Sir Maurice Berkeley
d. 1581
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About
Sir Maurice Berkeley of Bruton Abbey in Somerset was Standard-Bearer of England to Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth and Elizabeth the First, a Knight of the Bath and a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, which is to say he carried the royal standard through three reigns and two changes of religion and kept his head. His third son Francis went to Ireland and settled at Askeaton, and it is through that son that this family descends. He named a daughter Gertrude, which is where the forename enters and begins its long run through the Limerick families.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (Burke's Extinct Peerages 'Berkeley of Stratton' pp.46-47; Kingsley, Landed Families no.580): SIR MAURICE BERKELEY, K.B., of BRUTON ABBEY, Somerset - STANDARD-BEARER OF ENGLAND to HENRY VIII, EDWARD VI and ELIZABETH I; Gentleman of the Privy Chamber; acquired Bruton Abbey at the Dissolution; famously persuaded Sir Thomas Wyatt to yield at Temple Bar in 1554, Wyatt riding to court mounted behind him; younger son of Sir Richard Berkeley of STOKE GIFFORD, co. Gloucester (d. 1514, x Elizabeth Coningsby) of the BERKELEY CASTLE cadet line (Stoke Gifford generations recorded here in note, not entered - extendable). m. 1st CATHERINE BLOUNT (d. 1559) - children incl. Henry (heir, x Margaret Lygon - the Stratton/Falmouth ancestor), Edward, SIR FRANCIS OF ASKEATON (our line), and GERTRUDE (m. Edward Horne - the aunt after whom Askeaton's Gertrude was named); m. 2nd Elizabeth Sandes (the Visitation of Somerset 1623 styles her "sister of Sir Tho. Sandes of Kent"; Burke's Extinct says "dau. of Anthony Sandes" - variant noted). d. 1581. THE 1623 VISITATION (Harl. Soc. XI p.7) confirms sons Henry (heir), "Sir Francis. 2" (our line, with son Morice "living in Ireland") and Edward "3". Direct ancestor. Added 21 Jul 2026; Visitation check same day.