Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge (1599 - 12 June 1668) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

  variously between 1621 and 1668.

Berkeley was the son of Sir Maurice Berkeley of Bruton

Bruton

Bruton is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Brue seven miles south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, ten miles north-west of Gillingham and twelve miles south-west of Frome in the South Somerset district. The town has a...

, Somerset. He matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford on 3 November 1615 aged 15. He was knighted in 1623.

In 1621 Berkeley was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Somerset

Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

Somerset was a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, which returned two Members of Parliament , known traditionally as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England until 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from...

. He was elected MP for Bodmin in 1624 and for Heytesbury in 1625, 1626 and 1628. He sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.

In April 1640, Berkeley was elected MP for Bath

Bath (UK Parliament constituency)

Bath is a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, previously of the House of Commons of England. It is an ancient constituency which has been constantly represented in Parliament since boroughs were first summoned to send members in the 13th century...

 in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

.

Following the Restoration, Berkeley was elected MP for Heytesbury in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter century reign of Charles II of England...

 and sat until his death. Before his death he succeeded, by special remainder to the title Viscount Fitzhardinge

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, with the subsidiary title of Baron Berkeley of Rathdowne, also in the Peerage of Ireland...

 on the death of his son Charles

Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth

Charles Berkeley 1st Earl of Falmouth was the son of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge and his wife Penelope née Godolphin ....

  who was killed in a naval engagement with the Dutch on 3 June 1665.

Berkeley married Penelope Godolphin. He was succeeded by his son Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth

Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth

Charles Berkeley 1st Earl of Falmouth was the son of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge and his wife Penelope née Godolphin ....

.