 341.

• G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 136

• Peter Townend, editor, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 105th edition (London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1970), page 2643. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage, 105th ed.

• Peter Townend, editor, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th edition, 3 volumes (London, England: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965-1972), volume 1, page 580. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th ed..