John Berkeley, Jr.

John Berkeley was a member of the governor's Council and overseer of an ironworks in Virginia. Berkeley, born in Gloucestershire, England, came to the attention of the Virginia Company of London in 1621 because of his experience in iron smelting and forging. In July 1621, before he reached Virginia, he was appointed to the governor's Council. Upon arrival in the colony, Berkeley continued the construction of an ironworks near Falling Creek, in what is now Chesterfield County. Before he could begin production, Berkeley and twenty-six others at the ironworks were killed during the Powhatans' concerted uprising of March 22, 1622.

On November 6, 1582, John Berkeley (son of John Berkeley & Frances Poyntz) married Mary Snell at Kington Saint Michael in Wiltshire, and by the time he left England for Virginia they had six sons and four daughters.

Source: https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Berkeley_John_ca_1560-1622 “John Berkeley (ca. 1560–1622)” Contributed by J. Frederick Fausz and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography

Supporting data

• 'The Berkeley manuscripts. The lives of the Berkeleys, lords of the honour, castle and manor of Berkeley, in the county of Gloucester, from 1066 to 1618; (1883)
• http://www.archive.org/details/berkeleymanuscri00smytuoft
• http://www.archive.org/stream/berkeleymanuscri00smytuoft#page/235/m...
• 4. Jone Berkeley youngeft daughter of this lord Thomas, was on Midfommer day in the nineteenth year of king Henry the 8th maryed at Yate, her fathers houfe, to Nicholas Poynz, (after knight,) fon and heir of S'r Anthoney Poyntz of Acton, knight, whofe marriage portion was fix hundred marks, whereof one hundred pounds at the marriage, and one hundred marks each year after ; wherein the agreements were further, that if Nicholas dyed before the marriage, then fhee to be marryed to his brother Giles Poynz : . . . . .
• http://www.archive.org/stream/berkeleymanuscri00smytuoft#page/236/m...
• . . . . the faid Jone and Nicholas had iffue 1 Sr Nicholas, 2 ffrancis, 3 Edmond, 4 Anthony, 5 William, 6 John, 7 Anne, 8 Jane, and 9 ffrances, of each of whom in order : and this Sr Nicholas dyed in the third and fourth years of Phillip and Mary, And Jone furvived, and was in her Elder years marryed to Sr Edward Dyer, and dyed in the fixth of Queen Elizabeth. . . . .
  • http://www.archive.org/stream/berkeleymanuscri00smytuoft#page/239/m...
  • 9. The faid Frances daughter of the faid Jone Berkeley, was maryed to S'r John Berkeley of Beverfton caflle, knight, by whom fhee had iffue 'John Berkeley', Jone, Katharine and Margaret. Which 'John, by Mary his wife daughter of John Snell Efqr, had iffue', 1 Maurice, 2 John, 3 Henry, 4 William, 5 Edward, 6 Thomas, 7 Mary, 8 ffrances, 9 Elizabeth, and 10 Anne. Whereof the faid Maurice, by Barbara his wife daughter of S'r Walter Longe, hath iffue Edw'd; and others ; And the faid Mary his fifter is marryed to Edward Conway of Gloucefter fhire. The other eight are unmarryed . 1623. As alfo is Jone the eldeft fifler of the faid 'John Berkeley', leading a Nunnes life at Bruffells, beyond feas ; And now lady Abbeffe there . 1630.
    • The faid Katharine, fecond fifter of the faid 'John Berkeley', by Thomas Symonds, a minifter, hath iffue Thomas, Anno. 1620.
    • And the faid Margaret the other fifter by Jefper Merricke of Berington, a minifter, hath iffue, Sibill, Anno. 1620.
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• 'The Virginia magazine of history and biography, Volume 26 By William Glover Stanard, Virginia Historical Society
• The Virginia magazine of history and biography, Volume 26 By William Glover Stanard, Virginia Historical Society
• Pg. 202
• William Berkeley had, by his marriage with Margaret Paulet, several daughters, and a son John, who dissipated the family estate, except Beverstone, and died 16 October, 24 Elizabeth. This John married Frances, daughter of Sir Nicholas Poynts, of Acton, Gloucestershire, and had issue:
• ' 1. John2, sold Beverstone Castle to Sir John Poyntz 1597, appointed to take charge of iron works in Virginia, May 11, 1621, vice Mr. Blewett, dead; killed in the Indian Massacre of 1622. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir John Snell;' 2. Joan, Abbess at Brussels; 3. Katherine, married Thomas Symonds, a minister; 4. Margaret married Jasper Merricke, of Bevington.
• ' John and Margaret (Snell) Berkeley, had issue:
• 1. Sir Maurice3, married Barbara, daughter of Sir Walter Longe; 2. John, unmarried 1630; 3. Henry, unmarried 1630; 4. William, unmarried 1630; 5., unmarried 1630; 6. Thomas, unmarried 1630 (all then in England); 7. Mary married ___ Conway of Gloucester; 8. Frances, born 1596, unmarried 1623; 9. Elizabeth married Sir John Sutton, Lord Dudley, Bedfordshire.
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• [Page 98]
• ' Berkeley, John, He was the son of Sir John Berkeley, of the castle and manor of Beverstone, in the county of Gloucester, England, an eminent branch of the noble family of the Berkeleys of Berkeley castle. He lived but eight months in Virginia, but in that time was well known as the "master and overseer" of America's first effort to manufacture iron. Iron ore was one of the first commodities carried back to England by the ships of the Virginia Company, which as early as 1619 considered the establishing of iron works in the colony. The following year 150 men were sent out to Virginia for this express purpose and, in 1621, Sir Edwin Sandis reports that a Mr. John Berkeley had been found to take up the work who was "very sufficient" in such service. The same year, Berkeley sailed to Virginia to take up the new task. The site chosen for the new works was on Falling creek which empties into the James river about sixty-six miles above Jamestown and some seven miles below the present city of Richmond. Berkeley sent an encouraging report of the conduct of the work and declared that by the following Whitsuntide the company might count on "good quantities of iron." The terrible Indian massacre of Mar. 22, 1622, intervened, however, and Berkeley was among those slain. John Berkeley had issue by Mary, daughter of John Snell, Esq. — Maurice, John, Henry, William Edward, Thomas, Mary, Frances, Elizabeth and Anne. His son, Maurice, came to Virginia with his father and happily escaped the massacre. He married Barbara, daughter of Sir Walter Long, and had issue, "Edward and others." There is a prominent Berkeley family in Virginia which descend from Edmund Berkeley, living in 1674, who may have been a son of Edward last named.
• Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography
• http://vagenweb.org/tylers_bios/vol1-10.htm
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• Notable Henricoans Database
• ' John Berkeley
• 'Deceased Born: Died: 1622
• 'Place of Birth: England
• 'Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian
• Summary
• 'John Berkeley, an experienced ironworker and member of the Virginia governor's Council, was the only son of Sir John Berkeley and his first wife Frances Poyntz. Berkeley inherited a greatly reduced estate upon his father's death. He married Mary Snell in Wiltshire and was the father of a large family by the time he left for Virginia. His great experience in iron smelting and forging led to his being employed in May 1621 by the Virginia Company to oversee iron workers at Falling Creek, one of the first iron blast furnaces in the new world (currently part of the Chesterfield County Park system). Berkeley, his son Maurice, three servants and twenty workmen set out for Virginia. The group included eight furnace men and twelve others. Berkeley had hoped for early production, but the powerful Opechancanough led a Powhatan Indian attack on Good Friday, March 22, 1622 which destroyed the ironworks and claimed twenty-seven lives, including Berkeley's. In 1623, his son Maurice returned to the ironworks but deemed the facility irreparable and it was abandoned.
• Source
• McCartney, Martha W. Virginia immigrants and adventurers, 1607-1635. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2007; Kneebone, John T. et al. Dictionary of Virginia Biography Vol. 1(Aaroe-Blanchfield). Richmond: Library of Virginia, 1998.
• http://www.henricolibrary.org/nhdb/Search2.asp?FS=Display&ID=55
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References

• https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/berkeley-john-ca-1560-1622/
• Genealogies of Virginia Families from the William and Mary College Quarterly. Vol. I. Adams-Clopton [database on-line]. Section: The Berkeley-Berkley Family and Their Kindred in the Colonization of VA and MD. Page 294. < AncestrySharing >