William FitzHardinge Berkeley, 1st Earl FitzHardinge (26 December 1786 – 10 October 1857), known as The Lord Segrave between 1831 and 1841, was a British landowner and politician.
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Background
Berkeley was born at Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, London, the eldest son of Frederick Berkeley, 5th Earl of Berkeley, by Mary Cole, daughter of William Cole. He was the brother of Maurice Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge, Francis Henry FitzHardinge Berkeley, George Charles Grantley Fitzhardinge Berkeley and Craven Berkeley and the nephew of Sir George Cranfield Berkeley.
Dispute over legitimacy
Great uncertainties were raised about whether his parents had two marriage ceremonies, or whether his mother was as with other children she conceived with his father a different/same but unmarried lady. On 16 May 1796 the Earl of Berkeley had married Mary Cole at Lambeth. The Earl then maintained they had married at Berkeley, Gloucestershire, officiated by the Vicar of Berkeley, on 30 March 1785. This ceremony was, however, kept secret until after the Lambeth marriage, with Mary being known as Miss Tudor between the two dates. Shortly after the Lambeth marriage a certificate of the Berkeley ceremony was produced, having been recovered, it was alleged, under very strange circumstances. The couple had had six sons up to the marriage of 1796, including William Berkeley. In 1799, after the Earl announced his earlier marriage/ceremony, William Berkeley (commonly styled Viscount Dursley, the normal courtesy title for the heir apparent to the earldom) obtained leave (permission) to prove his legitimacy before the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords, and in 1801 the Earl made a deposition giving full details of the Berkeley marriage.