Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (c.1251 – 23 July 1321), "The Wise", feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England, was a peer, soldier and diplomat. 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". Thomas de Berkeley was born around 1251 at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, the son of Sir Maurice de Berkeley, feudal baron of Berkeley, by his wife Isabel
Grantley Berkeley "Fraser's Magazine" of "Berkeley Castle". He subsequently fought a duel with the review's author William Maginn. Three rounds of shots were fired, but no one was struck. Berkeley married Caroline Martha Benfield (1804–1873), daughter of Paul Benfield (1741–1810) and wife Mary Frances, née Swinburne (1771–1828), on 16 August 1824. Their two sons Swinburne and Edward died in 1865 and 1878 respectively. Berkeley died on 20 February 1881, aged 81. Grantley Berkeley The Honourable George Charles Grantley Fitzhardinge Berkeley (10 February 1800 – 20 February 1881), known as Grantley Berkeley, was a British politician, writer and sportsman. Berkeley was the sixth