Sir Henry Berkeley (1579–1667) 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 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 parliament. ...

variously between 1626 and 1640. 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 governme ...

side in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

Berkeley was the son of Sir Henry Berkeley of Bruton and his wife Margaret Lygon, daughter of William Lygon of Madresfield, Worcestershire. He matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

aged 11 on 13 February 1590 together with his brother

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

. In 1601 he inherited the manor of

Yarlington Yarlington is a village and civil parish, near the source of the River Cam, in the English county of Somerset. Administratively, Yarlington shares a parish council with nearby North Cadbury and forms part of the district of South Somerset. The v ...

on the death of his father.Visitation of England and Wales
/ref> He was knighted at Whitehall on 29 April 1609. In 1626 Berkeley was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. In 1628 he was elected MP for

Ilchester Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman town, and later a market town, Ilchester has a rich medieval history and was a notable ...

and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, Berkeley was elected MP for Ilchester in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. Berkeley was a Commissioner of Array for the King during the Civil War, and was included in the surrender of Exeter on 13 April 1646. Berkeley died between 1666 and 1667. Berkeley married Elizabeth Nevill, daughter of Sir Henry Nevill of

Billingbear House Billingbear House was situated in the parish of Waltham St. Lawrence in Berkshire, England, about six miles from Windsor. Originally owned by the Bishop of Winchester, the land was given to Sir Henry Neville (father of politician and diplomat, ...

, Berkshire and his wife Ann Killigrew, daughter of

Sir Henry Killigrew Sir Henry Killigrew (c. 1528Bell pp. 189–190 – 1603) was a Cornish diplomat and an ambassador for the Kingdom of England in the sixteenth century. He was several times employed by Elizabeth I in Scottish affairs and served as one of the Eng ...

. His daughter Dorothy married Francis Godolphin and brought him the Yarlington estate. ''Parishes: Ilchester'', A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 3 (1974), pp. 179–203. Date accessed: 9 January 2011
/ref>

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Henry 1579 births 1667 deaths Cavaliers Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford 16th-century English MPs English knights English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) People from Bruton