This portrait by
Charles Jervas may possibly be Nottingham when older (c. 1720).
(2 July 1647 – 1 January 1730), son of
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham.
Political career
Daniel Finch entered parliament for
Lichfield in 1679. 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 abdication of James II he was the leader of the party who were in favour of a regency.
He declined the office of
Lord Chancellor under William and
Mary, but accepted that of
secretary of state, retaining it till December 1693. Under
Anne he in 1702 again accepted the same office in the ministry of
Godolphin, but finally retired in 1704. On the accession of
George I he was made
Lord President of the Council, but in 1716 he finally withdrew from office. He succeeded to the
Earldom of Winchilsea (with which the Nottingham title now became united) on
9 September 1729, and died on the
1 January 1730.
Marriages and children
Daniel first married Lady Essex Rich on
16 June 1674. Essex was daughter of
Robert Rich, 3rd Earl of Warwick and Anne Cheeke. Anne was daughter of Sir Thomas Cheeke of
Pirgo and a senior Essex Rich.
The elder Essex was daughter of
Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick and
Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich. Essex was probably named after her maternal grandfather
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. Her maternal grandmother was
Lettice Knollys.
Daniel and Essex had a single daughter: Mary Finch, later married to
John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe. Mary was also a lover of
William Savile, 2nd Marquess of Halifax, mother of Dorothy Saville, who married
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington.
left|thumb|upright|Portrait of Anne Hatton by [[Jonathan Richardson (painter)|Jonathan Richardson, circa 1726]]
Daniel was secondly married on 29 December 1685 to Anne Hatton, daughter of
Christopher Hatton, Viscount Hatton. They had ten children:
- John Finch (before 1743 - 1763), who left a daughter.
