Norborne Berkeley, Baron Botetourt, Gov. of Virginia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norborne_Berkeley,_4th_Baron_Botetourt

Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (c. 1717 – 15 October 1770), was a British courtier, member of parliament, and royal governor of the colony of Virginia from 1768 until his death in 1770.

Life

Norborne Berkeley was born about 1717, the only son of John Symes Berkeley of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire by his second wife Elizabeth, the daughter and coheiress of Walter Norborne of Calne, Wiltshire and the widow of Edward Devereux, 8th Viscount Hereford. The Berkeleys of Stoke Gifford were descended from Maurice de Berkeley (d. 1347), who had acquired the manor of Stoke Gifford in 1337, the second son of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1271–1326). In 1726, Berkeley was admitted to Westminster School.

Stoke Park

He succeeded his father to Stoke Park in Stoke Gifford in 1736 and remodelled both the house (now known as the Dower House) and the gardens in the 1740s and 1750s with the help of the designer Thomas Wright of Durham.

His political career began in 1741 when he was elected to the House of Commons as a knight of the shire for Gloucestershire, a seat he held until 1763. Considered a staunch Tory, Berkeley's fortunes were boosted considerably on the accession of George III in 1760, when he was appointed a Groom of the Bedchamber and in 1762 (until 1766) Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. In 1764, almost 400 years after the title went into abeyance through lack of direct heirs, he successfully claimed the title of Baron Botetourt as the lineal descendant of Maurice de Berkeley (d. 1361) and his wife Catherine de Botetourt. He thus took a seat in the House of Lords as the 4th Baron de Botetourt, and in 1767 was appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber to George III and in 1768 Governor of Virginia.

He died in Williamsburg on 15 October 1770, after an illness lasting several weeks. Botetourt never married and left no direct heirs. Stoke Park passed to his sister Elizabeth, who continued his improvements.

Statues

A statue of Botetourt was placed in the Capitol in Williamsburg in 1773. The Capital of Colonial Virginia was located in Williamsburg from 1699 until 1780, but at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson was moved to Richmond for security reasons during the American Revolution. In 1801 the statue of Botetourt was acquired by the College of William and Mary and moved to the campus from the former Capitol building. Barring a brief period during the Civil War when it was moved to the Public Asylum for safety, it stood in the College Yard until 1958 when it was removed for protection from the elements, and then in 1966 was installed in the new Earl Gregg Swem Library, in the new Botetourt Gallery. In 1993, as the College celebrated its tercentenary, a new bronze statue of Botetourt by William and Mary alumnus Gordon Kray was installed in the College Yard in front of the Wren Building, in the place occupied for generations by the original.

Legacy

Botetourt County, Virginia, was named in Botetourt's honour. Historians also believe that Berkeley County, West Virginia, and the town of Berkeley Springs, both now in West Virginia, were also named in his honour, or possibly that of another popular colonial governor, Sir William Berkeley.

Lord Botetourt High School in the unincorporated town of Daleville in Botetourt County, Virginia, is also named for him, as is the Botetourt Dorm Complex at The College of William and Mary. Two statues also adorn the campus of The College of William and Mary. Gloucester County, Virginia has an elementary school named for the governor. Both Richmond, Virginia and Norfolk, Virginia have streets named in his honour.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Berkeley_Norborne_baron_de_Bot...

Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, was royal governor of Virginia from 1768 until his death in 1770. Born Norborne Berkeley in London, England, he served in the House of Commons from 1741 until 1764, when he procured the revival of the barony of Botetourt and became a member of the House of Lords. In 1768 King George III commissioned Botetourt royal governor of Virginia. Unlike his predecessor, Sir Jeffery Amherst, who had refused to reside in the colony, Botetourt moved to Williamsburg and lived there for almost two years. The new governor was well liked by Virginians, who believed that he disapproved of British policies; in reality, he advised the Crown to stand firm against colonial protests, and had supported taxing the colonists as a member of the House of Lords. Botetourt died on October 15, 1770, and was buried in the chapel at the College of William and Mary.

Berkeley was born in the parish of Saint George's Hanover Square, London, England, where his parents, John Symes Berkeley and his second wife, Elizabeth Norborne Berkeley, resided while Berkeley attended the House of Commons as a Tory member for Gloucestershire. Their only other child, Elizabeth, married Lord Charles Noel Somerset, who became the fourth duke of Beaufort. From 1756 until 1765 Norborne Berkeley served as guardian of his sister's son, who in the latter year became the fifth duke. Berkeley never married but provided handsomely and obtained a commission in the Royal Navy for a son who became Vice Admiral Sir Charles Thompson, baronet (ca. 1740–1799).

Little is known about Berkeley's youth and nothing about his education. When he came of age in 1738, two years after his father's death, he became lord of the manors of Stoke Gifford and Stapleton in Gloucestershire and owner of the Berkeley Liberties in the northern part of the rich and extensive Kingswood coalfields. Berkeley was a very wealthy landowner and a prominent investor in Bristol businesses. Through the influence of the fourth duke of Beaufort he received an honorary doctorate of civil law from Oxford University in 1749. Berkeley served as colonel of militia in both districts of Gloucestershire and was lord lieutenant of the county from 1762 until 1766.

Berkeley was elected to the House of Commons in 1741 and represented Gloucestershire until 1764, when he procured the revival of the barony of Botetourt that had lapsed early in the fifteenth century. The new baron was a friend of George III and of the earl of Bute. He had become a groom of the bedchamber in 1760 and was made constable of the Tower of London in 1767. As a member of the House of Lords, Botetourt supported the ministry's policy of taxing the colonists and voted for the Stamp Act of 1765. Meanwhile he made expensive renovations and additions to the manor of Stoke Gifford and invested about £10,000 in the Warmley Copper Works, a smelting enterprise near Bristol that was one of the largest industrial establishments in England. Its failure early in 1768 plunged him into serious financial difficulty.

During the summer of 1768, following the death of Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier, Botetourt and his friends arranged for his appointment as royal governor of Virginia. The office had a salary of £2,000 per annum plus fees that may have been worth almost that much more. Money may have been Botetourt's principal reason for wanting the appointment, but the earl of Hillsborough, the secretary of state responsible for the colonies, had his own reasons for agreeing to name him. Botetourt supported ministerial policies but also recommended himself as an engaging gentleman well versed in commercial and political affairs, accustomed to dealing with large issues in a businesslike manner and with excellent personal and political connections in London. Hillsborough arranged for the dismissal of Governor Sir Jeffery Amherst, who had refused to reside in Virginia, and designated Botetourt's commission on August 12, 1768, and ordered a full-rigged ship of the line to take him to Virginia.

Botetourt arrived in Williamsburg on October 26, 1768, ending a succession of administrations by lieutenant governors begun in 1708. Charming, generous, and diligent in attending to business, he lived in the capital for almost two years and became immensely popular. Botetourt restored friendly relations between the government and the church that had been disrupted during Fauquier's administration, and he made himself a patron of education. He attended morning prayers with the students at the College of William and Mary almost every day, instituted the Botetourt Medal to reward scholastic excellence, and became rector of the college in 1769. Botetourt also improved the quality of the county courts by refusing to reappoint justices of the peace with poor attendance records.

The climactic event of Botetourt's administration occurred on May 17, 1769, when he abruptly dissolved the General Assembly after the House of Burgesses adopted an address to the king criticizing parliamentary policies and asserting that only the General Assembly could tax the people of Virginia. The good will that Botetourt had created during his first winter in Virginia kept events from getting out of hand or destroying his influence. Most Virginians believed that Botetourt disapproved of British policies, but in a secret letter of May 23, 1769, the governor advised Hillsborough to take a firm stand against colonial protests.

Botetourt died of erysipelas (a skin infection) in the governor's palace in Williamsburg on October 15, 1770, and was buried in the chapel at the College of William and Mary. He was honored more than any other royal governor. The assembly named the new counties of Berkeley and Botetourt for him, as well as the town of Botetourt in Gloucester County and the parishes of Berkeley in Spotsylvania County, Botetourt in Botetourt County, and Norborne in Frederick County. The House of Burgesses also commissioned a marble statue of Governor Botetourt that is now at the College of William and Mary.

Time Line

December 1717 - Norborne Berkeley is born in the parish of Saint George's Hanover Square, London, England, to John Symes Berkeley and Elizabeth Norborne Berkeley.

1738 - Two years after his father's death, Norborne Berkeley becomes lord of the manors of Stoke Gifford and Stapleton in Gloucestershire and owner of the Berkeley Liberties in the northern part of the Kingswood coalfields.

1741 - Norborne Berkeley is elected to the House of Commons, which he attends until 1764 as a representative of Gloucestershire.

1749 - Norborne Berkeley receives an honorary doctorate of civil law from Oxford University.

1760 - Norborne Berkeley becomes a groom of the bedchamber.

1762–1766 - Norborne Berkeley serves as lord lieutenant of Gloucestershire.

1764 - Norborne Berkeley procures the revival of the barony of Botetourt and becomes a member of the House of Lords.

1767 - Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, is made a constable of the Tower of London.

Early 1768 - The Warmley Copper Works, a smelting enterprise near Bristol and one of the largest industrial establishments in England, fails. One of its investors, Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, plunges into financial difficulty as a result.

August 17, 1768 - King George III signs a commission appointing Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, royal governor of Virginia.

October 26, 1768 - Newly appointed royal governor Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, arrives in Williamsburg. He is the first royal governor to reside in Virginia since 1708.

1769 - Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, becomes rector of the College of William and Mary.

May 17, 1769 - Governor Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, dissolves the General Assembly after the House of Burgesses adopts an address to the king criticizing parliamentary policies and asserting that only the General Assembly can tax Virginians.

October 15, 1770 - Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, dies of a skin infection in the governor's palace in Williamsburg. He is buried in the chapel at the College of William and Mary.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Family and Education

b. ?1717, o.s. of John Symes Berkeley of Stoke Gifford, Glos. by his 2nd w. Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Walter Norborne of Calne, Wilts., wid. of Edward Devereux, 8th Visct. Hereford. educ. Westminster Sept. 1726, aged 9. unm. suc. fa. 1736. Abeyance of barony of Botetourt terminated in his favour 13 Apr. 1764.

Offices Held

Groom of the bedchamber 1760-4; keeper of St. Briavel’s castle in the Forest of Dean May 1762; constable of the Forest of Dean 1763-66; ld. of the bedchamber 1767-d.; ld. lt. Glos. 1762-6; gov. Virginia 1768-d.

Biography Norborne Berkeley was descended from a younger branch of the Berkeleys of Berkeley Castle, who had held the manor of Stoke since the fourteenth century.1 Stoke Gifford house overlooked Bristol, four miles away, and the Berkeley property near the city was mined for coal. According to a report sent to the French Government in 1743 ‘c’est le nombre prodigieux de gens qui travaillent aux mines de charbons dans ses terres aux environs de Bristol qui rend M. Norborne Berkeley ... un des plus considérables de la noblesse du royaume’.2

When in 1740 Berkeley stood as a Tory for the county in conjunction with Thomas Chester Thomas Carte, the historian, reported to Rome that

Mr. B’s cousin, the Earl of Berkeley had promised him his interest; but ... Sir Robert Walpole represented to him that it was an inconsistency in him to give his interest to a gentleman who declared he stood upon an opposite interest to that of the court and join with Mr. Chester, an open enemy of the Government as well as the Administration, and it was expected he should engage all his friends and his interest against Mr. Berkeley as well as Chester. Lord Berkeley thereupon declared against his cousin; but

young Mr. Berkeley, who ... does not want spirit and good sense, went to the Earl and representing to him that upon his assuring him of his interest he had been first encouraged to offer his services to the county ... that the gentlemen finding his Lordship declare openly against him had reason to suspect that he had imposed upon them by a false pretence to his Lordship’s promise and interest and as it was a terrible thing for a young man to enter the world with the character of a fourbe he must vindicate his own reputation and conduct and ... desire his Lordship to sign a certificate, declaring ... [he] ... had promised his cousin Berkeley his interest for the county and ... allowed him to assure the gentlemen thereof, but that finding he had joined with Mr. Chester and so embarked in an interest opposite to that of the court, he had thought fit to retract his promise and use of his interest to oppose his election. Lord Berkeley agreed,

and now it proves that upon his promise his tenants were engaged to Mr. Berkeley, that is, they follow their inclination and not the Earl’s example in breaking their word, so that he will not be able to make ten votes against Mr. Berkeley.3 Returned unopposed, and again in 1747, Berkeley voted consistently against the Government. On 24 Apr. 1744 he carried by his casting vote as chairman of a committee of the Commons a clause in favour of the Jews in a bill for ending the monopoly of the Levant trade by the Turkey Company.4 In 1749 he was given a D.C.L. by the University of Oxford at the Jacobite demonstration on the opening of the Radcliffe Library (see under Oxford University). ‘I think his heart is thoroughly against us’, the second Lord Egmont wrote in his electoral survey c.1749-50 - ‘how he may be influenced by [his brother-in-law] the Duke of Beaufort to act I can’t say’. His vote for the Jewish naturalization bill threatened to prejudice his re-election in 1754, when there was ‘such a spirit in Gloucestershire against Norborne Berkeley upon this account, that though he is otherwise the perfect idol of the country, they are now quite in an uproar against him’.5

Berkeley was returned unopposed in 1754 and again in 1761. He was classed as a Tory in Dupplin’s list of 1754, but on 31 May 1759 he seconded an address moved by Pitt.1 In December 1760 Berkeley was one of the five Tories whose introduction into the bedchamber greatly upset Newcastle.2 In Bute’s list of December 1761 he was classed as ‘Tory’ and ‘Bute’; and he appears in Fox’s list of Members favourable to the peace preliminaries, December 1762. He was described in Grafton’s Autobiography (p. 184) as ‘much attached to Lord Bute, and considered to be wholly devoted to his Majesty’. James Harris writes that Berkeley, supporting the cider bill, 22 Mar. 1762, told the House of his own independency—‘that he had been for the jew-bill, and avowed it to his constituents, though the year before a general election—signified to us now, however, that he expected a seat among the peers’. In April 1763 he vacated his seat; claimed the Botetourt peerage which had been in abeyance for 250 years, and the following year established his claim.

In 1768 Botetourt was appointed governor of Virginia. Horace Walpole writes:3

Lord Botetourt, a very courtier, who was ruined in his fortune, was sent governor to Virginia, where resided some of the ablest of the American patriots; yet in the two years that he lived to govern them his soothing flattering manners had so wrought on the province, that his death was bewailed with the most general and affectionate concern. He died 15 Oct. 1770.

Norborne Berkeley was born about 1717 in Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire, to John Symes Berkeley and Elizabeth Norborne. In 1726, at the age of nine, Berkeley was admitted to Westminster School but remained there for only a year. His political career began in 1741 when he was elected MP for Gloucestershire, a seat he held until 1763 when he left the House of Commons to pursue a peerage, the Barony de Botetourt, which had lain in abeyance since 1406. Considered a staunch Tory, Berkeley's fortunes were boosted considerably on the accession of George III in 1760 when he was appointed a Groom of the Bedchamber. He was named Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire in 1763 and then, in April 1764, his petition for the Barony was confirmed. Shortly thereafter he took a seat in the House of Lords as the 4th Baron de Botetourt and, in 1767, appointed Lord of the Bedchamber.

Having ruined his fortune in a failed mining project, by the late 1760s Botetourt was in serious need of a steady income. His allies in the British government, Lord Bute chief among them, found one for him as governor of Virginia, a position to which Botetourt was appointed on 29 July 1768. Although he proved to be very popular among many Virginians, he was to enjoy the post for only two years, dying in Williamsburg on 15 October 1770, after an illness lasting several weeks.

Botetourt never married and so left no direct heirs. It has been speculated that Sir Charles Thompson, a naval officer and baronet, born about 1740, was his illegitimate son. Botetourt was the legal guardian of his nephew, Henry Somerset, 5th duke of Beaufort, from the time of the death of the 4th duke in 1756. His niece was the celebrated Mary Isabella Manners, duchess of Rutland, a social and political rival of the duchess of Devonshire.

For another view of Lord Botetourt, read: https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/02/will-the-real-lord-botetourt-p...