An illustration of Berkeley in his South Gloucestershire Militia uniform.

Colonel Frederick Augustus Berkeley, 5th Earl of Berkeley (24 May 1745 – 8 August 1810) was a British peer and military officer who served as the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire from 1766 to 1810.[1]

Origins and education

Berkeley was the eldest son and heir of Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley, by Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Drax, of Ellerton Abbey, Yorkshire. He succeeded his father in the Earldom and as 13th Baron Berkeley in 1755.[2]

Career

In 1766, Berkeley was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, High Steward of Gloucester, Constable of St Briavels, Warden of the Forest of Dean and Colonel of the South Gloucestershire Militia, which he commanded until his death. He served as a colonel in 1779 and 1794 when his regiment was embodied for full-time service.[2][3]

George W. E. Russell gives the following account of an adventure that Berkeley once had on the road:

He had always declared that any one might without disgrace be overcome by superior numbers, but that he would never surrender to a single highwayman. As he was crossing Hounslow Heath one night, on his way from Berkeley Castle to London, his travelling carriage was stopped by a man on horseback, who put his head in at the window and said, "I believe you are Lord Berkeley?" "I am." "I believe you have always boasted that you would never surrender to a single highwayman?" "I have." "Well," presenting a pistol, "I am a single highwayman, and I say, 'Your money or your life.'" "You cowardly dog," said Lord Berkeley, "do you think I can’t see your confederate skulking behind you?" The highwayman, who was really alone, looked hurriedly around, and Lord Berkeley shot him through the head.[4]

Marriage and issue

Berkeley and Mary Cole (who also passed under the name of Tudor), the daughter of a local publican and butcher, had seven sons and five daughters, but the disputed date of their marriage prevented their elder sons from succeeding as Earl of Berkeley and Baron Berkeley. They asserted that the marriage had taken place on 30 March 1785, but the earliest ceremony of which there is incontrovertible proof was a wedding in Lambeth Church, Surrey, on 16 May 1796, at which date she was pregnant with their seventh child.[2][5]

He settled Berkeley Castle upon their eldest son, William FitzHardinge Berkeley, but William's attempt to assume his father's honours were disallowed by the House of Lords, who considered him illegitimate.

Berkeley's titles devolved as a matter of law upon his fifth but first legitimate son, Thomas Morton Fitzhardinge Berkeley (1796–1882), but were never used by him and he did not take his seat in the House of Lords. Per his father's will, he would have lost his small inheritance had he disputed his eldest brother's claim to the titles.[2][1]

Born after the recognised marriage of 1796:[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 351. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cokayne's Complete Peerage, Volume II (St Catherine Press, London, 1912), at pages 142-143
  3. ^ Royal South Gloucestershire Militia (1st) 1759–1816 at This Re-illuminated School of Mars: Auxiliary forces and other aspects of Albion under Arms in the Great War against France.
  4. ^ George W. E. Russell, Collections & Recollections (revised edition, Smith Elder & Co, London, 1899), at page 5.
  5. ^ "Mary Cole: Victim or Villain?" (PDF). Berkeley Buttress: Newsletter of Friends of Berkeley Castle. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  6. ^ London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812
Peerage of England Preceded byAugustus Berkeley Earl of Berkeley 1755–1810 Succeeded byThomas Berkeley
Categories