Sir Francis Berkeley, P.C.

Sir Francis Berkeley was born circa 1555.2

He was the son of Sir Maurice Berkeley and Catherine Blount.2

He married Katherine Loftus, daughter of Most Rev. Adam Loftus and Jane Purdon.3       He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.).1 He matriculated at Magdalen College School, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, in 1571.2 He was invested as a Knight on 12 June 1599 at Askeaton, County Limerick, Ireland.1,2

Children of Sir Francis Berkeley and Katherine Loftus

1. Elizabeth Berkeley+3
2. Gertrude Berkeley+4

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Citations

1. [S37] Volume 1, page 970. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
2. [S1118] Pam Abikhair, "re: Julia Augusta Berners," e-mail message to Darryl Lundy, 29 June 2004. Hereinafter cited as "re: Julia Augusta Berners."
3. [S37] See. [S37]
4. [S6266] Sir Bernard Burke, editor, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 9th edition, (London, England: Harrison & Sons, 1894), page 2177. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Landed Gentry, 8th ed.

Links

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p32496.htm#i324959

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"Knt. of Askeyton, Co. Limerick." -- A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, Volume 2, Bernard Burke

"He was appointed Privy Counsellor (P.C.)... He was appointed Knight on 12 June 1599 at Askeaton, County Limerick, Ireland." -- Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.

"Captain Edward Berkeley, who was now warden of Askeaton Castle, and his brother and successor Francis, were the respectively the third and second sons of Sir. Maurice Berkeley of Bruton, in Somersetshire, who had been standard-bearer to Henry VIII... Edward Berkeley continued to be constable of Askeaton till 1589. The Government, in one of its periodical fits of economy, got impatient of the expense, and in the end, Berkeley prudently resigned his pension and 15 footmen for a fee-farm rent or other recompense. He gave up the castle [sometime] between May and September, and in the latter month, Sir W. Herbert tried to get the "void castle" for his cousin. The next month, however, the lands of Desmond were apportioned among the "undertakers" .... Sir Walter Raleigh 12,000 acres, Captain Edward Berkeley, 7,000 acres, and Edmund Spenser 4,000 acres, at from 3d. to 4d. an acre head rent. Edward Berkeley must have died soon after the time of his surrender for Queen Elizabeth, by a document granted at Richmond, Dec. 18, 1589, states that "for the better re-peopling of the Province of Munster" she desired that Sir Edward Berkeley should have held the castle and the Seignory of Askeaton ; but he having died before the great seal was affixed to the grant, she desired for it to be transferred to his brother Francis. Accordingly, Francis Berkely got the "Manor of Rock Barkley" forever at a rent of 87 pounds 10s. and was bound to erect houses for 56 families and himself; 4 houses for freeholders, 3 for farmers, 46 for copyholders. He was also granted all the lands and tenements in the town of Askeaton, except the castle and the 40 acres reserved for the Crown. The grant comprised 12,000 (not 7,000) English acres and is dated 18th October, 1590.

The fall of his patron, Perrot, clouded the prosperity and endangered the safety of the new constable of Askeaton, after a few months; for in 1591, he was sent with other prisoners to London, but was eventually set free and given 100 pounds compensation for his detention; his lands were also restored to him. He married Katherine, one of hte numerous daughters of Dr. Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, in 1596. His settlment now was 7,250 acres, and 21 English families were planted on it. He was appointed Governor of Limerick Castle, Nov. 2, 1597, the patent being given free-of-seal because he was son-in-law to the Chancellor. Strange to say, the Crown gave a lease for the 'castle or chief house called the Castle of Askeatinge' to Sir Anthony St Leger, Oct 17, 1598, but we may presume the outbreak a few weeks later brought the grant to an untimely end." -- The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Fifth Series, Vol. 33, No. 2, [Fifth Series, Vol. 13] (Jun. 30, 1903), pp. 153-174 (22 pages)