He was the second son born after his parents were married; four of his elder brothers were deemed illegitimate and unable to inherit the earldom.
[1] Berkeley sat as member of parliament for Gloucestershire West from 1832 to 1852 as a Whig.
In 1836 he proposed the admission of ladies to the gallery of the House of Commons; this was granted in 1841.
He subsequently fought a duel with the review's author William Maginn.
Berkeley was the tenant of Alderney Manor near Poole in Dorset from the early 1860s until 1880.