Maurice Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge

Who was Maurice Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge?

Admiral Maurice Frederick FitzHardinge Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge, GCB PC DL was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he commanded gunboats on the Tagus, reinforcing the Lines of Torres Vedras, in Autumn 1810 during the Peninsular War and, as a captain, he served on the coast of Syria taking part in the capture of Acre in November 1840 during the Oriental Crisis. He also served as Whig Member of Parliament for Gloucester and became First Naval Lord in the Aberdeen ministry in June 1854 and in that role focussed on manning the fleet and in carrying out reforms and improvements in the food, clothing, and pay of seamen.