William Berry 4th of Tayfield was born on 9 May 1864. He was the son of John Berry, 3rd of Tayfield (1824-1877) and Margaret Higgins Burn-Murdoch. He lived at Newport, Fife, Scotland. Berry studied Law at Cambridge and Edinburgh in the 1880s. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) and was invested as an Officer, Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.).
William Berry married Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1880-1907) on 24 July 1906. They had one son, John Berry. Dr. John Berry 5th of Tayfield held the degree of Ph.D. and D.Sc. He was invested as a Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh (F.R.S.E.) and he too held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.). He was invested as a Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.). He also held an honorary LL.D. He had married the Hon. Bride Faith Louisa Fremantle, daughter of Colonel Sir Thomas Francis Fremantle, 3rd Baron Cottesloe, in August 1936. There were three children: Margaret, born 1937; William Berry of Tayfield, born 1939; and Peter, born 1944. William Berry 5th of Tayfield died in 2002.
The elder William Berry 4th of Tayfield had died in 1954.