George Berkeley

George Berkeley (circa 1693 – 29 October 1746) was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons from 1720 until his death in 1746.

**Early Life**

George Berkeley was the youngest and fourth son of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley, and his wife Elizabeth Noel. Elizabeth Noel was the daughter of Baptist Noel, Viscount Campden, and the sister of Edward Noel, the first Earl of Gainsborough. Berkeley attended Westminster School from its founding in 1708. He later matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1711, where he graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 1713.

**Political Career**

Berkeley was first elected as MP for Dover in a by-election held on 20 December 1720. He was returned unopposed in the subsequent general election of 1722. On 28 May 1723, he was appointed master keeper and governor of St Katharine's Hospital in London, a position he held until his death. In the 1727 general election, he was elected as MP for Dover in a contested election.

At the 1734 general election, Berkeley was elected unopposed as MP for Hedon, Yorkshire. During the 1741 general election, he initially lost his seat but was seated on petition on 4 March 1742. Politically, he was initially aligned with Sir Robert Walpole; however, he became estranged from Walpole following the dismissal of Berkeley’s brother, Lord Berkeley, from the position of First Lord of the Admiralty under King George II. Subsequently, Berkeley shifted his political loyalty to William Pulteney.

**Family and Marriage**

On 26 June 1735, Berkeley married Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk. She was the second wife of Henrietta, and the marriage occurred nine months after she ceased to be a mistress of King George II. The marriage was reportedly more harmonious than her first. Although they had no surviving children, their union is noted in historical records. It is believed that Berkeley likely met Henrietta through his sister, Lady Elizabeth Germain, who was a friend of Henrietta.

Contemporary commentators expressed uncertainty about her reasons for choosing Berkeley as her second husband. Lord Hervey remarked that Berkeley was neither young, handsome, healthy, nor wealthy, questioning what motivated Lady Suffolk's decision. Some speculated that her choice might have been intended to demonstrate that her relationship with the king was innocent, or to provoke the king. Elizabeth Germain, in a letter to Jonathan Swift dated 12 July 1735, described Berkeley as having a long-standing, evidently sincere passion and esteem for Henrietta, despite her being four or five years older than Berkeley.

**References**

Information about George Berkeley can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Additional details are available in "Letters to and from Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk, and her second husband, the Hon. George Berkeley: from 1712 to 1767," edited by John Wilson Croker and published in London by J. Murray in 1824.