Castle to host historic event (From Gazette Series)

Castle to host historic event

DESCENDANTS of people involved in the Great Berkeley Poaching Affray of 1816 and will converge on Berkeley Castle on Monday for the first ever commemoration of one of the most earth shattering real life dramas ever to hit the area.

Two local men were executed, nine others were transported for life and four others fled the country after the incident in which a castle gamekeeper perished from gunshot wounds Now, after years of painstaking research, amateur historian Edwin Ford from Rockhampton is set to publish a book on the tragic events which devastated the close-knit Vale of Berkeley almost 190 years ago.

Work has also been going on for months to organise Monday's commemorative gathering at the castle when the host will be its present incumbent, John Berkeley.

"The whole thing has taken a lot of organising," said Mr Ford, whose artist wife Carole is responsible for artwork for the new book due to be published later this summer.

"Obviously a good number of the descendants are in Australia. One of them , Josephine Watson, has been our link Down Under and has done a lot of work tracing and contacting people over there.

"Others will be coming from other parts of the world, including the United States. Altogether we're expecting around 70 people - including partners and spouses - at the private gathering at the castle.

"John Berkeley and his son, Charles, will both be conducting tours. The paintings will be of particular interest, - especially one featuring Colonel William Berkeley, the castle's incumbent at the time of the affray and another commissioned by him of the affray itself.

"The event actually took place in Hill and caused enormous distress in such a small community. Most of the participants - on both sides - were either related or knew one another."

The death of keeper William Ingram of Woodford resulted in a trial at Gloucester Assizes and the execution of John Allen of Morton and John Penny of Litttleton-on-Severn.

Of the accomplices, one, William Greenaway, turned King's evidence, four absconded to places such as Ireland, the West Indies and America and nine others were transported to Australia for life.

Another man, a local lawyer named Brodribb from Morton, was transported for seven years - but never returned. He had administered an illegal oath binding the poachers not to inform on one another.

Mr Ford, who is distantly related to one of the participants, said: "The whole episode was a terrible event which affected many local families - so terrible in fact that for generations it was taboo even to talk about it."

He said the Berkeley family has been very supportive of next week's event and John Berkeley had written the foreword for the forthcoming book.