George Berkeley

George Berkeley

b. March 12, 1685, County Kilkenny, Ireland
d. January 14, 1753, Oxford, England

Berkeley portrait by Smybert, 1727
Portrait of Bishop George Berkeley by John Smybert (1727). (Wikipedia Commons).

Berkeley was an Anglican Bishop and a philosopher. He lived in Middletown (then part of Newport) from 1729 to 1731 at a plantation he called Whitehall, the main house of which still stands and is open to the public. During his brief sojourn in Rhode Island, he wrote a book (Alciphron), gave sermons at Trinity and St Paul's Churches, and founded the Philosophical Society in Newport, a precursor to the Redwood Library.

Berkeley was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1998.

Last Edited
2022-05-30