Sir Maurice Berkeley (1599–1654) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at various times between 1621 and 1626. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

Life

Berkeley was the son of Richard Berkeley of

Stoke Gifford Stoke Gifford is a neighbourhood and Civil parish, parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the South Gloucestershire district, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. Formerly a separate ...

and

Rendcomb Rendcomb is a village in the Cotswold local authority area of the English county of Gloucestershire. It is about five miles north of Cirencester in the Churn Valley. History Etymology Rendcomb is thought to get its name from the stream runnin ...

, who had represented Gloucestershire in the parliament of 1614. In 1621, Berkeley was elected Member of Parliament for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. He was knighted on 11 September 1621 at Whitehall. He was re-elected MP for Gloucestershire at by-elections in 1624 and 1625 and was elected MP for

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunt ...

in 1626. Berkeley supported King Charles I in the Civil War, arguing later that he was forced to do so and to sign warrants for raising money because of his proximity to Bristol. On 26 January 1647, he begged to compound for delinquency and was set a fine of £1,030 on 25 March. He was assessed at £700 on 13 June 1649 and was given an order for his discharge on payment of £330 on 1 August 1649. He was given a similar order on payment of £60 on 5 December 1651 and was charged an additional fine on 30 January 1652 and given an order for his discharge on payment of £125. Berkeley died in 1654 and was buried at Stoke Gifford on 3 January 1655.

Family

In 1622 Berkeley married Elizabeth (d. 1623), daughter of

Sir Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into an upper-class family, Coke was ...

Stoke Poges Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and is southeast of Farnham Common. In 2021, it had a population of 5,067. Geography Hamlets withi ...

and

Elizabeth Hatton Elizabeth, Lady Coke (née Cecil; 1578 – 3 January 1646), was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the queen consort of England, Anne of Denmark. She was the daughter of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and Dorot ...

. They had a daughter Frances, on whose behalf her father later petitioned Charles I complaining that Lady Purbeck and her husband had received a more generous marriage settlement than her sister. By 1627 he had married Mary Tipping, daughter of Sir George Tipping of

Wheatfield, Oxfordshire Wheatfield is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and deserted medieval village about south of Thame in Oxfordshire. Wheatfield's Toponymy, toponym is derived from the Old English for "white field", referring to the ripe crops that the A ...

. By his second marriage he had two sons, Richard and George. He was succeeded by his son Richard (d. 1671).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Maurice 1599 births 1654 deaths Politicians from Gloucestershire Cavaliers English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626