Edward Finch

Who was Edward Finch?

Edward Finch-Hatton was a diplomat and politician.

He was born Hon. Edward Finch, 5th son of Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham and of Hon. Anne Hatton daughter and in her issue sole heiress of Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton. He was educated at a school at Isleworth and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained an M.A. in 1718. He then went on the Grand Tour from 1720 to 1723, visiting France, Italy and Hanover.

In 1724, he commenced a diplomatic career, representing Great Britain as envoy-extraordinary to the imperial diet of Regensburg in the winter of 1724 to 1725, then successively as Minister to Poland, Sweden and Russia between 1725 and 1742, spending the longest period as minister in Stockholm, from 1728 to 1739. On his return to England he was appointed as groom of the royal bedchamber, a post he held despite changes of government until 1756. He became Master of the Robes in June 1757 and surveyor of the king's private roads in November 1760.

He served as Member of Parliament for Cambridge University from 1727 until he retired from public life in 1768. In 1764, he took the additional surname Hatton in accordance with the will of his great aunt Anne Hatton, on inheriting property from her. He married Elizabeth Palmer, daughter of Sir Thomas Palmer, 4th Baronet, of Wingham on 9 September 1746. They had two sons and three daughters. The eldest son George Finch-Hatton became an MP, and his son George Finch-Hatton succeeded as 10th Earl of Winchilsea and 5th Earl of Nottingham.