Christopher Denys Stormonte Finch-Hatton (17 November 1936 – 26 June 1999) was the 16th

Earl of Winchilsea Earl of Winchilsea is a title in the Peerage of England held by the Finch-Hatton family. It has been united with the title of Earl of Nottingham under a single holder since 1729. The Finch family is believed to be descended from Henry FitzHerbe ...

and 11th Earl of Nottingham as well as a member of the American

Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...

through his maternal grandmother, Gladys Moore Vanderbilt. He acceded to the titles in 1950 on the death of his father,

Christopher Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl of Winchilsea 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 ...

Early life

Finch-Hatton was born to

and Countess Gladys Széchényi Sárvár-Felsövidék. Finch-Hatton's paternal grandparents were

Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea Guy Montagu George Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea and 9th Earl of Nottingham Order of the British Empire, OBE Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom), DSC (28 May 1885 – 10 February 1939) was an English peer and banker. Finch-Hatton ...

and Margaretta Armstrong Drexel, the daughter of banker Anthony Joseph Drexel of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

and a survivor of the SS ''Athenia''. Finch-Hatton's maternal grandparents were Count László Széchényi Sárvár-Felsövidék and Gladys Moore Vanderbilt. 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 Nove ...

and

Cornelius Vanderbilt II Cornelius "Corneil" Vanderbilt II (November 27, 1843 – September 12, 1899) was an American socialite and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family. Noted forebears He was the favorite grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbil ...

, the president and chairman of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

. Gladys 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 ...

in New York City, and their summer "cottage,"

The Breakers The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The 70-room man ...

in Newport, Rhode Island. Together, Finch-Hatton's parents had two sons before divorcing in 1946: # Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of Winchilsea, (1936–1999) # The Honourable Robin Heneage Finch-Hatton (1939–2018) On 17 June 1946, his father married for the second time to Agnes Mary Conroy, daughter of Patrick Joseph Conroy.

Education

Finch-Hatton attended

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

then

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is locate ...

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland (council area), ...

, Scotland. At the age of 13, he inherited the titles of Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham upon the death of his father.

Career

After his National Service in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

, he moved to the United States and spent some years living, and occasionally working, there when he was in his twenties and was purported to have retained a great love of people and things American all his life. After his marriage and return to England, Winchilsea was persuaded to take his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

to give Liberalism the political representation which had been lacking in the Commons. He sat in the House of Lords as a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

peer for over 20 years. It was said that he was delighted when his home constituency was won by the Liberal Democrats in 1997.

Sahrawi

He is known for his work promoting the interests of the displaced

Sahrawi people The Sahrawi, or Saharawi people ( ar, صحراويون '; es, Saharaui), are an ethnic group and nation native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara, southern Morocco, much of Mauritania, and along the ...

. Since 1975, the Sahrawi people were living in refugee camps near

Tindouf Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...

, in the Algerian part of the

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, waiting for a resolution of the

decolonisation Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence ...

process in the

Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara ( es, Sahara Español; ar, الصحراء الإسبانية, As-Sahrā'a Al-Isbānīyah), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958 then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used f ...

. Spain had allowed the

Moroccans Moroccans (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Kingdom of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers (Amazigh). The term also applies more broadly to any people who are of Moroccan nationality, sh ...

to annexe their ex-colony, however, most of the native population fled rather than accept a fait accompli. In 1987, he publicly denounced the

King of Morocco This is the list of rulers of Morocco, since the establishment of the state in 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period. Since 1957, the designation King has been used. The present King of Mor ...

's state visit to Britain, and got the ex-US President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, and through him

James Baker James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President ...

, former Secretary of State, involved in the process of reaching a settlement of the

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

conflict under the auspices of the United Nations. Finch-Hatton helped found, organise and to promote the Sahrawi Refugee Aid Trust in the United Kingdom, resulting in over 10 Rainbow Rover convoys. The convoys were made up of

Land Rovers Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers i ...

, painted in rainbow colours, and took much-needed medical and food supplies to the camps.

Personal life

In 1962, Finch-Hatton married Shirley Hatfield and bought South Cadbury House in south-east

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

and committed themselves to improving the house and grounds. Together they had: #

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"), ...

(born 1967), who married Shelley Amanda Gillard # Lady Alice Nan Christine Finch-Hatton (born 1970) Finch-Hatton died on 26 June 1999 and his son Daniel Finch-Hatton inherited his titles including the seat in the

. However, his son lost this seat in 1999 when the House of Lords Act was implemented.

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...

1803–2005
Mr Daniel Finch Hatton
/ref>

Styles

*1936–1939: ''

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certa ...

'' Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton *1939–1950: Viscount Maidstone *1950–1999: ''

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The ter ...

'' The Earl of Winchilsea and Earl of Nottingham

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winchilsea, Christopher Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of 1936 births 1999 deaths Christopher Finch-Hatton *16

711 711 may refer to: * 711 (number), a natural number * AD 711, a year of the 8th century AD * 711 BC, a year of the 8th century BC * 7-1-1, the telephone number of the Telecommunications Relay Service in the United States and Canada * 7-Eleven, a c ...

People educated at Eton College People educated at Gordonstoun Christopher Finch-Hatton Christopher Finch-Hatton

Christopher Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...