Heneage Finch (speaker)

Sir Heneage Finch (1580 – 5 December 1631) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1607 and 1626. He was Speaker of the English House of Commons in 1626.

Sir Heneage Finch

Finch was the son of Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet of Eastwell, Kent and his wife Elizabeth Finch, 1st Countess of Winchilsea. He matriculated into Trinity College, Cambridge in about 1592 and was awarded BA in 1596. He was admitted at Inner Temple in 1597 and called to the bar in 1606.

In 1607 Finch was elected Member of Parliament for Rye. He became Recorder of London in 1621 and held the post until his death in 1631. Also in 1621 he was elected MP for West Looe. He was knighted on 22 June 1623 and became sergeant-at-law.

In 1624, Finch was elected MP for the City of London. He was re-elected MP for the CIty of London in 1625 and in 1626 and was chosen to serve as Speaker of the House for his last term in 1626.

Finch died at the age of 51 and was buried at Ravenstone, Buckinghamshire.

Finch had seven sons and four daughters. One of his sons 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.