George Finch-Hatton, 11th Earl of Winchilsea

The Earl of Winchilsea
Caricatured of the Earl by Leslie Ward in Vanity Fair, October 1880
Born	George James Finch-Hatton May 31, 1815
Died	June 9, 1887 (aged 72)
Predecessor	George Finch-Hatton
Successor	Murray Finch-Hatton
Spouse(s)	Lady Constance Henrietta Lady Elizabeth Georgiana
Parents	George Finch-Hatton Lady Georgiana Charlotte

George James Finch-Hatton, 11th Earl of Winchilsea and 6th Earl of Nottingham (31 May 1815 – 9 June 1887), styled Viscount Maidstone between 1826 and 1857, was a British peer and Tory politician.

Background

Winchilsea in May of 1815 and was the son of George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea and 5th Earl of Nottingham and his first wife Lady Georgiana Charlotte, daughter of James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose.

Political career

Winchilsea was elected Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire North in 1837, a seat he held until 1841. In 1858 he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords.

Estates

In the mid-1860s, Lord Winchilsea experienced serious financial difficulties, which eventually forced him to leave his property at Eastwell Park in Kent. On 4 December 1868 trustees appointed under the Winchilsea Estate Act (1865) entered into a contract to let Eastwell Park, together with its furnishings and effects, to the Duke of Abercorn for a period of five years. Lord Winchilsea had been obliged to vacate the property some time prior to December 1868,^[1] and he was formally adjudged bankrupt on 5 October 1870.^[2] Eastwell was next occupied by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria.

Personal life

Lord Winchilsea was twice married. In 1846, he married Lady Constance Henrietta, daughter of Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey. They had one son and three daughters.

1. Hilda Jane Sophia Finch-Hatton (?-1893),^[3] who married Henry Vincent Higgins (?-1928)
2. Lady Mabel Emily Finch-Hatton (1849-1872), who married William George Eden, 4th Baron Auckland (1829–1890)
3. Lady Constance Eleanora Caroline Finch-Hatton (1851-1910), who married Hon. Frederick Charles Howard (1840–1893), the son of Henry Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. Together they had:
   1. Gordon Howard, 5th Earl of Effingham (1873–1946).
   2. Capt. Hon. Algernon George Mowbray Frederick Howard (1874–1950)
4. George Finch-Hatton, Viscount Maidstone (1852–1879),^[4] died aged 27 with no children

After her death in March 1878, he married Lady Elizabeth Georgiana, daughter of Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham, in 1882. There were no children from this marriage.

Lord Winchilsea died in June 1887, aged 72. As his only son, George Finch-Hatton, Viscount Maidstone, had predeceased him, he was succeeded in his titles by his half-brother, Murray Finch-Hatton.^[5] Lady Winchilsea died in February 1904. Lord Winchilsea, his son and his second wife are buried in the cemetery of the now ruined church of St Mary the Virgin at Eastwell Park.

References

1. The Duke of Richmond and Another v. Calisher. In The Times, Wednesday 2 February 1870, p. 11.
2. Court of Bankruptcy. In Re The Earl Of Winchilsea. In The Times, Thursday 6 October 1870, p. 11.
3. Lundy, Darryl. "George James Finch, 11th Earl of Winchilsea". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
4. "Viscount Maidstone". The Cornishman (31). 13 February 1879. p. 6.
5. "Viscount Maidstone". The Cornishman (31). 13 February 1879. p. 6.

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham