Elizabeth Finch, 1st Countess of Winchilsea
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| Countess of Winchilsea | |
 Portrait of Finch, by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, c. 1600, formerly among the Lenthall pictures. | |
| Successor | Thomas Finch, 2nd Earl of Winchilsea |
| Born | Elizabeth Heneage 9 July 1556 England |
| Died | 23 March 1634 (aged 77) England |
| Nationality | English |
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Elizabeth Finch, née Heneage, 1st Countess of Winchilsea (9 July 1556 – 23 March 1634) was an English peeress.
Early life
Elizabeth was born on 9 July 1556.[1] She was the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Heneage, who was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in the latter years of the reign of Elizabeth I. Her mother was the former Anne Poyntz, daughter of Sir Nicholas Poyntz and Joan (née Berkeley) Poyntz.[2]
After her mother's death in 1593, her father remarried to Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton on 2 May 1594.[3]
Personal life
At sixteen years old, she was married to Moyle Finch (c. 1550–1614) on 14 November 1572. Moyle was the eldest surviving son of Sir Thomas Finch and the brother of Henry Finch.[3] Together, they were the parents of six children:
- Theophilius Finch (1573–1619), later 2nd Baronet.[4]
- Heneage Finch (b. 1576), who died young.[4]
- Hon. Thomas Finch (1578–1639), later 2nd Earl of Winchilsea.[4]
- Hon. Sir Heneage Finch (1580–1631), later Speaker of the House of Commons.[4]
- Hon. Francis Finch (b. c. 1585), a barrister.[4]
- Lady Catherine Finch, who married Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet of Gosfield (c. 1583–1631).[4]
Soon after their marriage, her husband became a politician, serving as a Member of Parliament for Weymouth between 1576 and 1584, for Kent in 1593 and for Winchelsea in 1601. He served as High Sheriff of Kent in 1596 and 1605. He was knighted in 1584, and awarded a baronetcy in 1611. When Sir Moyle died in 1614, Elizabeth and her sons made considerable efforts to have the family's status elevated and almost nine years later, James I created her Viscountess Maidstone, with a remainder to her heirs male. In 1628, she was further elevated by Charles I as Countess of Winchilsea. On her death in 1634, her titles passed to her eldest surviving son, Sir Thomas (who had already inherited his elder brother's baronetcy in 1619).[4]
Elizabeth and Sir Moyle are depicted in repose in a monument commemorating members of the Finch family, sculpted by Nicolas Stone c. 1630. The piece was created after Sir Moyle's death during Elizabeth's lifetime, and is now displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. It was originally in the church of St Mary, Eastwell, Kent, which became a ruin in the 1950s and is now owned by the Friends of Friendless Churches.
Descendants
Through her son Heaneage, she was a grandmother of seven boys and four girls. One of her grandsons was Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham. His daughter Anne married Edward Conway, Viscount Conway, and was a philosopher in the tradition of the Cambridge Platonists and an influence on Leibniz. His daughter Frances married Sir Clifford Clifton, MP.[4]
References
- ^ Winchilsea, Anne Kingsmill Finch Countess of (1902). The Poems of Anne, Countess of Winchilsea: From the Original Edition of 1713 and from Unpublished Manuscripts. University of Chicago Press. p. 40. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online ed.). Oxford: British Academy, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198614128. OCLC 56568095.
- ^ a b Courthope, William (1839). Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: With Additions to the Present Time and a New Set of Coats of Arms from Drawings by Harvey. J. G. & F. Rivington. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Winchilsea, Earl of (E, 1628)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
External links
- Monument to Sir Moyle Finch and to Elizabeth Countess of Winchilsea at the Victoria and Albert Museum
References
- Earls of Winchilsea
- Created suo jure peeresses
- Peers of England created by James I
- 1556 births
- 1634 deaths
- Finch-Hatton family
- 16th-century English women
- English countesses
- 16th-century English nobility
- 17th-century English women
- 17th-century English people
- 17th-century English nobility
- Heneage family
- Wives of baronets