Rowland Berkeley (about 1548 – 1 June 1611) of
Worcester and
Spetchley was an English
clothier and politician who sat in the
House of Commons at various times between 1593 and 1611.
Berkeley was the eighth son of William Berkeley, mayor and MP for Hereford, great-nephew of
William, 1st Marquess of Berkeley.
Worcester and Spetchley
Rowland Berkeley became a successful clothier at Worcester. He bought
Spetchley Park
Spetchley Park is a country mansion standing in 4500 acres of gardens and parkland in the hamlet of Spetchley, near Worcester, England. The house and park are separately Grade II* listed.
The house is built in two storeys of Bath stone with a ...
from Philip Sheldon. He was bailiff of Worcester in 1585 and 1587. He was appointed first master of the Clothers Company of Worcester under the Clothers Charter of 23 September 1590.
[ W R Williams ''Parliamentary History of the County of Worcester'']
/ref> After his death his eldest son acquired extensive property in Cotheridge.
House of Commons
In 1593, he was elected Member of Parliament for Worcester. He was re-elected MP for Worcester in 1597 and 1601. In 1605 he was elected MP for Worcester again in a by-election and sat until his death in 1611.[
]
Family
Berkeley married 15 April 1574 Catherine Hayward, daughter of Thomas Hayward.[
Their children]Samuel Fell
Samuel Fell D.D. (1584 – 1 February 1649) was an English academic and clergyman, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford during the First English Civil War.
Life
Samuel Fell was born in the parish of St Cl ...
* Joan, sixth daughter, who married firstly Henry Bright and secondly Edward Annesley
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Rowland
1611 deaths
Business people from Worcester, England
Place of birth missing
English MPs 1593
English MPs 1597–1598
English MPs 1601
English MPs 1604–1611
Year of birth uncertain
Members of the Parliament of England for Worcester