John Berkeley (1602-26 August 1678) was the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1670 to 1672, succeeding John Robartes and preceding Arthur Capell. Along with George Carteret, he was one of the co-founders of the province of New Jersey.
Biography[]
John Berkeley was born in Bruton, Somerset, England in 1602, the brother of Virginia colonial governor William Berkeley. In 1640, he entered the British Parliament as a supporter of King Charles I of England, and he sided with the Cavaliers during the English Civil War. He became governor of Exeter and commander of the royalist forces in Devon during the war, and he went into exile in Paris, France after the royalists were defeated by the Parliamentarians. From 1652 to 1655, he served in the French Army, and he served under the Vicomte de Turenne during his campaigns against the rebel leader Louis, Grand Conde. After the restoration of the House of Stuart, he became a member of the Admiralty, and he became a member of the Privy Council in 1663. From 1670 to 1672, he served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and he was co-proprietor of New Jersey from 1664 to 1674 alongside George Carteret. Because of political difficulties between Berkeley and New York governor Richard Nicolls, Berkeley sold his share of land to some Quakers, and he died in 1678.