Background
He was born in London probably in 1605 or 1606 to Sir Maurice and Elizabeth Berkeley (née Killigrew), of the Bruton branch of the Berkeley family, both of whom held stock in the Virginia Company of London.
He was born in London probably in 1605 or 1606 to Sir Maurice and Elizabeth Berkeley (née Killigrew), of the Bruton branch of the Berkeley family, both of whom held stock in the Virginia Company of London.
Though his father died in debt, Berkeley secured a proper education. He entered grammar school at about six or seven years old where he became literate in Latin and English. At eighteen, like the other Berkeley men, he entered Oxford. He began his studies at Queen’s College in the footsteps of his forebears, but quickly transferred to St. Edmund Hall, a “throwback to medieval times”. He received, though not necessarily completed, a B. A. in fifteen months of his arrival at the Hall.
A favorite of Charles I, Berkeley was made a gentleman of the privy chamber in 1632, wrote a successful play, The Lost Lady, in 1638, and was knighted in 1639. He went to Virginia as royal governor in 1642 and became a popular administrator. In 1644 he hastened to England to fight for the King in the Civil War, returning to Virginia the following year in time to suppress a great Indian uprising. He was forced from office by a fleet sent by Cromwell's government in 1652 but remained in the colony and was unanimously recalled to the governorship by the burgesses and council of Virginia in 1660, before the restoration of Charles II. While in London in 1661-1662, he published a pamphlet protesting against the Navigation Acts for their effect in curbing colonial trade. Berkeley governed the colony for the next fourteen years without major incident. Late in 1675, however, Indian troubles broke out on Virginia's northern frontier, and Berkeley's refusal to allow the impatient frontiersmen, led by a young planter, Nathaniel Bacon, to take reprisals against all Indians, friendly or enemy, led to civil war in the colony in 1676. Jamestown, the capital, was burned, and much of the country was plundered. Charles II sent 1, 000 troops to put down the rebellion, but Berkeley regained control in January 1677, before they arrived. His severity with the rebels was criticized, however, and he was supplanted by a royal commissioner. He returned home to die in London, July 9, 1677, before having an opportunity to vindicate himself before the King. Historians disagree on the character of Berkeley and on the exact causes of the rebellion against him.
As proprietor of Green Spring Plantation in James City County, he experimented with activities such as growing silkworms as part of his efforts to expand the tobacco-based economy. Berkeley enacted friendly policies toward the Native Americans that led to the revolt by some of the planters in 1676 which became known as Bacon's Rebellion. In the aftermath, King Charles II was angered by the retribution exacted against the rebels by Berkeley, and recalled him to England.
