Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham

Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea PC (2 July 1647  1 January 1730) was an English Tory politician and peer who supported the Hanoverian Succession in 1714. Through his great granddaughter Lady Charlotte Cavendish, he was the ancestor of King Charles III.

The Earl of Nottingham
Lord President of the Council
In office
23 September 1714  6 July 1716
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byThe Duke of Buckingham and Normanby
Succeeded byThe Duke of Devonshire
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office
1702–1704
MonarchAnne
Preceded byThe Earl of Manchester
Succeeded bySir Charles Hedges
Secretary of State for the Northern Department
In office
1692–1693
MonarchsWilliam III and Mary II
Preceded byThe Viscount Sydney of Sheppey
Succeeded bySir John Trenchard
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office
1690–1693
MonarchsWilliam III and Mary II
Preceded byThe Earl of Shrewsbury
Succeeded bySir John Trenchard
Secretary of State for the Northern Department
In office
1689–1690
MonarchsWilliam III and Mary II
Preceded byThe Viscount Preston
Succeeded byThe Viscount Sydney of Sheppey
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
1681–1684
MonarchJames II
Preceded bySir Henry Capell
Succeeded byCharles II
Personal details
Born2 July 1647
London, England
Died1 January 1730(1730-01-01) (aged 82)
Burley on the Hill
England
Spouses
  • (m. 1674; died 1684)
  • (m. 1685)
Childrenat least 13, including
Parents
Arms of Finch: Argent, a chevron between three griffins passant sable

Origins

He was born on 2 July 1647, the son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham (1620-1682), Lord Chancellor of England, by his wife Elizabeth Harvey, a daughter of Daniel Harvey.[1] His great grandmother was Elizabeth Finch, 1st Countess of Winchilsea.

Education

Little is known about his upbringing. He entered Westminster School in 1658, where he boarded for three years at the house of Dr. Richard Busby, the headmaster and his father's former tutor at Christ Church, Oxford. Daniel also went to Christ Church and the excellence of his studies made his father doubt their authenticity. He matriculated at Christ Church as a Gentleman Commoner on 26 July 1662.[2]

In April 1663, his father wrote to him, advising that he "loose not the reputation which I am told you have gayn'd of diligence and sobriety".[3] His father also advised him a month after he had arrived in Oxford "to frequent the publique prayers, and study to reverence and defend, as well as to obey, the Church of England" and when his first Easter away from home was approaching, he wrote, "Nothing can make you truly wise but such a religion as dwells upon your heart and governs your whole life". However, Finch suffered from illness and it may be due to this that he left Oxford without graduating.[4]

Finch went on his Grand Tour from 1665 to 1668, visiting Frankfurt, Munich, Venice, Florence, Naples, Rome and Paris.[5] After he returned to England he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society and his cousin Sir Roger Twysden wrote to Finch's father that "every body speaks him a very gentleman, and one you and your lady are likely to have much comfort in".[6]

Career

Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, c. 1720

Daniel Finch entered parliament for Lichfield in 1679. In 1682 he succeeded his father as Earl of Nottingham. He was one of the privy councillors who in 1685 signed the order for the proclamation of the Duke of York, but during the whole of the reign of James II, he kept away from the court. At the last moment, he hesitated to join in the invitation to William of Orange and after the flight of James II, he was the leader of the party who were in favour of James being King in name and William being regent.[7]

He declined the office of Lord Chancellor under William and Mary, but accepted that of Secretary of State, retaining it until December 1693. Under Queen Anne in 1702, he again accepted the same office in the ministry of Lord Godolphin, but finally retired in 1704.[7]

In 1711, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Tory ministry of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford was attempting to negotiate peace with France. On 7 December Finch moved the 'No peace without Spain' amendment to the vote of thanks, which condemned any peace with France that left Spain and the West Indies in possession of a member of the House of Bourbon. Finch spoke for one hour and declared that "though he had fourteen children, he would submit to live upon five hundred pounds a year rather than consent to those dark and unknown conditions of peace".[8]

Burley on the Hill Mansion viewed from Stamford Road.

Nottingham built Burley on the hill mansion in Rutland, he was to a large extent his own architect and involved himself in the minutiae of its construction, before embarking on the project, Lord Nottingham consulted Sir Christopher Wren, but instead employed Henry Dormer (died 1727) just to supervise its building. It was completed in 1705, but he and his large family moved in before its completion.[9][10][11]

On the accession of King George I he was made Lord President of the Council but in 1716 he finally withdrew from office. On 9 September 1729, he succeeded to the title Earl of Winchilsea after his 2nd cousin John Finch, 6th Earl of Winchilsea died unmarried. Nottingham was reluctant to receive the superior title due to his own familial pride with the Nottingham title, so he combined the title (henceforth became united with his paternal title of Earl of Nottingham). he died on 1 January 1730 on Burley on the hill.[7]

Marriages and issue

He married twice:

Lady Essex Rich, portrait by studio of Peter Lely
Portrait of Anne Hatton by Jonathan Richardson, circa 1726

Assessment by Macaulay

Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 1747, by Jacobus Houbraken

The Whig historian Lord Macaulay said of Lord Nottingham in 1848:[20]

This son, Earl Daniel, was an honourable and virtuous man. Though enslaved by some absurd prejudices, and though liable to strange fits of caprice, he cannot be accused of having deviated from the path of right in search either of unlawful gain or of unlawful pleasure. Like his father he was a distinguished speaker, impressive, but prolix, and too monotonously solemn. The person of the orator was in perfect harmony with his oratory. His attitude was rigidly erect: his complexion so dark that he might have passed for a native of a warmer climate than ours; and his harsh features were composed to an expression resembling that of a chief mourner at a funeral. It was commonly said that he looked rather like a Spanish grandee than like an English gentleman. The nicknames of Dismal, Don Dismallo, and Don Diego, were fastened on him by jesters, and are not yet forgotten. He had paid much attention to the science by which his family had been raised to greatness, and was, for a man born to rank and wealth, wonderfully well read in the laws of his country. He was a devoted son of the Church, and showed his respect for her in two ways not usual among those Lords who in his time boasted that they were her especial friends, by writing tracts in defence of her dogmas, and by shaping his private life according to her precepts. Like other zealous churchmen, he had, till recently, been a strenuous supporter of monarchical authority. But to the policy which had been pursued since the suppression of the Western insurrection he was bitterly hostile, and not the less so because his younger brother Heneage had been turned out of the office of Solicitor General for refusing to defend the King's dispensing power.

Notes

  1. Henry Horwitz, Revolution Politicks. The Career of Daniel Finch, Second Earl of Nottingham, 1647–1730 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968), p. 2.
  2. Horwitz, pp. 2–3.
  3. Horwitz, p. 3.
  4. Horwitz, p. 4.
  5. Horwitz, pp. 4–5.
  6. Horwitz, p. 6.
  7. Chisholm 1911, p. 825.
  8. Horwitz, p. 232.
  9. "Burley House, Burley on the Hill". Leicestershire and Rutland Gardens Trust. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  10. Howlett, Sue. "Burley on the hill".
  11. Record, Rutland. "Heritage on the hill" (PDF).
  12. ODNB, "Daniel Finch"
  13. Burke's Peerage (1939), s.v. Roxburghe.
  14. "TWO AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED ("MARIE R"), TO ANNE, COUNTESS OF NOTTINGHAM". Sothebys.
  15. "FINCH, Hon. Henry (?1694-1761). | History of Parliament Online".
  16. The Register of Marriages in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1723-1754. 15 August 1746.
  17. Kinross, Lord
  18. Kinross, Lord
  19. 44 Berkeley Square, A Commentary by Lord Kinross Illustrated by Adrian Daintrey, London, 1962
  20. Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second. Popular Edition in Two Volumes. Volume I (London: Longmans, 1889), p. 449.

References

  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nottingham, Earls of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 824–825.
  • Henry Horwitz, Revolution Politicks. The Career of Daniel Finch, Second Earl of Nottingham, 1647–1730 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968).
  • Henry Horwitz, Finch, Daniel, second earl of Nottingham and seventh earl of Winchilsea (1647–1730), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2009, accessed 30 January 2011.
  • Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second. Popular Edition in Two Volumes (London: Longmans, 1889).
  • Burke's Peerage (1939 edition), s.v. Winchilsea
  • Pearl Finch, "History of Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland", Volume 1 (London: J. Bale,Sons & Danielsson Ltd, 1901)
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