Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea

Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, (24 May 16892 August 1769) was a British politician.

Origins

Styled by the courtesy title Lord Finch until 1730, he was the eldest son and heir of Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham of Burley, by his second wife Anne Hatton, a daughter of Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton. His father was a prominent Tory politician who had been one of the few leading Tories to actively support the Hanoverian succession.

Career In 1710 he was elected (as Lord Finch and aged 21), as a Member of Parliament for Rutland and served as Comptroller of the Royal Household from 1725 to 1730. He held the seat until he succeeded to the Earldom in 1730 (necessitating his move to the House of Lords). In 1739 he supported the founding of the Foundling Hospital in London, a charity providing home and education for some of the capital's many abandoned children, and was one of the original governors.

Although his father had been a supporter of Walpole, Winchilsea became instead a supporter of Lord Carteret in the so-called "Patriot Opposition". When Carteret became leading minister in 1742, Winchilsea joined him, becoming First Lord of the Admiralty (1742–1744). Later on, he allied himself with the Duke of Newcastle and the Old Whigs, and served as Lord President of the Council in the Rockingham (his nephew) administration (1765–1766). He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1752. Lady Mary Finch (b. 7 December 1739); Lady Frances Finch (b. 24 October 1740); Lady Heneage Finch (1 December 1741 –1820), who in 1788 married (as his second wife) Maj.-Gen. Sir George Osborn, 4th Baronet; Lady Georgina Finch (b. 10 July 1744); Lady Essex Finch (b. 1 January 1746); Lady Hatton Finch (23 February 1747 –1829), who died unmarried; who died unmarried. He left his Kentish properties, including Eastwell Park, to his other nephew George Finch-Hatton, son of his brother Edward Finch.