HL Deb 28 February 1811 vol 19 cc108-9
The Lord Chancellor

thought it right to call the attention of the House to a point which he conceived to be of considerable importance, relating to the case of the Berkeley Peerage. In all questions of this nature, it was the practice of the House to give notice to the person who had the semblance of right to the Peerage claimed, in case the actual claimant did not make good his claim, in order that he might appoint some one to attend at the bar, to take care of his interests. In the present case, the person who would be entitled, if the now claimant to the Berkeley Peerage did not make good his claim, namely, the son of the second marriage, in fact was a minor, and could not, therefore, legally appoint any one to take care of his interests, and lady Berkeley was appointed his guardian. Lady Berkeley was anxious that what was right should be done, and as it was highly desirable that her ladyship should be relieved from the peculiarly difficult situation in which she would stand between the interests of her two sons, he. suggested that the most satisfactory course would be to address his royal highness the Prince Regent to direct one of the law officers of the crown to attend at the bar, to take care of the interests of this younger son. His lordship concluded by giving notice of his intention to move to-morrow for a committee, to consider of what was right to be done in this case, and to report to the House.