Thomas Berkeley (died 1488)

Sir Thomas Berkeley of Wymondham, Leicestershire (died 1488) was an English lawyer, soldier and politician. He represented Leicestershire in Parliament and served as Sheriff for Rutland, Warwickshire and Leicestershire.

This article is about the English member of Parliament in 1472. For other uses, see Thomas Berkeley (disambiguation).

Sir Thomas Berkeley
Berkeley of Wymondham arms:- Quarterly. 1&4: gules, a chevron between ten cinquefoils argent. BERKELEY: 2&3: gules, a lion rampant ermine, crowned or. HAMELYN.[1]
Sheriff of Rutland
In office
1443–1444[2]
MonarchHenry VI
Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire
In office
1454–1455[2]
MonarchHenry VI
M.P. for Leicestershire
In office
1472–1475[2]
MonarchEdward IV
Personal details
BornWymondham, Leicestershire
Died1488[3]
Spouse(s)Emma/Petronella Brokesby
ChildrenMaurice Berkeley
Lawrence Berkeley
Elizabeth Berkeley
Edith Berkeley
Joyce Berkeley
? Berkeley
ParentsSir Laurence Berkeley[3] &
Joan Woodford[3]

Ancestry

Berkeley was the eldest son of Laurence Berkeley of Wymondham, Leicestershire, who died in France in 1458,[3] and wife Joan Woodford, sister of the Agincourt veteran[4] Robert Woodford of Sproxton, Leicestershire, Knight Banneret.[4][3]

Berkeley was the great-great-grandson of Thomas Berkeley of Coston, Leicestershire, second son of Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley, and his wife Jane de Ferrers, daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby.[3]

Berkeley moved to Wymondham after marrying Isabel Hamelin, daughter of John Hamelin of Wymondham.[3][nb 1]

Career and Life

Berkeley was a Justice of the Peace for Leicestershire from 1442 to 1458, and Sheriff of Rutland between 1443 and 1444.[2] He was admitted as a Fellow of Lincoln's Inn in 1449 by special admission.[6]

In December 1457, Berkeley was appointed as one of Leicestershire's Commissioners of Array. The commissioners raised 226 archers to help repel Richard, Duke of York's Yorkist rebellion and again in 1459.[5] Berkeley was knighted by November 1460—perhaps having taken part in the Battle of Northampton, When the Battle of Towton ended Henry VI's reign, Berkeley accepted Edward IV as King.[5]

Towards the end of 1465, Berkeley became involved in a dispute with John Bourchier over the wardship and marriage of the underage grandson of former member of parliament Manser Marmion, whom Berkeley was accused of abducting.[7] The Marmion estate was composed of over 2,500 acres spread over several counties. As well as being an attractive prize, it was owned by way of a complex set of homages and services to multiple overlords.[7] It would seem Berkeley won and later wed his daughter Edith to the Marmion heir.[8][9][10]

In 1468, Berkeley accused William Purley of entering his land two years earlier and stealing 20 hares, 200 rabbits, 12 pheasants and 20 partridges using swords, bows, and arrows.[11] Purley was either found not guilty or let off for some reason as he appears to have later married Berkeley's daughter Joyce.[8][12]

Berkeley was appointed as Sheriff of Rutland in 1471 and as a Justice of the Peace for Rutland in 1470–1475.[2]Berkeley served in Parliament for Leicestershire between 1472 and 1475.[2]

Berkeley died in 1488. He is buried in an alabaster topped altar tomb with his wife Petronella in St Peter's Church, Wymondham.

Family

Berkeley married Emma[1]/Petronella Brokesby or Brooksby,[3] daughter of William Brokesby,[3] Marshall of the King's Hall, and wife Joan Alderwick, and had the following issue:

Berkeley was the great-great-great-grandfather of Henry Berkeley of Wymondham, 1st Baronet.[3]

Notes
  1. John Hamelin's great grandfather William Hamelyn is thought to have gone on the Third Crusade with Richard the Lionheart. He is now thought to be the knight represented in a stone effigy in Wymondham church and not, as Nicholls suggested, the John Hamelyn who only appears to have taken part in the Scottish wars.[5]

References
  1. Visitation of Leicestershire 1619, London: Harleian Society, 1870
  2. Josiah Wedgwood (1936), History of Parliament 1439-1509 Biographies, London: HMSO
  3. John Burke & John Bernard Burke (1844), Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland, London: John Russell Smith
  4. John Burke (1838), A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, 4, London: Henry Colburn, p. 227
  5. Ralph Penniston Taylor (1996), A History of Wymondham, Wymondham: Witmeha Press
  6. Lincolns Inn Admission Register, London: Lincolns Inn, 1897
  7. George F. Farnham (1929–33), Leicestershire Medieval Village Notes, II, Leicester: W.Thornley & son, p. 275
  8. Will of Elizabeth Huse 1504, National Archives Kew: Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1504
  9. Holles Lincolnshire Church Notes, I, Lincolnshire Records Society, 1910
  10. E.R.Kelly, ed. (1885), Kellys Directory of Lincolnshire, London: Kelly & Co, p. 605
  11. George F. Farnham (1929–33), Leicestershire Medieval Village Notes, IV, Leicester: W. Thornley & son, p. 316
  12. Descents and Pedigrees of Families in Lincolnshire, London: British Library, Harl MS 5874
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