William Finch (18 January 169125 December 1766) of Charlewood, Hertfordshire, was a British diplomat and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1727 to 1761. He was considered an indolent diplomat and became an opponent of Walpole, but maintained his post in the Royal Household for over 20 years until he began to lose his senses.

Early life

Finch was the second son of

Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea, PC (2 July 16471 January 1730) was an English Tory statesman who supported the Hanoverian Succession in 1714. Origins He was born on 2 July 1647, the son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl ...

, and his second wife Anne Hatton. He matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

on 4 March, 1707, aged 16, and became a student of

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1710.

Career

When

Lord Carteret John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, 7th Seigneur of Sark, (; 22 April 16902 January 1763), commonly known by his earlier title Lord Carteret, was a British statesman and Lord President of the Council from 1751 to 1763; he worked extremely clos ...

went to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

from 1719 to 1720, Finch accompanied him as his secretary. Carteret returned to Britain and secured Finch's appointment as envoy there in his place until 1724. Finch was then appointed envoy to United Provinces until 1728. At the 1727 Finch was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

on the interest of his brother-in-law the Duke of Somerset. He voted with the government, but was sent on another mission as minister to the Netherlands from 1733 to 1734. He had been admonished by Carteret previously for lack of diligence, and it was considered that his indolent ministry had put the Netherlands into the hands of France. Walpole sent his brother Horace to The Hague as ambassador on a special mission, and Finch took umbrage and asked to be recalled. He was returned unopposed at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

and went into opposition against Walpole. He was returned for Cockermouth again at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

and after the fall of Walpole in 1742, he and his brother Edward obtained posts in the Royal Household by their connection to Lord Carteret. He was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and a Member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. He survived in post after Carteret was dismissed in 1744 and again after Carteret tried unsuccessfully to form an administration in 1746, when there was a bid to purge public offices of his adherents. He remained in post until 1765. He was returned as MP for Cockermouth at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

, but at the

1754 British general election The 1754 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Owing to the exten ...

he was encouraged to take a seat elsewhere and was not returned. Finch was returned as MP for

Bewdley Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Sev ...

on the Lyttelton interest at a by-election on 5 February 1755. He did not stand again. He began to lose his sanity and in 1765 he was pensioned off from his post at the Royal Household.

Marriage and Family

Finch married Lady Anne Douglas, daughter of

James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry and 1st Duke of Dover (18 December 16626 July 1711) was a Scottish nobleman. Life He was the eldest son of William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry and his wife Isabel Douglas, daughter of William Douglas ...

on 25 January 1733. She died without issue on 26 October 1741. He married as his second wife Charlotte Fermor, daughter of Thomas Fermor, 1st Earl of Pomfret on 9 August 1746. They had a son and four daughters: * Charlotte Finch (b. 1 September 1747). * Sophia Finch (b. 17 October 1748), married Captain

Charles Fielding Charles Fielding (also known as Charles Feilding; 2 July 1738 – 11 January 1783) was a British naval officer who was the initiator of the Affair of Fielding and Bylandt in the run-up to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. He attained the "rank" of Co ...

in 1772 and had issue. *Frances Finch (23 September 1749 –1765). *Henrietta Finch (b. 28 December 1750). *

George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea (4 November 1752 – 2 August 1826), was an important figure in the history of cricket. His main contributions to the game were patronage and organisation but Winchilsea, an amateur, was also a very keen pla ...

(4 November 1752 – 2 August 1826). Finch's wife was a governess to the royal children. In his madness, Finch, had beaten her and thrown her down stairs, and as a result they were separated by articles. However they still remained on civil terms. Finch died on 25 December 1766. He was succeeded by his son

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

. One of his daughters was Sophia Finchthepeerage.com
��but with wrong birth date

References

External Links

*''Burkes Peerage'' (1939 edition), ''s.v.'' Winchelsea. {{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, William 1691 births 1766 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Younger sons of earls British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Ambassadors of Great Britain to Sweden Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Netherlands