George Berkeley, 8th Baron Berkeley and Frances de Vere, daughter of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford and Elizabeth Trussell. Berkeley's childhood was spent in Warwickshire, where he was a pupil of the translator, Philemon Holland of Coventry, and of Henry Ashwood. He succeeded to his titles of Baron Berkeley of Berkeley, Mowbray, Segrave, & Breuse of Gower at the death of his grandfather, Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley, on 26 November 1613. His family seat was at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. He was made a Knight of the Order of the Bath on November 4, 1616, when Prince Charles was made Prince of
Berkeley Hunt hunted mainly in March and early April, and adjoins the Duke of Beaufort's estate. The "vale country" comprises the Vale of Berkeley, largely dairy and stock farms with much permanent pasture, although the use of this land for growing crops is increasing. At one time the Berkeley Hunt's hounds were kennelled at Berkeley and at Cheltenham, Nettlebed, Gerrards Cross and Cranford, Middlesex. It should have been possible to hunt from Berkeley Castle to Wormwood Scrubs, 100 miles as the crow flies, although not on a regular basis without disturbing other hunts. This wide range of activity may have begun by