Sir Francis Berkeley
1555 – 1615
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Sir Francis Berkeley of Askeaton was a younger son of the Berkeleys of Bruton in Somerset, themselves a cadet branch of the great house of Berkeley Castle, and he settled in Ireland. He was knighted at Askeaton in 1599 and died there in December 1615. His daughter and heiress Gertrude carried his blood into the Taylors of Ballinort and so into this family. His own place in the Bruton pedigree was for a long time uncertain and was settled at last from the heralds' visitation of Somerset in 1623, which shows him as a son of Sir Maurice Berkeley the standard-bearer, with his own son drawn in beneath him and described as living in Ireland.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED, NOW DOUBLE-SOURCED (Burke's LGI 'Westropp of Attyflin'; independently corroborated 21 Jul 2026 by Cokayne, Complete Baronetage III pp.310-11, CROFTON entry: George Crofton of Ballymurray, MP for Askeaton 1639, m. "Elizabeth, da. of Sir Francis BERKELEY, of Askeaton... and Katharine, his wife, da. of Adam LOFTUS, Archbishop of Dublin (1567-1605)"): SIR FRANCIS BERKELEY, of ASKEATON, co. Limerick; m. Catherine/Katharine, dau. of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin. Daughters: GERTRUDE (heiress - our line, m. John Taylor of Ballinort) and Elizabeth (m. George Crofton of Ballymurray - the Crofton Bts of the Mote descend). His dau. and heiress Gertrude = our line. HIS OWN DESCENT (Berkeley of Stratton article, Burke's Extinct Peerages pp.46-47, read 21 Jul 2026): the BRUTON, Somerset house is documented as "descended from the Barons Berkeley of Berkeley Castle" via Sir Richard Berkeley of STOKE GIFFORD, co. Gloucester (d. 1514) x Elizabeth Coningsby -> Sir Maurice Berkeley K.B. of Bruton, STANDARD-BEARER to Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth (x Catherine Blount, dau. of Lord Mountjoy) -> Sir Henry Berkeley of Bruton (x Margaret Lygon of Madresfield) -> Sir Maurice (kt. 1596, x Elizabeth Killigrew) -> the Stratton/Falmouth/Fitzhardinge Berkeleys. RUNG RESOLVED 21 Jul 2026 (convergent secondary sources: thepeerage p32496; Kingsley, Landed Families no.580 'Berkeley of Bruton Abbey'; WikiTree Berkeley-724; Powys pedigree; Wikipedia Askeaton): SIR FRANCIS = THIRD SON OF SIR MAURICE BERKELEY THE STANDARD-BEARER HIMSELF (d. 1581), by his 1st wife CATHERINE BLOUNT (d. 25 Feb 1559), dau. of William Blount, 4th BARON MOUNTJOY. b. ABT 1555 at Bruton; to Ireland in the Munster Plantation; KNIGHTED AT ASKEATON 1599; granted the Desmond castle and a ~12,000-acre estate with markets and fairs; reputed a comparatively fair landlord who employed Irish-speaking ministers, once charged (and cleared) with harbouring Irish husbandmen; P.C.; d. AT ASKEATON CASTLE 20 DEC 1615, s. by his son Maurice (Gertrude our line among the daus). The Burke's Extinct 'Stratton' article omits him (younger sons compressed). PRIMARY CHECK PASSED 21 Jul 2026: the VISITATION OF SOMERSET 1623 (Harleian Soc. XI, p.7, 'Berkley' - photographed) shows him as son of Sir Maurice the Standard Bearer - "Sir Francis. 2" beside Sir Henry (heir) and Edward "3" - WITH HIS SON "MORICE BERKELEY LIVING IN IRELAND" beneath him, the Askeaton heir recorded by the heralds in 1623. Grade ✓ at primary level. Two residual notes: the Visitation numbers him 2ND son where modern secondaries say 3rd (trivial); and the Visitation chart does not assign sons to wives - Catherine Blount as his mother rests on the convergent secondaries + chronology (she d. Feb 1559; he b. ~1555 - consistent). Onomastics now exact: he named his daughter GERTRUDE after HIS OWN SISTER Gertrude (m. Edward Horne). Wry resonance stands: the paternal Damery candidates at Cromhall held copyhold of the same house's manor. Direct ancestor. Added 21 Jul 2026; rung resolved same day.