James Berkeley James Berkeley James Berkeley (died 1327) was Bishop of Exeter for a period of three months in 1327, which term was cut short by his death or possible murder. Berkeley was a younger son of Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245-1321), "The Wise", feudal baron of Berkeley of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, by his wife Joan de Ferrers, a daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby by his wife Margaret de Quincy, a daughter of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester. Berkeley was elected bishop on 5 December 1326 and was consecrated on 22 March 1327.
Baron Berkeley that the barony by writ was deemed, extraordinarily, to be in effect a feudal barony (or barony by tenure), dependent on the tenure of Berkeley Castle. Thus when William Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1426–1492), "William the Waste-All", alienated Berkeley Castle to the king, he effectively disinherited his younger brother from the barony by writ. The heir apparent is his son the Hon. Thomas FitzHardinge Gueterbock (b. 1969) The Earldom of Berkeley, together with the Viscountcy Dursley, was separated from the barony in 1882, but the accession was not fully established. In 1942 both titles became extinct