John Berkeley, 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge

John Berkeley, 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge (1650 – 19 December 1712) was an English courtier, treasury official, army officer and Member of Parliament. ^[1]

He was born the 2nd surviving son of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge and brother of Charles Berkeley, 1st Viscount Fitzhardinge and Maurice Berkeley, 3rd Viscount Fitzhardinge. Unusually, the title had passed from his younger brother Charles to their father and thence to John's elder brother Maurice, from whom he inherited it in 1690.

Berkeley was a Page of Honour to King Charles II from 1668 to 1672, after which he joined the Army in 1673 as an ensign in Lord Le Power’s Foot. He became a captain in the 1st Foot Guards in 1675 and a lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Edward Villiers’ Foot in 1678. He was Master of Horse to Princess Anne from 1685 to 1702. He fought at the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685 and was made colonel of his own regiment of Dragoons (later the 4th Queen's Own Hussars) from 1685 to 1688 and from 1688 to 1693. He was promoted brigadier-general in 1690.

After inheriting the family seat at Bruton, Somerset he was made Custos Rotulorum of Somerset from 1690 to his death. Following two years as Governor of Kinsale in 1692–3 he was appointed Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer for life in 1694 and Treasurer of the Chamber for life in 1702.

In 1691 he was elected Member of Parliament for Hindon, as seat he held until 1695, when he was elected to represent Windsor until 1710.

He died at Windsor in 1712 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. He had married Barbara, the daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, Knight Marshal of the Royal Household, with whom he had 3 daughters. Having no male heir, his title became extinct.

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