Frances Juliana Finch, Countess of Winchilsea and Nottingham (20 January 1709 – 3 October 1734) was an English aristocrat and social reformer.

Biography

Lady Frances was the daughter of Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh, 3rd Earl of Desmond, and his wife, Hester, daughter of

Sir Basil Firebrace, 1st Baronet Sir Basil Firebrace, 1st Baronet (1652 – 7 May 1724) was a supplier of wines to the royal household, Sheriff of London, and MP for Chippenham, Wiltshire, from 1690 to 1692. He was prosecuted for fraud and bribery, acquitted, and created a baro ...

.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes''. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, p.1087. She was baptised in the Parish of St Gyles, London. She had five sisters and four brothers, including

William Feilding, 5th Earl of Denbigh William Feilding, 5th Earl of Denbigh and 4th Earl of Desmond (26 October 1697 – 2 August 1755), styled as Viscount Feilding until 1717, was an English nobleman. Denbigh was the son of Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh and Hester Firebrace, on ...

. She married

Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea and 3rd Earl of Nottingham (24 May 16892 August 1769), , of Burley House near Oakham in Rutland and of Eastwell Park near Ashford in Kent, was a British peer and politician. Origins Styled by the courtesy ...

in December 1729. They had one daughter, Lady Charlotte Finch (1731–1796). Few details of her life are known; however, she was notable in being one of the aristocratic women who were early supporters of

Thomas Coram Sea captain, Captain Thomas Coram ( – 29 March 1751) was an English sea captain and philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, to look after abandoned children on the streets of London. It is ...

's efforts to establish a

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropy, philanthropic Captain (nautical), sea captain ...

. She signed the Ladies' Petition which was delivered to King George II to support the establishment of the Hospital on 25 April 1730, and she is the signatory of whom least is known. This group of women not only lent their prestige and respectability to the endeavour, they made it 'one of the most fashionable charities of the day'. As part of an exhibition celebrating the role of women in the establishment and administration of the Hospital, called ''Ladies of Quality and Distinction'', the Foundling Museum held an exhibition in 2018 which included a family portrait of Frances. Through her marriage she was the aunt of another signatory,

Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon ( Shirley; 24 August 1707 – 17 June 1791) was an English Methodist leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She ...

. The cause of her death is not known. She is buried at her husband's family seat of Ravenstone, Buckinghamshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Frances English social reformers Winchilsea Daughters of British earls Daughters of Irish earls 1734 deaths 1709 births English women philanthropists 18th-century English philanthropists Feilding family