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George Finch (politician, born 1794)

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Burley House, Rutland

George Somerset Finch ( Thompson 1794 – 29 June 1870), of Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland, was a British landowner and politician.

Background

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Finch was the illegitimate son of George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea and Mrs Phoebe Thompson and was educated at Harrow School (1805–11), Trinity College, Cambridge (1811)[1] In 1808 he was granted a licence to use the Finch arms.[2] On his father's death in 1826, the title went to his father's first cousin 10th Earl of Winchilsea, but the large Finch estate was not entailed, thus the estate that should have went with the title instead was able to be given to him despite his illegitimacy, therefore he inherited substantial estates including the Earls of Winchilsea seat at Burley-on-the-Hill House near Oakham, Rutland and a large fortune. His estate generated an income of £29,000 a year.[3]

Political career

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Finch sat as Member of Parliament for Lymington between 1820 and 1821, for Stamford between 1832 and 1837 and for Rutland between 1846 and 1847.[4]

He was High Sheriff of Rutland for 1829–30.[4]

Family

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Finch was twice married. He married firstly, Jane, daughter of Vice-Admiral John Richard Delap Tollemache, in 1819. After her early death in 1821[2] he married secondly Lady Louisa, daughter of Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, in 1832, with whom he had 2 sons and 2 daughters.

Finch died in June 1870. Lady Louisa survived him by over twenty years and died in August 1892. Burley House passed to his son George, who was also a politician.[4]

Burley House from the garden

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Finch (formerly Thompson), George (FNC811G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 18 February 2024. missing name.
  2. ^ a b and the Middle Temple (1817).The Finch family at clutch.open.ac.uk
  3. ^ Bateman, John (1883). The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland; a list of all owners of three thousand acres and upwards ... also, one thousand three hundred owners of two thousand acres and upwards in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, their acreage and income from land culled from The modern Domesday book . Robarts - University of Toronto. London, Harrison.
  4. ^ a b c "FINCH, George (1794-1870), of Burley-on-the-Hill, nr. Oakham, Rutland". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Lymington
1820–1821
With: Sir Harry Burrard-Neale, Bt
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Stamford
1832–1837
With: Thomas Chaplin
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Rutland
1846–1847
With: Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Bt
Succeeded by