Lady Charlotte Finch

Who was Lady Charlotte Finch?

Lady Charlotte Finch was governess of the children of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, King and Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. She was the daughter of Thomas Fermor, 1st Earl of Pomfret, and Henrietta Louisa Jeffreys. Charlotte, on 9 August 1746, married the Hon. William Finch, to whom she bore four children. She was sworn in as royal governess the day succeeding the birth of her first charge, George, Prince of Wales. Shortly after her selection, William began to lose his mind. Fearing for her safety, she abandoned her husband, bringing with her their children, for an apartment in St. James's Palace and a small house in Kew.

An enthusiastic botanist, Lady Charlotte's tenure as governess to the royal children spanned over 30 years. Princess Amelia - whom Lady Charlotte left without a governess by her November 1792 resignation - was thereafter raised by one her mother's attendants.

She died in June 1813. Her memorial, by Chantrey is in Holy Cross Church, Burley. Her most notable child was George Finch, who succeeded his uncle as Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham in 1769.