Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley Thomas de Berkeley (c. 1293 or 1296 – 27 October 1361), "The Rich", feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England, was a peer. His epithet, and that of each previous and subsequent head of his family, was coined by John Smyth of Nibley (d.1641), steward of the Berkeley estates, the biographer of the family and author of "Lives of the Berkeleys". He was the eldest son and heir of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley by his wife Eve la Zouche. In 1327 he was made joint custodian of the deposed
Berkeley Castle genealogy documentary television series "Who Do You Think You Are?", with American actress Courteney Cox looking into her ancestry. Cox learns that she is a 21-generation direct descendant of Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley and 22-generation descendant of de Berkeley’s father-in-law, Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March – also learning of their parts in the murder of King Edward II of England at Berkeley Castle in 1327. Two ships of the Royal Navy have been named "Berkeley Castle" after the castle, as has a Great Western locomotive. Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelt "Berkley Castle" or