Thomas de Berkeley aka Thomas the Rich, was an English baron and the custodian of the Berkeley Castle

Berkeley Castle

Berkeley Castle is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK . The castle's origins date back to the 11th century and it has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.The castle has remained within the Berkeley family since they reconstructed it in the...

.

He was the son of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley

Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley

Maurice Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley , sometimes termed The Magnanimous, was an English baron and rebel....

 and Eve la Zouche.

Edward II

In 1327 he was made joint custodian of the deposed King Edward II of England

Edward II of England

Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...

, whom he received at Berkeley Castle

Berkeley Castle

Berkeley Castle is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK . The castle's origins date back to the 11th century and it has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.The castle has remained within the Berkeley family since they reconstructed it in the...

, but being commanded to deliver over the government to his fellow custodians, Lord Maltravers and Sir Thomas Gournay, he left there to go to Bradley with heavy cheere perceiving what violence was intended. As an accessory to the murder of the deposed king, he was tried by a jury of 12 knights in the 4th year of King Edward III of England

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

, but was honourably acquitted.

Marriage

His first marriage was to Margaret Mortimer

Margaret Mortimer, Baroness Berkeley

Margaret Mortimer, Baroness Berkeley was the wife of Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley. She was the eldest daughter of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, the de facto ruler of England from 1327 to 1330, and his wife Joan de Geneville, Baroness Geneville.-Family:Margaret Mortimer was the...

, daughter of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Geneville. They had five children:

• Maurice de Berkeley
  Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley
  Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley the Valiant was an English peer born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England to Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley and Lady Margaret Mortimer.-Marriage and children:...
  
   (born 1320, date of death unknown), who succeeded his father as Baron de Berkeley.
• Thomas de Berkeley (born c. 1325, date of death unknown)
• Roger de Berkeley (born 1326, date of death unknown)
• Alphonsus de Berkeley (born 1327, date of death unknown)
• Joan de Berkeley (born 1330, date of death unknown), married Sir Reginald Cobham.

Secondly, he married Catherine Clivedon (21 January 1351[sic] – 1428) on 30 May 1347 and had four children:

• Thomas Berkeley (born 7 June 1348, date of death unknown)
• Maurice de Berkeley, aka The Valiant, (27 May 1349 – 3 June 1368)
• Edmund de Berkeley (born 10 July 1350, date of death unknown)
• Sir John de Berkeley (21 January 1351 – 1428)

He died 27 October 1361 in Gloucestershire, England. His son from his first marriage, Maurice, succeeded him as 4th Baron de Berkeley.