Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge (14 December 1599 – 12 June 1668) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at various times between 1621 and 1668. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

cause in the English Civil War. He succeeded by special remainder to the peerage of his son who predeceased him. Berkeley was the son of Sir Maurice Berkeley of

Bruton Bruton ( ) is a market town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 10 ...

, Somerset, of the

Bruton branch of the Berkeley family Sir Maurice Berkeley (by 1514–1581) of Bruton in Somerset and of Berkeley House, Clerkenwell, Middlesex, served as Chief Banner Bearer of England to Kings Henry VIII and Edward VI and to Queen Elizabeth I, and rose rapidly in the Tudor cou ...

, and his wife Elizabeth Killigrew, daughter of Sir

William Killigrew (Chamberlain of the Exchequer) Sir William Killigrew (died 1622) of Hanworth, Middlesex, was a courtier to Queen Elizabeth I and to her successor King James I, whom he served as Groom of the Privy Chamber. He served as a member of parliament at various times between 1571 and 1 ...

of Hanworth, Middlesex. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

in 1613 and matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

on 3 November 1615 aged 15. ''Alumni Oxonienses, 1500–1714: Bennell-Bloye'', Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 106–141. Date accessed: 18 February 2011
/ref> In 1621 Berkeley was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. He was knighted in 1623. He was elected MP for Bodmin in 1624 and for

Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small neig ...

in 1625, 1626 and 1628. He sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.History of Parliament Online – Berkeley, Charles
/ref> In April 1640, Berkeley was elected MP for Bath in the Short Parliament. He helped to organise the local resistance to ship-money, but was a Royalist during the Civil War executing a Commission of Array in 1642. Following the Restoration, Berkeley was elected MP for Heytesbury and Bath in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

. He was involved in a double returns in both seats but was returned at a by-election for Heytesbury after the election had been declared void and sat until his death. Before his death Berkeley succeeded, by special remainder to the title

Viscount Fitzhardinge Viscount Fitzhardinge is an extinct title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 14 July 1663 for Charles Berkeley, later Earl of Falmouth, of the Bruton branch of the Berkeley family, with the subsidiary title of Baron Berkeley of Rath ...

on the death of his second son Charles who was killed at the

Battle of Lowestoft The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size comm ...

, a naval engagement with the Dutch, on 3 June 1665. Berkeley died of apoplexy at the age of 68 and was buried at Bruton, in the Church of St Mary, Bruton. Berkeley married Penelope Godolphin, daughter of Sir William Godolphin of Godolphin, Cornwall and Thomasine Sydney, and had four sons. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his eldest surviving son

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

. His third son,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, became an admiral in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

and was also killed fighting the Dutch, in the

Four Days' Battle The Four Days' Battle, also known as the Four Days' Fight in some English sources and as Vierdaagse Zeeslag in Dutch, was a naval battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Fought from 1 June to 4 June 1666 in the Julian or Old Style calendar that w ...

in 1666. Berkeley's brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

was a Royalist soldier and his brother

served as royal governor of the colony of Virginia.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:FitzHardinge, Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount 1599 births 1668 deaths People from Bruton People from Bath, Somerset Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Charles People educated at Eton College Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Cavaliers English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1661–1679