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Francis Berkeley, 2nd Baron FitzHardinge

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Francis William FitzHardinge Berkeley, 2nd Baron FitzHardinge (16 November 1826 – 28 June 1896) was a British Liberal politician. He was the eldest son of Admiral Maurice Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge, and Lady Charlotte, daughter of Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond. He was educated at Rugby School and began his career as a captain in the Royal Horse Guards.

Berkeley later became Honorary Colonel of the Royal South Gloucestershire Light Infantry Militia on 22 December 1857, taking over from his uncle William Berkeley, 1st Earl FitzHardinge. In the 1860s he rose to Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the regiment, and returned to honorary colonel on 26 May 1868.

He was the Member of Parliament for Cheltenham from 1856 to 1865. In 1867 he inherited the barony from his father and joined the House of Lords. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Berkeley married Georgina Holme-Sumner, daughter of William Holme-Sumner, in 1857. The marriage produced no children. He died in London in June 1896, aged 69, and was succeeded in the peerage by his younger brother, Charles. Lady FitzHardinge died in July 1897, aged 66.


This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 10:48 (CET).