George Berkeley, 1st Earl of Berkeley and Viscount Dursley ( 1627 - 1698 )

Birth: 1627 Death: 10 October 1698 Burial: Parish church of Cranford, Middlesex, England, Europe Occupation: Politician; diplomat; merchant; colonial official Education: Christ Church, Oxford; Middle Temple (admitted 1669) Career: Elected for the shire in the protectorate parliaments (1654, 1655); Justice of the Peaces, Gloucestershire (1655); Committee of Trade (1656); succeeded to his father's seat in the House of Lords (1660) where he promoted the restoration of the monarchy; One of the Commissioners sent to the Hague to invite Charles II to return to the kingdom (1660); Keeper of the house gardens and parks of Nonsuch; Knight of the Bath (1661); Member of the Council of foreign plantations (1661); Founder Member of the Royal African Company (1663), Assistant (1674-1676, 1679-1681, 1684-1686); Privy Councillor (1667, 1678, 1685); member of the Board of trade and plantations (1668); Governor of the Levant Company (1680); Master of Trinity House (1681); presented the library of his uncle-by-marriage, Sir Robert Coke, to Sion College, London; member of the Committee of the HEIC (1660-1697, 1698-1699); Custos Rotulorum of Gloucestershire (1660-1689), Surrey (1689-1698); one of the peers who constituted themselves a provisional government after the flight of James II until the arrival of William III Honours: Viscount Dursley and Earl of Berkeley 1679 Membership: Original Fellow Election Date: 20/05/1663 Council: Sworn into Council on 1 February 1668 Served with short breaks from 1668 to 1688.