Christopher Guy Heneage Finch-Hatton (2 August 1911 – 7 March 1950) 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.
Early life
Finch-Hatton was born on 2 August 1911 to
Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea (1885–1939) and his wife
Margaretta Armstrong Drexel (1885–1952). His paternal grandfather was
Henry Finch-Hatton, 13th Earl of Winchilsea (1852–1927), and his great-grandfather was
Admiral Sir Henry Codrington (1808–1877), a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
who provided refuge on board ship for
Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Leopold II( it, Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Francesco Ferdinando Carlo, german: Leopold Johann Joseph Franz Ferdinand Karl, English: ''Leopold John Joseph Francis Ferdinand Charles''. (3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tusc ...
and his family who were fleeing from revolutionary forces and then commanded in the
Baltic Sea during the
Crimean War. Codrington went on to be Admiral superintendent of
Malta Dockyard and then
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.
His maternal grandfather was banker
Anthony J. Drexel Jr. (1864–1934) of
Philadelphia,
and his great-grandfather was
Anthony Joseph Drexel
Anthony Joseph Drexel Sr. (September 13, 1826 – June 30, 1893) was an American banker who played a major role in the rise of modern global finance after the American Civil War. As the dominant partner of Drexel & Co. of Philadelphia, he founde ...
(1826–1893), the founder of
Drexel, Morgan & Co., along with
J. P. Morgan, in New York in 1871, as well as the founder of
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...
in 1891.
Personal life
On 10 July 1935, he married fellow half-American, Countess Gladys Széchényi Sárvár-Felsövidék (1913–1978), daughter of
Count László Széchényi Sárvár-Felsövidék (1879–1938) and
Gladys Moore Vanderbilt (1886–1965).
Vanderbilt was the seventh and youngest child of
Alice Claypoole Gwynne
Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt (; November 11, 1845 – April 24, 1934) was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and reigned as the matriarch of the Vanderbilt family for over 60 years.
Early life and relatives
Alice Claypoole Gwynne was born on Novem ...
(1845–1934) and
Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843–1899), the president and chairman of the
New York Central Railroad, and grew up in the family home on
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
in
New York City, and their summer "cottage,"
The Breakers (built in 1893) in
Newport, Rhode Island. Before divorcing in March 1945,
Finch-Hatton and Széchenyi had two sons:
*
(1936–1999), who in 1962 married Shirley Hatfield, daughter of Bernard Hatfield.
*
Hon. Robin Heneage Finch-Hatton (1939-2018), who in 1962 married Molly Iona Powell, daughter of Colonel Palgrave Dawson Turner Powell.
On 17 June 1946, he married for the second time to Agnes Mary Conroy, daughter of Patrick Joseph Conroy at the
Corpus Christi Church in
London.
He died on 7 March 1950 at age 38
and was succeeded by his son Christopher.
See also
*
Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea
*
Christopher Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of Winchilsea
*
Daniel Finch-Hatton, 17th Earl of Winchilsea
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winchilsea, Christopher Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl Of
1911 births
1950 deaths
*15
710
Christopher
Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...
Drexel family