448 Ifcfngs of tbe TCofc, IRffle, anfc (Bun 



next to Moreton, and, as the latter had no issue, was 

 for seventy years heir-presumptive to the Earldom of 

 Berkeley. No such delicate scruples as actuated his 

 brother would have deterred Grantley from assuming 

 the title of Earl, but, though he reached the ripe age 

 of eighty-one, Moreton out-lived him, and he missed 

 after all the coveted honour which had for so long 

 seemed within his grasp. 



For many years there was a deadly quarrel between 

 Grantley and his elder brothers. Colonel Berkeley 

 (afterwards Earl Fitzhardinge) of course maintained his 

 own legitimacy, which Grantley denied. The feud became 

 a political as well as a personal one. For twenty years 

 the younger brother fought the elder for the representa- 

 tion of West Gloucestershire in Parliament, and, despite 

 the wealth and influence opposed to him, Grantley 

 won every contested election against Lord Fitz- 

 hardinge's candidate. This open defiance naturally 

 widened the breach between the two sections of the 

 family, and kept constantly before the public a scandal 

 which one would have thought all members of the 

 house of Berkeley would have been anxious to see 

 decently buried. 



This family feud played such an important part in 

 Grantley Berkeley's life that it has been necessary to 

 refer to it ; having done so as briefly as possible, I 

 gladly dismiss the unsavoury topic, and come back 

 to my legitimate subject. 



The Honourable George Charles Grantley Fitz- 

 hardinge Berkeley received the first of this string of 

 names in honour of his godfather the Prince Regent, 



