(1689 - 1769), 1st surv. s. of 2nd E. of Nottingham and 7th E. of Winchilsea; sty. Ld. Finch 1701 - 30 when suc. fa. as 3rd and 8th E.; educ. Westminster and Ch.Ch. Oxf. 1704; MP 1710 - 30; m. 1 1729 Ldy. Frances Feilding (d. 1734), dau. of 4th E. of Denbigh, 2 1738 Mary Palmer; KG 1752.
1709 - 11 Genoa (1709), Florence (autumn 1709), Venice (by 21 Feb. 1710), Padua (25 Mar.), Rome (May - Sep.), Florence (by 10 Oct. 1710), Genoa (spring 1711)
'A youth of much modesty, virtue and sweetness of temper' (CP), and one particularly interested in opera, he travelled with his tutor Anthony Twyman.1 He was in Genoa in 1709 where he saw Orlandini's L'odio e l'amore, one of several librettos he bought. In Florence that autumn he saw and bought the libretto of Nicolo Fago's Radamisto. In February 1710 Finch and his cousin Lord Hatton arrived in Venice to see 'the last of the Carnivall'2 and his accounts record one visit to the opera. The cousins were in Padua on 25 March.3 From May to September Finch stayed in Rome, keeping two musicians as part of his household. In October Finch was 'Nobly presented by the Grand Duke, & served with his Coaches' in Florence.4 In the spring of 1711 he returned to Genoa as guest of the British envoy, William Chetwynd, and attended several operas. Finch may not have returned to England until 1712; he later became a director of the Royal Academy of Music.
1. SP 99/58, f.88 (Cole, 21 Feb. 1710). See Gibson 1987, 148, and Gibson 1989, 95 - 6 (with ref. to Finch's travel accts., Finch MSS, Acc.6). 2. SP 99/58, f.88 (Cole, 21 Feb. 1710). 3. Brown 1366 - 7. 4. SP 99/58, f.248 (Broughton, 10 Oct. 1710).