Vice-Admiral James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley, (aft. 1679 – 17 August 1736) was the son of

Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley, KB, PC, FRS (8 April 1649 – 24 September 1710) was a British nobleman and diplomat, known as Sir Charles Berkeley from 1661 to 1679 and styled Viscount Dursley from 1679 to 1698. Life The son of George ...

and the Hon. Elizabeth Noel. He was known by the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

of Viscount Dursley prior to succeeding as Earl of Berkeley in 1710. He was a distinguished

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer who served as

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

during the reign of King George I. Viscount Dursley received his commission as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy on 10 March 1699James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> and was promoted to captain on 2 April 1701. He was also a

Member of Parliament (MP) 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 often ...

for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

1701–1702. He took part in the battle off

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

under Admiral Rooke, commanding HMS ''Boyne''. He was summoned to Parliament by

writ of acceleration A writ in acceleration, commonly called a writ of acceleration, is a type of writ of summons that enabled the eldest son and heir apparent of a peer with more than one peerage to attend the British or Irish House of Lords, using one of his father ...

Baron Berkeley The title Baron Berkeley originated as a feudal title and was subsequently created twice in the Peerage of England by writ. It was first granted by writ to Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245–1321), 6th feudal Baron Berkeley, in 12 ...

on 5 March 1705, and continued to rise in the Navy. Dursley commanded HMS ''St George'' in 1706, and narrowly escaped the Scilly naval disaster in which

Sir Cloudesley Shovell Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November 1650 – 22 or 23 October 1707) was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and then at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. ...

in HMS ''Association'' was lost on 23 October 1707. The ''St George'' ran aground on the same ledge as the ''Association'', but was lifted off with the next wave. It is said that it was Dursley who gave his close friend Shovell the priceless

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

ring which features prominently in some of the legends still told about the disaster.legacy of Sir Cloudsley Shovel
Kent History Forum With the death of Sir Clowdisley Shovell, a promotion of flag-officers was made. Rear Admiral Robert Fairfax, was to be commissioned as a Vice Admiral of the Blue (it was signed by the Lord High Admiral and gazetted) but was then cancelled, and Dursley, who was his junior and because of the political influence of his family, made Vice Admiral of the Blue in his stead with seniority of 10 January 1708. Dursley was then promoted to Vice Admiral of the White in late 1708. In April 1709 he recaptured HMS ''Bristol'', which had been taken by the French a short time earlier, but she sank shortly afterwards. Dursley was promoted to Vice Admiral of the Red in December 1709. With the death of his father on 24 September 1710, Dursley succeeded to his titles and became the 3rd

Earl of Berkeley The title Baron Berkeley originated as a feudal title and was subsequently created twice in the Peerage of England by writ. It was first granted by writ to Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245–1321), 6th feudal Baron Berkeley, in ...

. That year, he was also made High Steward of Gloucester, Warden of the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

of St. Briavel's Castle, and

Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. Since 1694, all the Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Gloucestershire. * Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos 1559–? *Giles Brydges, 3rd Baron Chando ...

, which he held until 1712, and then from 1714 to his death, and

Custos Rotulorum of Surrey This is a list of people who have served as Custos Rotulorum of Surrey. * Sir Thomas Pope bef. 1544–1559 * William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham bef. 1562–1573 * Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln 1573–1585 * Charles Ho ...

, which he held until his death. In 1714, besides his restoration to his offices in Gloucestershire, he was made a

Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

He married Lady Louisa Lennox (24 December 1694 – 15 January 1716), daughter of

Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, (29 July 167227 May 1723), of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was the youngest of the seven illegitimate sons of King Charles II, and was that king's only son by his French-b ...

and Anne Brudenell, on 13 February 1711. They had two children, his wife dying in childbirth: *- Lt. Col.

Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley, KT (18 February 1715 – 9 January 1755) was the son of Vice-Admiral James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley, and the former Lady Louisa Lennox. Biography He was made an ensign in the ...

(b. 18 February 1715) *- Lady Elizabeth Berkeley (b. 15 January 1716) On 16 May 1717, he was made

, He also became Vice-Admiral of Great Britain (a civil position with no executive command) and a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. On 31 March 1718, he was created a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

. He held the supreme post in the Admiralty Board for over a decade, before being dismissed as First Lord of the Admiralty on 2 August 1727, for opposing Sir

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

, and also left his office as Lord of the Bedchamber at this time. In 1719 he was one of main subscribers in the

Royal Academy of Music (1719) The Royal Academy of Music was a company founded in February 1719, during George Frideric Handel's residence at Cannons, by a group of aristocrats to secure themselves a constant supply of opera seria. It is not connected to the London con ...

, a corporation that produced

baroque opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

on stage. He died on 17 August 1736 at the , near Coincy, France, and was buried on 31 October 1736 at

Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, parish in the Stroud (district), Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway. The town is ...

. He was succeeded by his son

. His daughter Elizabeth ran away at a very young age and married Anthony Henley in 1728. Lord Hervey wrote "he was a man of great family and great quality, rough, proud, hard, and obstinate, with excellent good natural parts, but so uncultivated that he was totally ignorant of every branch of knowledge but his profession. He was haughty and tyrannical, but honourable, gallant, observant of his word; equally incapable of flattering a prince, bending to a minister, or lying to anybody he had to deal with."

References

Ships of the RN
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, James, 3rd Earl of Berkeley 1679 births Year of birth uncertain 1736 deaths 103 Knights of the Garter Lord-Lieutenants of Gloucestershire Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Royal Navy vice admirals

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Gloucester English MPs 1701–1702 Members of the Kit-Kat Club