- Berkeley family
The Berkeley family has an unbroken male line of descent from a Saxon ancestor before the
Norman conquest of England in1066 to the present day. The family reputedly descends fromHarding , the son ofEadnoth the Staller (Alnod), a high official under KingEdward the Confessor .The town of Berkeley is located in the county of
Gloucestershire and is situated about five miles west ofDursley and eighteen southwest ofGloucester , and northeast ofBristol . It was chartered by King Edward I to be governed by a mayor andalderman , but the corporation was annulled in1885 . The place confers the title ofEarl andBaron on the Berkeley family. The manor embraces nearly thirty parishes and is one of the largest inEngland ; it was given by William the Conqueror toRoger de Berkeley , Lord of Dursley. From "The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage of the British Empire", "The Earl of Berkeley", pp 70-71 (1882).The Berkeley family of
Berkeley Castle is [According to an article byJames Lees-Milne in the 18th edition ofBurke's Peerage orBurke's Landed Gentry , volume 1.] one of three families in England that can trace its lineage in the male line back to Saxon times. The other two are theArden family and theSwinton family . Of the three, the Swinton family is the oldest.Notes
External links
*NRA|id=F3503|name=the Berkeley family
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
