John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton

John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton (1602 – August 28, 1678) was the fifth and youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley. He commanded the army against the Scots in 1638, and was knighted at Berwick in that year. He bore a conspicuous part in the civil wars that followed, supporting the royal cause; he became Governor of Exeter, and General of the King Charles I's forces in Devon. He participated in the exile of the royal family, in 1652, and was placed at the head of the Duke of York's establishment, having the management of all the Duke's receipts and expenditures. On May 19, 1658 he was raised to the Peerage, as Baron Berkeley of Stratton, in the county of Somerset. On the restoration he became one of the Privy Council, and towards the close of 1669, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and administered the government for two years. In 1675 he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary to Versailles, and died 28 August, 1678. Although holding so many distingnished offices some authorities assert that, at one time, he was under a cloud, in consequence of his being detected in selling of offices, and other corrupt practices. Pepys speaks of him as being esteemed "a fortunate, though a passionate, and but weak man as to policy", and "the most hot, fiery man in discourse, without any cause", he ever saw. The intimate relations existing between Berkeley and King Charles and the Duke of York, as shown in Pepys' illustrative diary, fully account for the granting to him an interest in New Jersey, as well as in Carolina, which he had previously received.

Berkeley was co-proprietor of New Jersey from 1664 to 1674. He sold his share to a group of Quakers because of the political difficulties created by New York Governor Richard Nicolls, George Carteret, and himself. He effectively split New Jersey into two colonies: East Jersey (belonging to other proprietor Sir George Carteret) and West Jersey. The colony was divided until 1702 when West Jersey went bankrupt and the colony was given back to the English crown, who unified the colony again. In 1665, Berkeley was one of the drafters of the Concession and Agreement, a document that provided freedom of religion in the colony of New Jersey. It was issued as a proclamation for the structure of the government for the colony written by the two proprietors, Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.

References

*"New Jersey Archives", First Series. Newark, NJ, 1880-1893., Volume 1, page 25.
*Whitehead, William Adee, "East Jersey der the proprietary governments". New York, New-Jersey historical society, 1846, page 103.
*O'Callaghan, ed., "Documents relating to the Colonial history of the State of New York", 1849 - 1851. Volume 2, page 599.