Sir Maurice Berkeley was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 at various times between 1621 and 1626. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

.

Berkeley was the son of Richard Berkeley of Stoke and Rendcomb who was MP for Gloucestershire in 1614. In 1621, Berkeley was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)

The constituency of Gloucestershire was a UK Parliamentary constituency. After it was abolished under the 1832 Electoral Reform Act, two new constituencies, West Gloucestershire and East Gloucestershire, were created....

. He was knighted 11 September 1621 at Whitehall. He was re-elected MP for Gloucestershire at a by-election in 1624 and in 1625 and was elected MP for Great Bedwyn

Great Bedwyn (UK Parliament constituency)

Great Bedwyn was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-1295–1640:-1640–1832:Notes...

 in 1626.

Berkeley supported the King in the Civil War, arguing later that he was forced to do so and to sign warrants for raising money because of his proximity to Bristol. On 26 January 1647, he begged to compound for delinquency and was set a fine of £1030 on 25 March. He was assessed at £700 on 13 June 1649 and was given an order for his discharge on payment of £330 on 1 August 1649. He was given a similar order on payment of £60 on 5 December 1651 and was charged an additional fine on 30 January 1652 and given an order for his discharge on payment of £125.

Berkeley died in 1654 and was buried at Stoke on 30 January 1654.

Berkeley married firstly Elizabeth Coke daughter of Sir Edward Coke

Edward Coke

Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...

of Stoke, and secondly Mary Tipping daughter of Sir George Tipping of Wheatfield Oxfordshire.