In the diary of Edward Berkeley (c.1644-1707) of ‘Pull in the county of Somersett’ for 1690 can be found some entries and accounts worthy of note in SDNQ. The diary itself is bound in leather, tooled in the late 17th-century style and came into the possession of the author in 2002.1 The diary consists of three sections. First is a section of unprinted pages, followed by a Riders (1690) British Merlin . . ., then another section of unprinted pages. Berkeley made good use of these once blank pages to record his activities during 1690, including events and transactions relating to his estate. The printed section of the diary, as well as containing a geographical description of the World, times of high water at London Bridge, an illustration of ‘The Anatomy of Man’s Body’, etc, is interleaved with pages enabling the owner to record events against each month’s printed calendar. Being quite a small diary, measuring 75 x 125mm, the entries made by Berkeley are often quite short and occasionally cryptic. Nevertheless they do give a good indication of his movements and activities during 1690.
Edward Berkeley was the son of Edward Berkeley of Pylle (d.1669) and Phillipa Speke. His maternal grandparents were George Speke of Whitelackington and Joan Portman. Joan’s brother was Sir William Portman (1610-1648) who married Anna Colles of Barton who had issue, Sir William Portman (1643-1690) who features in the diary and whose birthday is also recorded (although not against the correct month). Other family members who are mentioned include a niece, Lucy, a ‘cousin’ Jude Ryves who is recorded as having ‘260li principal 20 Guyn[eas]’ and an uncle Ryves, as well as a Richard and Robert Ryves. He also noted the last resting place of Mrs Lucy (in ‘hatton garden over against the new chapple in Kerby Street’) and Mrs Harris (‘where Sr Edward Phelipps lies’).2 Through Berkeley’s marriage to Elizabeth Ryves of Ranston, Dorset the relationship to ‘Cousin Jude’ can be explained, but a close relationship to Mrs Lucy, Mrs Harris and Sir Edward Phelips is not easily explained. Especially as Colonel Sir Edward Phelips in a letter addressed to Colonel Edward Berkeley from Montacute, in 1685, addressed Berkeley as ‘Brother Berkley’.3
The connection to the Portman family appears in the diary on several occasions. The main reason for Berkeley recording entries concerning his relations at Orchard was due to the death of Sir William in 1690. Portman must have been on his last legs when his will was written, as he directed that his
Body may be buryed on the Vault which is in the Church of Orchard . . . if I shall happen to dye at Orchard within a ffortnight and if at Bryanston within Three weekes after my decease That my funerall be Decent Quiet and not Expensive and That there be no sermon seeing it will hinder my friends from returning to their homes in good time.
Portman made a great number of bequests to members of his family, including the Seymours, Spekes, Colles and Berkeleys. The diarist, referred to as ‘the honourable Collonel Edward Berkly of Pull’ not only received £200 but an additional £50 as he was one of Portman’s executors. Berkeley was also party to Portman’s ‘Deed of Release’ which transferred his estate to his first cousin, Henry Seymour (d.1728), fifth son of his aunt Anne Portman (d.1695) and her husband Sir Edward Seymour, 3rd Baronet (d.1688), as Portman had no male heir to pass it on to.4
Sir George m. Joan Sir William m. Anna Sir Edward m. Anne
Speke of Portman Portman Colles Seymour Portman
Whitelackington 1610-1648 of of Barton d.1688 d.1695
Orchard Portman
Phillipa m. Edward George m. Mary Pye Sir William Henry
Speke Berkeley Speke Portman Seymour
of Pylle 1623-1689 1643-1690 d.1728
d.1669
Edward Berkeley m. Elizabeth Ryves John Speke m. Katherine
of Pylle of Ranston, c.1652-1728 Prideaux
c.1644-1707 Dorset
3 sons 3 daughters
(People mentioned in the diary are shown in bold)
Berkeley served as M.P. for Wells from 1679-1680, 1685, 1689, 1690, 1695 and 1698 and sat as a commissioner for the 1690 assessment, served as a colonel in the Somerset militia, a justice of the peace and deputy lieutenant. Of his political activities around the time of the diary he rallied to the cause of William of Orange at the Revolution in 1688. He also signed the declaration of support at Crewkerne, was re-elected in 1689 and 1690, but ‘apart from a complaint of breach of privilege, he was completely inactive’.5 Despite this inactivity in the House, he was very active whilst in Somerset dealing with political and local government issues. He also recorded his visits to the House and some of the votes he must have been interested in, which are described further below.
Berkeley’s diary
At the beginning of January he was at Sir John Fowells (1665-1692) at Fowellscombe ‘near Ivybridge’, Devon. He was the third baronet who in 1689 was elected Member of Parliament for Totnes, Devon until his death in 1692. He was one of the 151 M.P.s who voted against making the Prince of Orange king, but for declaring Princess Mary queen, therefore he was a fellow politician. Unfortunately Berkeley did not record the length of time he spent there and the next dated entry in his diary, being the 27th, simply states ‘Parliament Prorogue’. After he attended Parliament he returned to Somerset on the 2nd of February. A cryptic entry on the 18th ‘Mr S: Eyres’ is followed by a record of accounts for money either spent, lost or obtained whilst at Wincanton and London.
Berkeley was hearing appeals at Wells on the 27th of February as part of his duties as a J.P. and on the 10th of March recorded the date of the assizes at Sarum, but if he actually made the trip to Wiltshire is not clear as the next entry records ‘home’ and ‘Capt Stocker’. Berkeley shows his literary and geographical interests when he made a note about Edmund Bohon’s Geographical Dictionary, which presumably he purchased. An entry on the 18th of March shows the death of his mother’s cousin, Sir William Portman. The next entry, like others, is a cryptic one and was recorded after travelling to ‘Lord Fitz:’ (most likely his kinsman Maurice Berkeley, 3rd Viscount Fitzhardinge (1628-1690), M.P. for Wells 1661-1679 and Bath 1681-1690) when the diarist noted ‘Mr Jo: Chickes declared Mr Dawes tendring Mr Smyth held money due from Mr Field; to mr Strode’. Presumably this transaction took place in the presence of Berkeley. That meeting, if at Lord Fitzharding’s residence, most likely would have taken place at Bruton Abbey where he died on 13 June 1690 and was buried at the local parish church of St Mary’s.6
As a J.P. it is not surprising that there are many examinations made before him amongst Quarter Sessions records from 1683 through to 1693. One examination in the year of the diary, on the 21 April, recorded the evidence of William Strode of West Lydford, husbandman, and William Salomon of same, yeoman, in a case concerning the alleged theft of wheat.7 There are entries in the diary at the end of April for Petty Sessions at ‘Glaston’ and at Wells the following day. But why these two entries should be followed by a list of colonels that took commissions under King James, as well as a list of judges, is not clear. In May he noted courts of a different kind, this time manorial, at ‘Dunhead’ (Downhead) on the 6th, Pylle on the 7th8 and Pierston (in Dorset) on the 13th. It is likely he was at Shepton Mallet on the 5th to hear ‘Appeales’. His connection to Sir William Portman meant he had to prove his will on the 8th and he made an entry in his diary to pay Mr Bickerton of Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury 70li.
He arrived in London on the 10th when he made enquiries at Mr Saunders at the Barbers Pole at the end of Bartholomews Lane. He also noted the delivery of money to ‘Jack’ in London. Whilst in London he may have attended the Commons as he noted on the 23rd that ‘Parlament adjournd till July 7:’. He recorded beneath this entry the names of Richard Fownes, Nathaniel Palmer, Henry Seymour and Henry Wallopp esquires. These men were, like Berkeley, executors of Sir William Portman’s will and the diary contains details of payments for gloves at the funeral (£8 3s) and ‘for ye Coffen [and] other funeral charges’ (£10) but not specifically for Portman’s funeral.9 Of these men, Henry Seymour was the son of Sir Edward Seymour and Anne Portman and therefore was his mother’s cousin. An additional executor was Lieutenant-General Thomas Erle PC (1650-1720), who was an English army general and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England and of Great Britain from 1678 to 1718, served as Governor of Portsmouth and a Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance.10 Portman referred to him in his will as the ‘Honourable Colonel Thomas Erle of Charborrow’, or Charborough in Dorset.11
Berkeley returned from London to Somerset on the 3rd of June and obtained ‘20 dousin and halfe of claret’ from ‘G.H.’, possibly a wine merchant. A cryptic entry on the 20th reads ‘Nurs Bezir had ye opportunity of her husband FB’, possibly referring to the family’s nurse who might have been looking after his children. More financial transactions are noted on the 24th with payments of £70 to Mr Bickerton, £30 for himself, £120 to Mrs Lucy, £50 to Mr Parry of Frome, £34 12s 6d to Grace Albyn and £10 to ‘T: Phil: borrowed’.
July starts with another cryptic entry: ‘Mr Will Martin senr. With yt John Maby promised to give his daughter 500li if she marryed Tom Miller’. Why this event interested Berkeley enough to record it in his pocket diary is not clear, unless he was somehow involved in the affair, either as a witness or in some financial capacity. The only other events recorded in July were visits to Wytham and Corton on the 8th and 10th, until the latter end of the month. On the 27th Berkeley was involved with militia matters, which saw him issuing warrants at Wells for mustering his regiment at Glastonbury on the 28th. He marched his regiment to Somerton that same night where they stayed until the next morning when they moved on to South Petherton, arriving there on the 30th. From Petherton the regiment moved on to Chard, but he did not record in his diary what happened to his regiment after that point, although the portreeve at Chard paid 2s 6d ‘for beer to the souldiers’ on the 2nd of August.12 The mustering of his regiment was a result of growing problems with France that saw an ‘ingagement at sea with the French’ on the 30th of June, an event he recorded in his diary, and much nearer to home around 1,000 Frenchmen had invaded and burned significant amounts of property at Teignmouth (in south Devon) on the 26th of July. Near the front of the diary Berkeley recorded some of the costs involved during his regiment’s manoeuvres:
pd for ye carriage from Wells to Somerton 06 : 0
pd Vowles at Somerton 05 : 0
pd for hooping the powder barrels 02 : 0
pd Vowles Dec: 24 07 - 6
pd for ye carriage of powder and ball from Chard 17 - 6
He only recorded three events in August, two relating to the dates of the assizes at Sarum and Wells and the other, on the 21st, ‘to dine with Mr Goold’. September was equally sparse as he only recorded the names of Mr Richins ‘a Farrier in Holborn near Bloomsberry Square’ and John Russell of ‘Stoaklane a huntsman’. Of those three men, Mr Goold could well have been one of that family who owned Sharpham Park and Russell lived only 8 miles from Pylle and could well have been huntsman to more than one local magnate.
Berkeley was at home on the 7th of October as he noted how he felt an earthquake between 6 and 7 in the morning whilst still in bed at Pylle. Apart from this event the only other diary entry for this month was made for the 23rd to mark his journey to London and the name of a shoemaker, Mr Purdue, in Russell Street. This is surprising as the manor court for ‘Pull’ was held on the eleventh13 and he had noted the date of the court held five months earlier. November has no datable entries, only ‘George Read in Coll: Webbs company of Grenadiers’ and ‘Mr License to write to Mr John Eatwell Sr Boswell Fairbrace contra Sr Humphy Edwyn’. Why Berkeley was interested in a case involving Sir Humphrey Edwin (1642–1707), a merchant and lord mayor of London, who, with others, in August 1688 attended the Prince of Orange on his entry into London, took part in February in the proclamation of the king and queen and was appointed by the king, in April 1689, as a commissioner of excise, is not clear.14 Berkeley only remained in London for three weeks, during which time he ‘laid’ a pair of gloves with his niece as she was ‘with child’ and attended to parliamentary business.
House of Commons
His parliamentary business is recorded mainly on the pages of the blanks and he did not record which seats were being contested, or what issues were being voted upon that he was recording whilst in parliament. From the Journal of the House of Commons for 169015 and the diary it is clear that he was more involved in some issues than Henning’s brief biography suggests.16 He was involved in a case brought before the Committee of Privileges following an alleged breach of privilege committed by John Perne against Berkeley, who ‘had printed a scandalous Paper touching him, and his Title to the said Estate’ in Wiltshire and Dorset.17 On the 20th of January the Committee found Perne guilty ‘of a Breach of Privilege of this House, in entering upon the Possession of Colonel Birkley’ and Perne was sent for.18 An entry in his diary records ‘Perns Articles b[e]ar[in]g date Aprill 14:1684’. He also noted in his diary how Mr Richard Smith was required to attend the ‘Committee of Elecions and Priviledges on Wednesday’ but he did not record for what purpose.
Elsewhere in the diary Sir Peter Rich, who had been elected as M.P. for Southwark in 1689,19 is mentioned as receiving 162 ‘noes’ and 152 ‘eys’ but it does not state what for. Several other votes are recorded, two of which on the 10th and 16th of January, concerning restoring corporations and a Bill of Indemnity, appear to have been written down incorrectly by Berkeley or by the clerk.20 Numerous blank pages contain other political notes, such as
Sr Tho: Gravener Eyes 192
Mr Levy 186 Noes 167
Coll. Whitley 185
371
The first entry refers to the controversial Chester election, which was referred to the Committee for Privileges and Elections. The question whether Sir Thomas Grosvenor bart. should have been elected was put to the House on the 2nd of December and those voting ‘yes’ supported Mr Levy with 186 votes and those voting ‘no’ supported Colonel Whitley with 185 votes. The second entry refers to a vote on the same day regarding the election of aldermen to the Corporation of London.21 Surely Berkeley must have been in the House on this day, but which way he voted is not recorded in his diary.
A whole page is dedicated to recording votes for Messrs ‘P’ (for Phelips), Palmer, Sydenham and Speke for the Somerset county elections on 4 March 1690. The History of Parliament website does not record the votes cast,22 but Berkeley made a note in his diary of the outcome of the voting. It appears the votes were cast over three days, with Sir Edward Phelips receiving 1594, Nathaniel Palmer 1378, Sir John Sydenham bart, 988 and John Speke 971. But who did Berkeley vote for? John Speke (c.1652-1728) was Berkeley’s first cousin, son of George Speke of White Lackington by Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Pye of Westminster, Middlesex and Faringdon, Berkshire.23 With Sir Edward Phelips, Berkeley was involved with two property transactions involving land at Stogursey in 1691 and one in 169824 and another concerning land at Aller in 1696 with Robert Cecil, brother of James, Earl of Salisbury, deceased, John Hunt of Compton Pauncefoot, esq., Jerrard Newcourt of Ivythorne, Street, gentleman,25 George Horner of Mells, esq., George Northover of Aller, gentleman and Anne Stawell, eldest daughter of Ralph, Lord Stawell, deceased.26
More revealing is his involvement with a deed concerning the Wroth and Acland estate in Lyng in 1697/8 which saw him involved with Edward Leigh of Testwood, Hampshire, Lady Grace Pierrepoint, Robert Cecil, brother of James, Earl of Salisbury, deceased, Sir John Austen bart of St Pauls Walden, Hertfordshire, John Hunt of Compton Pauncefoot esq. and Jerard Newcourt of Ivythorn, gentleman (administrators of James, Lord Stawell of Somerton, deceased and statutory trustees for payment of his debts) and Sir Thomas Wroth bart of Petherton Park, North Petherton, which transaction also included rent due from Sir Edward Phelips out of West Newton.27 This interest in the Phelips family may have been through Edward Phelips (c.1613–1680) who was M.P. for Ilchester with Henry Berkeley from 1640, because the latter was the diarist’s uncle.28 However, despite Berkeley’s interest in the Phelips family of Montacute, he kept his own political views out of his dairy for 1690. But in his will he recommended to his trustees and executors:
my loving friend and Kinsman William Phelipps Esqr as their Councell to advise them on all occasions in his profession and to have notice of attending on their annuall Meetings and upon the sale or sales of any of my before devised Estate or Estates for the payment of my Debts and Legacies . . .29
Another page, facing February, most likely records the result of the county election for Devon in 1690. However, it is known that 2,099 people voted in 1712,30 whereas in 1690 Berkeley recorded ‘Courtny’ receiving 2,658 votes, ‘Rol’ 1,985, Davy 658 and ‘Drak’ 579, making a total of 5,880 voters! This election saw Francis Courtenay and Samuel Rolle elected, both of whom were returned for the following two elections in 1695 and 1698. But why was there such a great disparity in the number of voters in 1690 compared to 1712?
Accounts
Numerous financial accounts in the diary give a further insight into Berkeley’s activities in 1690, such as his stay at the Devil’s Tavern and its cost; was this the infamous tavern in London frequented by men such as Samuel Pepys and Judge Jeffreys? But by far the most detailed accounts show the extent of his involvement with his estate and the livestock and animals he owned. He was quite closely involved with estate matters, as he noted the dimensions of windows, crop yields, livestock movements, leases, the sale of horses and details of his hounds. He let Ralph George two crops and made allowances for 22 bushells of beans at 3s 3d per bushel. He noted the dimensions of a ‘close walke at Orchard’ measuring 5½’ wide with sides 6’ high, most likely at Orchard Portman the home of his kin the Portmans.
The welfare and extent of his stock is recorded. For example, on 1 May he owned
12 miltchd cowes 07 Calfes
06 Heiphers 25 horses
10 plow oxen 2 Asses
05 steares 8 Welch Buers 17 : 16 : 6
09 Yerlings 3 miltch cowes let of
12 young beast [kept at Lamyatt] 20 Fatting sheep
14 Grasing oxen 51 hard sheep
10 Grasing cowes 26 Lambs July 2:
54 Hogg sheep at Lamyat
He also recorded the movements of his stock, on 1 July, when grazing cows were sent to Lamyatt and their return on the 12th of the same month; livestock were valuable enough to be mentioned as a specific item in his will drawn up ten years later.31 He noted the care of horses: ‘Crude Antymony give ye horse a dram morning and Evening at a time’, as well as the products of his breeding programme:
Hounds bred out of Trounser and Tomboy sent abroad Au: 15
Rumbelow Mrs. Feth:
Tumler Mr Broadbred
Cumberland S: Whyting
Damsel John Syms
Burslie Will. Wallis
Kindness T: Hoopper
The ‘S: Whyting’ may well have been the Mr Whyting who purchased ‘wool’, most likely fleeces, from Berkeley at 8s 9d a pound, totalling £22 5s 9d.
Although this diary is not a literary masterpiece, it does contain some unique information of value to those interested in the life of Berkeley, his private and public interests, including the purchase of a beaver hat and a payment to an apothecary. There is also some useful information about the breeding of hounds, his taste in alcohol and connections to his near kin. Two of those relations were mentioned in his will, drawn up in 1700/1, but referred to as ‘my Honoured friends Henry Seymer of Stoke under Bull Barrow in the County of Dorsett Esqr and William Speke son of George Speke late of Whitelackington’. Both men received the rents, issues and profits out of the manors Berkeley had purchased from Robert Welsted of London, goldsmith and, with Berkeley’s sons, the manors of Pierston and Gillingham in Dorset, his farm at Lamyatt, and his manor and farm at Donhead. What is not shown in the diary is any reference to his wife or children. A hint at a reason for this can be found in his will, in the unusual statement:
And though I have no reason to doubt of my Wifes Love to her Children, or of their Duty to her as she hath allways a most carefull and tender Mother. Yett I do earnestly request that after I am gone there may not only be Peace but an entire Friendship and Kindness between ‘em which will procure Gods Blessing on them . . .32
[1]. An earlier diary, for the year 1684, is held at the Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles (http:// www.worldcat.org/title/
farm-accounts-and-memoranda/oclc/780099563). A future edition of SDNQ will contain details from this earlier diary.
2. This is either Sir Edward Phelips (c.1555/60–1614) or another of the same name (c.1613–1680).
3. A. Fea, King Monmouth, being a history of the career of James Scott, the Protestant Duke, 1649-1685 (1902), 235.
4. S.H.C., DD/PM/1/6/10 draft will of Sir William Portman, 27 Feb. 1689/90.
5. B.D. Henning, ed., The House of Commons, 1660-1690, volume 1 (1983), 632.
-maurice-1628-90 accessed 9 Aug. 2014.
7. S.H.C., Q/SR/181/2.
8. Ibid, DD/PM/11/2/4 Manor of Pull court book, 1662-1707 also records a court held on this date.
9. S.H.C., DD/PM/1/6/10 draft will of Sir William Portman, 27 Feb. 1689/90. Fownes was from Steepleton, Dorset, Palmer from Fairfield, Somerset and Wallopp from ‘Husbornes’ in the county of Southampton.
[1]0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Erle, accessed 17 Aug. 2014.
[1]1. S.H.C., DD/PM/1/6/10 draft will of Sir William Portman, 27 Feb. 1689/90.
[1]2. Ibid, D/B/ch 11/1/1 f.194 Portreeve’s accounts, which record a payment on 23 October ‘By a h[ogs]head of Beere given the Souldiers Novemb[er] 5 00:18:00’, but it does not state whether this was Berkeley’s militia or not.
[1]3. Ibid, DD/PM/11/2/4 Manor of Pull court book, 1662-1707.
[1]4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Edwin, accessed 9 Aug. 2014.
[1]5. Journal of the House of Commons volume 10 1688-1693 (1802).
[1]6. B.D. Henning, ed., The House of Commons, 1660-1690, volume 1 (1983), 632.
[1]7. A petition was submitted by John Perne, and Jane his wife, which claimed ‘That the Petitioner having a Right to enjoy divers Lands in the Counties of Wilts and Dorset, as her Jointure of Two hundred Pounds per Annum Value, and Fifteen hundred Pounds Arrears; and having had one or more Decree or Decrees in the Court of Chancery for the same, they have been, by Threats, and other undue Means, forced, by Deed and Fine, to convey away the same; and an ancient Statute which protected the same, to Edward Berkley of Pull, Esquire, for Four hundred Pounds only, or his Trustees: And having been so injuriously dealt with, and being remediless, save in Parliament: And praying, that this House would take the Premises into their Consideration, and give them such Relief as the Merits of their Case shall deserve, . . .’ (Journal of the House of Commons volume 10 1688-1693 (1802), 234-6, 304-305).
[1]8. Journal of the House of Commons volume 10 1688-1693 (1802), 336-7.
[1]9. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/rich-peter-1630-92 accessed 9 Aug. 2014.
20. Journal of the House of Commons volume 10, 328-33.
2[1]. Ibid, 490-2.
22. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/constituencies/somerset accessed 9 Aug. 2014.
23. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/speke-john-1652-1728 accessed 9 Aug. 2014.
24. S.H.C., DD/AH/27/1/2-4.
25. Ibid, DD/AH/8/1/3.
26. Ibid, DD/AH/9/8/15.
27. Ibid, DD/AH/1/3/5-6. For other property transactions after 1698 involving Berkeley see for example DD/AH/10/3/4, 9/9/4, 6/11/1, 8/1/4, 9/8/19 and 9/1/2-3; DD/PM/9/3/3, 19/3/5 and 20/2/1; DD/BC/111-112.
28. F.A. Crisp, ed., Visitation of England and Wales notes vol.9 (1911), 156-7, 169.
29. S.H.C., DD/BR/wr/25 draft will of Edward Berkeley, 20 Jan. 1700-1.
devon, accessed 17 Aug. 2014.
31. S.H.C., DD/BR/wr/25 will of Edward Berkeley, 20 Jan. 1700/1. He left, amongst other things, ‘. . . six of my best Cows and six of my best Plow Oxen’ to his wife.
32. Ibid, DD/BR/wr/25 draft will of Edward Berkeley, 20 Jan. 1700-1.
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