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Murray Edward Gordon Finch-Hatton, 12th Earl of Winchilsea and 7th Earl of Nottingham (28 March 1851 – 7 September 1898), styled the Hon. Murray Finch-Hatton until 1887, was a British
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
politician and agriculturalist. His country residence was at
Haverholme Priory Haverholme Priory was a former monastery and a country house in Lincolnshire, England. Its remains are situated north-east of the town of Sleaford and less than south-west from the village of Anwick. Foundation In 1137, Alexander, Bishop ...
,
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
.


Early life

Winchilsea was the second son of George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea and 5th Earl of Nottingham and eldest son by his third wife Fanny Margaretta Rice, daughter of
Edward Royd Rice Edward Royd Rice Justice of the Peace, JP Deputy Lieutenant, DL (25 April 1790 – 27 November 1878) was an English politics, politician and first-class cricket, first-class cricketer. He was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Par ...
and Elizabeth Austen, who herself was daughter of
Edward Austen Knight Edward Austen Knight (born Edward Austen; 7 October 1767 – 19 November 1852) was the third eldest brother of Jane Austen, and provided their mother with the use of a cottage in Chawton where Jane lived for the last years of her life (now Jane ...
, brother of
Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...
. Murray's paternal grandmother was
Lady Elizabeth Murray Lady Elizabeth Mary Finch-Hatton (''née'' Murray; 18 May 1760 – 1 June 1825) was a British aristocrat and the subject of a notable painting, once thought to be by Johann Zoffany, now attributed to David Martin. Early life Murray was ...
. When his father the 10th Earl died, he left
Haverholme Priory Haverholme Priory was a former monastery and a country house in Lincolnshire, England. Its remains are situated north-east of the town of Sleaford and less than south-west from the village of Anwick. Foundation In 1137, Alexander, Bishop ...
estate to his second son. The inherited estate generated close to £7,000 a year.


Career


Politician

He unsuccessfully contested Newark in 1880 but entered Parliament for Lincolnshire South in an 1884 by-election, a seat he held until the following year when the constituency was abolished. He then represented Spalding from 1885 until 1887 when he succeeded his half-brother in the two earldoms and entered the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
.Paul Readman. ''Conservatives and the Politics of Land: Lord Winchilsea's National Agricultural Union, 1893–1901.'' The English Historical Review CXXI (2006), pp. 25-69. His succession led to a network of legal difficulties engaging at different times, it is stated, no fewer than 22 different firms of lawyers. In 1884 Finch-Hatton, with 135 other members of Parliament, voted that a clause of the
Representation of the People Act 1884 In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c. 3), also known informally as the Third Reform Act, and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which ...
enfranchising women be read a second time.


Agriculturalist

He was particularly interested in agricultural questions, where he sought to improve the conditions of agricultural workers. Obliged by the
agricultural depression An agricultural recession describes a period of low crop prices and sharply reduced farm incomes. Consequences may include second order effects such as rural flight of people to towns and also had political effects. A common feature of agricultura ...
and huge inherited debt from his half brother the 11th Earl of Winchilsea, Murray was forced to sell the ancestral family seat
Eastwell Park Eastwell Park is a large area of parkland and a country estate in the civil parish of Eastwell, Kent, Eastwell, adjoining Ashford, Kent, in England. It was owned by the Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham, Earls of Winchilsea for more than three c ...
for £250,000 (equivalent to £26 million) to 2nd Baron Gerard of Garswood Hall in 1894. He became the recognised head of the movement which followed on the Agricultural Congress of 1892 and led in 1894 to the formation of The National Agricultural Union. It aimed at a thorough organisation of the agricultural interests represented alike by the landlords, tenants and labourers. Its programme included: * reduction of local taxation of agricultural property * abolition of preferential railway rates for British produce * old-age pensions for working men * amendment of the law relating to adulteration of food and the Merchandise Marks Acts * amendment of the Agricultural Holdings Act * increased facilities to enable working men to obtain small holdingsDeath Of Lord Winchilsea. ''The Times'', Thursday, 8 September 1898; pg. 6; Issue 35616 By the time of his death in 1898, most of these aims were achieved, including the reduction in railway charges by bulking shipments. To that end, he established early in 1896 British Produce Supply Association Limited with a capital of £50,000 which opened extensive stores for the sale and distribution of British produce under the ''Cable'' brand. Cable was the title of the weekly newspaper, the official organ of the National Agricultural Union. County associations of agriculturists were formed for mutual support and combination. The National Farmers Union (at that time Lincolnshire Farmers Union) was formed in his home county of Lincolnshire in 1904, six years after his death.


Children's Order of Chivalry

In 1893 with his wife, the Countess, he founded the
Children's Order of Chivalry The Children's Order of Chivalry was an English society which expressed its rules as "Gentleness, Honour and Love". Founded by English aristocrats in the late nineteenth century and enjoying royal patronage, the society grew quickly. It aimed to imp ...
in memory of their only son, George Edward Henry, Viscount Maidstone ("Maidy"), who had died the previous year at the age of nine. Prior to his death, the child had discussed with his father the idea of establishing the Order.


Personal life

In 1875, Murray Finch-Hatton married Edith Harcourt, daughter of
Edward William Harcourt Edward William Vernon Harcourt DL JP (26 June 1825 – 19 December 1891) was an English naturalist and Conservative politician. Life Harcourt was born in Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, the son of Matilda Mary Gooch and Rev. William Vernon H ...
and Lady Susan Harriet Holroyd, daughter of 2nd Earl of Sheffield and Lady Harriet Lascelles of
Harewood house Harewood House ( , ) is a English country house, country house in Harewood, West Yorkshire, Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. Designed by architects John Carr (architect), John Carr and Robert Adam, it was built between 1759 and 1771, for Ed ...
. Edith's uncle was
Sir William Harcourt Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt, (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He was Member of Parliament for Oxford, Derby, then West Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constitue ...
, while her aunt Cecilia Harcourt had married her husband's uncle Sir Edward Rice. Together they had two children: # George Edward Henry Murray Finch-Hatton, Viscount Maidstone, (1883-1892), died at the age of nine. # Lady Muriel Finch-Hatton (1876-1938), who married Sir Richard Arthur Surtees Paget, 2nd Baronet (1869-1955) and left issue, including their grandsons
Alexander Chancellor Alexander Surtees Chancellor, CBE (4 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was a British journalist and editor. He was the editor of ''The Spectator'' from 1975 to 1984. Background Alexander Chancellor was born in 1940 in Dane End, Hertfordshir ...
, the father of model
Cecilia Chancellor Cecilia Mary Chancellor (born 1 September 1966) is a British model who has worked consistently since the 1980s and has been referred to as the living embodiment of the "London Girl" by ''British Vogue'' creative director Robin Derrick in his ...
, and John Paget Chancellor, who married the Hon. Mary Alice Jolliffe (daughter of
William Jolliffe, 4th Baron Hylton William George Hervey Jolliffe, 4th Baron Hylton (2 December 1898 – 14 November 1967), was a British peer and soldier. Hylton was the son of Hylton Jolliffe, 3rd Baron Hylton, and Lady Alice Adeliza Hervey. He achieved the rank of Li ...
), the parents of actress
Anna Chancellor Anna Theodora Chancellor (born 27 April 1965) is an English actress who has appeared widely on TV, film and in the theatre. She received a nomination for BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lix Storm in '' The Hour'' (201 ...
. Finch-Hatton's country residence was at
Haverholme Priory Haverholme Priory was a former monastery and a country house in Lincolnshire, England. Its remains are situated north-east of the town of Sleaford and less than south-west from the village of Anwick. Foundation In 1137, Alexander, Bishop ...
,
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
, a roomy home with turrets and battlements, inherited from his father through his uncle in law, Sir Jenison Gordon, 2nd Baronet who had married his aunt Lady Gordon. The staircase was graced by the Finches' griffin ornaments which made for imposing finials, the walls were lined by Gobelins tapestry and armour from
Kirby Hall Kirby Hall is a Grade I listed Elizabethan country house, located near Gretton, Northamptonshire, England. The nearest main town is Corby. One of the great Elizabethan houses of England, Kirby Hall was built in 1570 for Sir Humphrey Stafford ...
, and allegorical pictures made by his great-aunt Lady Gordon, who was a pupil of
Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Ca ...
. In the rarely used dining room hanged actual Gainsborough paintings of the family. He died in September 1898, aged 47. Murray was succeeded by his younger brother who became
Henry Finch-Hatton, 13th Earl of Winchilsea Henry Stormont Finch-Hatton, 13th Earl of Winchilsea and 8th Earl of Nottingham (3 November 1852 – 14 August 1927) was an English peer. Early life He was born at the family seat of Eastwell Park and the third son of George Finch-Hatton, 10th ...
. His estate was proved at £106,403 (equivalent to modern day £12 million)


Pet Lion

Lord Winchilsea bought a pet lion while he was touring Egypt. The lion was fed by his lordship himself and had become very tame. He brought the lion home and presented it to the Zoological society and was awarded fellowship.


Outdoor recreations

Among Lord Winchilsea's outdoor recreations were bricklaying, glazing and the digging of dykes "in which accomplishment it is said he was not surpassed by any workman in the county". In the summer of 1895, he spent nearly all his holidays repairing the roof of
Ewerby Ewerby is a village in the civil parish of Ewerby and Evedon, in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies north-east from Sleaford and south from Anwick. The hamlet of Ewerby Thorpe lies to the east from Ewerby. Histo ...
church.


Motorist

He was also a great motoring enthusiast, and played a leading role at the very first London to Brighton Car Run on 14 November 1896, symbolically tearing a red flag in two to start the event, and presiding at the dinner which took place in
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
at its conclusion.Wilfrid Blunt. ''Lady Muriel: Lady Muriel Paget, her Husband, and her Philanthropic Work in Central and Eastern Europe.'' London: Methuen & Co Ltd, 1962, p. 6.


References


Sources

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winchilsea, Murray Finch-Hatton, 12th Earl of 1851 births 1898 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs who inherited peerages *12
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Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...