John Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton

John Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton PC (16 May 1697 – 18 April 1773), styled The Honourable John Berkeley until 1741, was a British politician, the last of the Bruton branch of the Berkeley family.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Berkeley of Stratton
PC
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen Pensioners
In office
16 November 1756 – 12 July 1762
MonarchsGeorge II
George III
Prime MinisterThe Duke of Devonshire
The Duke of Newcastle
Preceded byThe Lord Hobart
Succeeded byThe Earl of Lichfield
Personal details
Born16 May 1697
Died18 April 1773 (1773-04-19) (aged 75)
Bruton Abbey, Bruton, Somerset
NationalityBritish
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Background and education

Berkeley was the son of William Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton, by Frances, daughter of Sir John Temple, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford.[1]

Political career

Berkeley was returned to parliament as one of two representatives for Stockbridge in 1735, a seat he held until 1741, when he succeeded his father in the barony and took his seat in the House of Lords.[1][2] In 1743 he was appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, which he remained until 1746. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1752[3] and served as Treasurer of the Household between 1755 and 1756 and Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen Pensioners between 1756 and 1762.[1] From 1762 to 1770 he was Lord-Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets and Constable of the Tower of London.[1][4]

Personal life

Lord Berkeley of Stratton was married but had no children. He died at a family home, Bruton Abbey, Somerset, in April 1773, aged 75, when the barony became extinct. He devised his grand estates which included Berkeley Square in London, to his kinsman the Frederick Augustus Berkeley, 5th Earl of Berkeley,[1] his own branch descended in the male line from a Baron Berkeley who died in 1326, with some later shared female ancestry.

References
  1. thepeerage.com John Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley of Stratton
  2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
  3. "No. 9140". The London Gazette. 11 February 1752. p. 2.
  4. leighrayment.com Peerage: Berehaven to Boardman[Usurped!]
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