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(Last changed October 2026)
Berry of Berrynarbor, Devon
Berry of Berrynarbor, Devon
(compiled by P. Berry ex “The Visitation of the County of Devon” * 1531, 1564, 1620 and from information provided by Leonard Smith, Porthcawl)
n.i.= no issue s.1,2,3 etc =son 1,2,3 etc d. 1,2,3 etc = daughter 1,2,3 etc
This page was constructed as a working document to summarize the documented inter-relationships of the various branches of the Devon Berrys as I attempted to find the supposed link between the Berry family of Berrynarbor and my Irish Berry ancestors. On the basis of Y-DNA evidence, this link now seems unlikely to exist (see Family Legends towards the bottom of this page and Before Ireland). Nevertheless, the page is included to assist others. Any comments, corrections or additions would be welcome. I would very much like to hear from any Berry, particularly anyone living in the UK, who has done a Y-chromosome DNA test, or would like to. (NB. spellings Berrie, Berry, Bury, Beerey etc were pretty much interchangeable in the past).
Thanks to Matthew Gajkowski, in March 2023 I became aware of a book "THE DU BURY-BERRY FAMILY in general THE BENJAMIN BERRY FAMILY in particular" by Mary E. Honeywell, which contains much interesting information on the Devon Berry family and it's possible descendants in the USA :- https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/G000191.pdf
Family Legends
My Berry family has a legend that asserts descent from the Berry family of Berrynarbor, Devon and the arms of two members of my Irish Berry family have incorporated the ‘or three bars gu’, of that family https://sites.google.com/site/irishberrygenealogy/berry-arms. However, this is not supported by the available DNA evidence (discussed on https://sites.google.com/site/irishberrygenealogy/before-ireland ) and I now believe that the legend is a fiction, probably dating back to the application for Confirmation of Arms by James Middleton Berry in 1848.
Because documentary evidence directly linking my Irish ancestors and their antecedents may no longer exist, I have tried to trace living male Berrys with a documented link to the Devon Berry family in order to compare their Y-chromosome DNA with mine. Bearing in mind that the Berrynarbor family apparently went extinct in the male line with the death of Thomas Berry in 1708, I have had to rely on what appear to be cadet branches of the early Berrynarbor family. The first person that I was able to trace, with the assistance of Leonard Smith of Porthcawl, lived at Swimbridge, Devon and Donald Berry, with a pedigree in the Swimbridge family that can be traced to at least c. 1560, tested with the Berry Family DNA Project (kit #106697) at 37 STR markers in 2008. However, instead of matching my I1 (I-M253) haplotype, Donald’s haplotype was R1b1b2 (R-M269). In 2013 I discovered another Berry family with an eight generation history in Holcombe Regis, Devon which also claims descent from the original Berrynarbor family via the Chittlehampton branch. David John Berry of this line joined the Berry Family DNA Project (kit #251688) and tested at 37 STR markers, but his haplotype was I2b1 (I-M223), which matches no others tested in the Project thus far. In 2019 I was contacted by Ronald G. Berry who is I-FTB80197 and has a family tree that is linked to the early Devon Berry family, but no recent history in Devon. His and my STR and SNP results show that our families are unrelated. Similarly, John Berry (kit #203553) who lives in the UK and has a Scottish ancestry, is also unrelated to me, despite being I-M253. At this stage there are at least two genetically unrelated Berry families with a long, well-documented, history in Devon, as well as other families, including mine, Ronald's, a family from Gartross, N. Ireland and two other FTDNA Berry Project participants (kit #251688 and #IN47769) who claim descent from the ancient Berry family from Berrynarbor, Devon. The Gartross family descendant (kit #572288) is haplogroup E-M35. Which, if any, of these families are actually descended from it remains unresolved, but it seems most likely that the arrival in England of the progenator of the famous Berry family (originally de Berry in the 12th C.) was associated with the Norman conquest of 1066, as in 1086 the Domesday Book records two men named Berry as having been granted land in Devon. In 2024, two Big-Y testers in the USA (kits #107950 and #B389324) were recorded to be 1 step matches of Donald Berry at 37 markers and both have the terminal haplogroup R-FTF81821. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to upgrade Donald's test to establish if he (and the the Swimbridge lineage) have the same haplogroup, but on currently available evidence, this seems likely (see dendrogram below) as descendants of James Bragg Berry of Bristol (1832-1870) migrated to the USA (see lineage "I" above).
A second legend is that my family come to Ireland from Wales where they owned "a large estate" called "Middleton". The location of Middleton in Wales is problematic. Described as "a large estate" in the 1848 application for a confirmation of arms by James William Middleton Berry, and repeated in Isabella Berry's (1815-1897) family history, the only large estate I can find in Wales called Middleton is now the National Botanic Garden of Wales and was never owned by a Berry family. However, there is a village called Middleton (near present-day Rhossili) a few miles from Oxwhich on the Gower Peninsular, Glamorgan, South Wales and I have the following evidence of property interests of the Berry family of Berrynarbor, Devon, over several generations on the Gower Peninsular:- (i) a John Berry is mentioned as a beneficiary in the will made by Griffith Vosse on 13 Nov 1615 at Oxwhich (ii) Anne Berry, of Berrynarbor born c.1520, married Griffith ap Owen (Bowen) of Oxwhich; (iii) There is reference in 1632 to “ landes of Richard Bery esquier called Wester slade [Slade] …. in y pa’ish and manor of Oxw’ch”. The extent of the freehold was about 60 acres (iv) There are counterparts of two leases, one made in 1671 the other 1691, both for 99 years, by John Berrie, of Berrinerbert, Devon for a messuage named Slade or Lymslade at Oxwich. These were made in the event of the death of the present tenant, Philip Bowen (son of Anne Berry); (iv) There are records of payment of 9d p.a. by John Berry esquire from 1682 up to the end of the century for a freehold tenement called Wester Slade (present Western Slade) in the manor of Oxwhich; (v) There is a record in 1705 of an assignment in trust, at the direction of Thomas Berrie of Berrynarbor, esq, of messuages, lands etc, in Berrynarbor, Martinhoe, Combe Martin, Langtree, Goodleigh, Exeter, Alphington, Dittisham in Devon and Oxenmuch ?(Oxwich), Glamorgan; (vii) there is still a farm called Berry on the Gower Peninsular, although I am unaware of any evidence of members of the Berry family having lived there and the origin of the name is unknown; (viii) the parish register for Penrice (next to Oxwhich) contains reference to a Jackett Beerey, buried 26 March 1656 and to Jenkin Beerey, buried 18 May 1656. This could possibly be Jaquette Berrie, Anne Berry’s sister, or Jackett Berye b. 9 April 1625 at Swimbridge, Devon.
The only branch of the Berrynarbor Berry family that appears to correspond to that associated with the Gower Peninsular is shown below. People thought possibly to be those mentioned above are shown in red font.
Neither of the two John Berrys above appears to be a candidate for the legendary John Berry of Middleton, because the John Berry mentioned in Griffith Vosse’s 1615 will is probably Anne Berry’s brother who, according to “The Visitations” had no issue. The other John Berry born two generations later, had a son, Thomas, but he apparently only had a daughter, Dorothy.
"The Visitations" does not show any descendants for the three youngest sons of Nicholas Berry (Thomas, s. 5, Lewis, s. 6 and William s.7). It is noteworthy that William and Thomas are among the most commonly used given names used by my early "Eglish Berry" family and also the closely related "Augusta/Washington" family in America. In the latter, in the first three generations, out of 36 males only nine names were used - James (8), John (7), William (6), George (4), Thomas (3), Charles (3), Francis (3), Robert (1) and Andrew (1).
* see also https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002002213917&view=1up&seq=88
Copyright 2006-2026 Patrick Berry
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