Quarterly, 1st & 4th: argent, a chevron between three garbs gules; (Hatton) 2nd & 3rd, argent, a chevron between three griffins, passant, wings endorsed sable (Finch)
Finch: Nil conscire sibi ("Conscious of no evil") Hatton: Virtus tutissima cassis ("Virtue is the safest helmet")
Earl of Winchilsea is a title in the Peerage of England. It has been held by the Finch-Hatton family of Kent, and united with the title of Earl of Nottingham under a single holder since 1729.[1]
The Finch family is believed to be descended from Henry FitzHerbert, Lord Chamberlain to Henry I (r. 1100–1135). The name change to Finch came in the 1350s after marriage to an heiress of the Finch family.[2] The Herbert family of Wales, Earls of Aylesford, Earls of Pembroke, share common ancestry[3] but bear differenced arms.[4]
A later member of the family, Sir William Finch, was knighted in 1513. His son Sir Thomas Finch (died 1563), was also knighted for his share in suppressing Sir Thomas Wyatt's insurrection against Queen Mary I, and was the son-in-law of Sir Thomas Moyle, some of whose lands Finch's wife inherited. Thomas's eldest son Moyle Finch represented Weymouth, Kent and Winchelsea in the House of Commons. In 1611 he was created a baronet, of Eastwell in the County of Kent.[5]
In 1660 the 3rd Earl of Winchilsea was created Baron FitzHerbert of Eastwell, Kent, in recompense for his efficient aid in the Restoration of the Monarchy.[6]
Sir Moyle Finch was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son Theophilus, the 2nd Baronet (1573–1619). He sat as Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth but died childless circa 1619. He was succeeded by his younger brother Thomas, the 3rd Baronet. He represented Winchelsea and Kent in the House of Commons. In 1634, he also succeeded his mother as the second Earl of Winchilsea.
The third Earl, son of the second, supported the Restoration in 1660 and was thanked for his efforts the same year when he was created Baron FitzHerbert of Eastwell, in the County of Kent, in the Peerage of England.
The 8th Earl was childless and was succeeded by his nephew, the 9th Earl, son of the Hon. William Finch, second son of the 2nd Earl of Nottingham. The 9th Earl was Lord Lieutenant of Rutland for many years and was also an influential figure in the history of cricket.
The 9th Earl died unmarried and was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, the 10th Earl, son of George Finch-Hatton (1747–1823) (who had assumed the additional surname of Hatton), son of the Hon. Edward Finch, fifth son of the 2nd Earl of Nottingham, and his wife the Hon. Anne Hatton, who was the daughter of Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton (see the Viscount Hatton) and a relation of the famous Sir Christopher Hatton. The 10th Earl is famous for his duel with the Duke of Wellington, who was Prime Minister at the time. The duel, which was over the issue of Catholic emancipation and related to insulting remarks made by the Earl, took place at Battersea Fields on 21 March 1829. Both men deliberately aimed wide and Winchilsea apologised.
His son the 11th Earl had represented Northamptonshire North in Parliament as a Tory. He died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his half-brother, the 12th Earl, who had sat briefly as Conservative Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire South and for Spalding. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the 13th Earl. As of 2017[update], the titles are held by his great-great-grandson, the 17th Earl of Winchilsea and 12th Earl of Nottingham (the title having descended from father to son), who succeeded in 1999.
The Hon. Sir Heneage Finch was the third and youngest son of Sir Moyle Finch and the Countess of Winchilsea. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1625 to 1628. His son Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, was a prominent lawyer and politician and served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1675 to 1682. He was created a baronet, of Raunston in the County of Buckingham, in the Baronetage of England in 1660 and in 1673 he was raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Finch of Daventry in the County of Northampton. In 1681, he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Nottingham, also in the Peerage of England. He was succeeded by his son, Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, who in 1729 succeeded his second cousin as the seventh Earl of Winchilsea. See above for further history of the titles.
The ancestral family seat of Earls of Winchilsea was at Eastwell Park old manor house, until the last 6th Earl of Winchilsea died, then the title and estate was inherited by his cousin, Daniel Finch, the 2nd Earl of Nottingham who also become 7th Earl of Winchilsea.
The now 7th Earl of Winchilsea and 2nd Earl of Nottingham built the magnificent Burley on the Hill house, the new palatial residence was built to replace Eastwell as the new seat of Earls of Winchilsea and Nottingham. The 7th Earl chose Burley's location to be nearer to his wife's family (the Hattons) at Kirby Hall. Burley served as the family seat until the unmarried 9th Earl of Winchilsea sought and obtained an act of Parliament to break the entail of the estate, and left Burley house to his illegitimate son, George Finch, rather than to his first cousin and his son the future 10th Earl.
Haverholme Priory was an estate in Lincolnshire, inherited by the 10th Earl from his childless aunt and uncle in law, Sir Jenison Gordon. After the Eastwell estate was let go, Haverholme Priory became the family seat for the 12th Earl and 13th Earl of Winchilsea until it was eventually sold and demolished.
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea PC was an English Tory politician and peer who supported the Hanoverian Succession in 1714. Through his great granddaughter Lady Charlotte Cavendish, he was the ancestor of King Charles III.
Earl of Aylesford, in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1714 for the lawyer and politician Heneage Finch, 1st Baron Guernsey. He had already been created Baron Guernsey in the Peerage of England in 1703. Finch was the younger son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham and the great-grandson of Elizabeth Heneage, 1st Countess of Winchilsea. Lord Aylesford's eldest son, the second Earl, represented Maidstone and Surrey in Parliament. In 1712, he married Mary Fisher, daughter of Sir Clement Fisher, 3rd Baronet. Through this marriage Packington Hall in Warwickshire came into the Finch family. Their son, the third Earl, sat as a Member of Parliament for Leicestershire and Maidstone. His eldest son, the fourth Earl, represented Castle Rising and Maidstone in the House of Commons, and after entering the House of Lords on his father's death, served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1783 to 1804 and as Lord Steward of the Household from 1804 to 1812.
Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea was an English peer and diplomat who served as the English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1660 to 1669.
Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea and 3rd Earl of Nottingham, , of Burley House near Oakham in Rutland and of Eastwell Park near Ashford in Kent, was a British peer and politician.
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford, PC, KC was an English lawyer and statesman.
Eastwell Park is a large area of parkland and a country estate in the civil parish of Eastwell, adjoining Ashford, Kent, in England. It was owned by the Earls of Winchilsea for more than three centuries. Over time, successive buildings have served as homes to Sir Thomas Moyle, the Earls of Winchilsea and Nottingham, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and others.
Christopher Guy Heneage Finch-Hatton was the 15th Earl of Winchilsea and 10th Earl of Nottingham. He acceded to the titles in 1939 on the death of his father, Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea. His mother was Margaretta Armstrong Drexel, the daughter of banker Anthony Joseph Drexel of Philadelphia.
Guy Montagu George Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea and 9th Earl of Nottingham OBE DSC was an English peer and banker. Finch-Hatton was brother to renowned big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton. His daughter married Whitney Straight, of the American Whitney family.
Elizabeth Finch, née Heneage, 1st Countess of Winchilsea was an English peeress.
Viscount Hatton, of Grendon, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1683 for Christopher Hatton, 2nd Baron Hatton. He was the son of the prominent Royalist Christopher Hatton, who was created Baron Hatton, of Kirby, in the Peerage of England in 1643. He was a relation and heir of Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor under Queen Elizabeth I. The first Viscount was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Viscount. On his death the titles passed to his younger brother, the third Viscount. When he died in 1762 the titles became extinct.
George William Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea, 5th Earl of Nottingham was an English politician known for duelling with the then Prime Minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.
Murray Edward Gordon Finch-Hatton, 12th Earl of Winchilsea and 7th Earl of Nottingham, styled the Hon. Murray Finch-Hatton until 1887, was a British Conservative politician and agriculturalist. His country residence was at Haverholme Priory, Lincolnshire.
Edward Finch-Hatton of Kirby Hall, near Rockingham, Northamptonshire, was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons for 41 years from 1727 to 1768.
George James Finch-Hatton, 11th Earl of Winchilsea and 6th Earl of Nottingham, styled Viscount Maidstone between 1826 and 1857, was a British peer and Tory politician.
Thomas Finch, 2nd Earl of Winchilsea was an English peer and Member of Parliament.
St Mary's Church is a ruined former Church of England parish church, in the grounds of Eastwell Park in the hamlet of Eastwell, Kent, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and is a Scheduled monument. The ruins have been in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches charity since they took over the freehold on 20 March 1980.
George Finch-Hatton FRS was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1772 to 1784.
Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet JP was an English politician, knight, sheriff, and MP.
Constance Henrietta Finch-Hatton, Countess of Winchilsea and Nottingham was the first wife of George Finch-Hatton, 11th Earl of Winchilsea.
Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea and Nottingham, formerly Anne Hatton, was the second wife of Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, and the mother of Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea and 3rd Earl of Nottingham.
↑ According to Burke's Peerage, 1934 (re:Finch, Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham), quoting Sir William Dugdale, "the Finch family is probably descended from Henry FitzHerbert, Chamberlain of King Henry I and ancestor of the Herbert Earls of Pembroke. They are thought to have changed their name to Finch after marriage to an heiress daughter of an earlier Finch family." Thus the Herbert family of Wales, Earls of Pembroke, bear a differenced version of arms of FitzHerbert/Finch, as borne by FitzHerbert Baronets.
↑ Burke's Peerage, 1934 (re:Finch, Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham)
↑ Herbert: Per pale azure and gules, three lions rampant argent, FitzHerbert: Gules, three lions rampant or, as quartered by Finch, and as borne by the FitzHerbert Baronets of Tissington
§: Disclaimed.Italics: This title is held by a peer who holds another earldom of higher precedence.
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