Earl of Aylesford

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Earl of Aylesford, in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1714 for the lawyer and politician Heneage Finch. He had already been created Baron Guernsey in the Peerage of England in 1703. Finch was the younger son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham and the great-grandson of Elizabeth Heneage, 1st Countess of Winchilsea. Lord Aylesford's eldest son, the second Earl, represented Maidstone and Surrey in Parliament. In 1712 he married Mary Fisher, daughter of Sir Clement Fisher, 3rd Bt. Through this marriage Packington Hall in Warwickshire came into the Finch family. Their son, the third Earl, sat as a Member of Parliament for Leicestershire and Maidstone. His eldest son, the fourth Earl, represented Castle Rising and Maidstone in the House of Commons, and after entering the House of Lords on his father's death, served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1783 to 1804 and as Lord Steward of the Household from 1804 to 1812. His second but eldest surviving son, the fifth Earl, was a Tory Member of Parliament for Weobly. His son, the sixth Earl, represented South Warwickshire in Parliament as a Conservative. His grandson, the tenth Earl, assumed by Royal license his grandmother's maiden surname of Knightley in addition to that of Finch. His son, the eleventh Earl, served as Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands and was succeeded by his own son in 2008. As a descendant of the first Countess of Winchilsea and the first Earl of Nottingham, he is also in remainder to these titles, which since 1729 are united under a single holder.

The family seat is Packington Hall in Warwickshire.

[edit] Earls of Aylesford (1714)

  • Heir apparent: Heneage James Daniel Finch-Knightley, styled Lord Guernsey (b. 29 April 1985)
  • Heirs presumptive to the earldom are limited to the following:
    • Heir presumptive to heir apparent: Charles Edward Ifan Wynne Finch (b. 1929), High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1963; descendant of Hon. Charles Finch, a younger son of the 3rd Earl of Aylesford (d. 1777) by his wife Lady Charlotte Seymour[5]; married 1967 to Rosemary Dorothea Austin [a descendant of the Earls of Scarbrough], and has issue, including one son.[6]
    • Heir apparent to heir presumptive: David Heneage Wynne-Finch (b. 1970), who is married to Henrietta Thring, with three daughters.[7] [8][9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Charles Coventry was the father of Francis Henry Coventry, 12th Earl of Coventry (1912-2004) who succeeded to the title in 2002, and died leaving no sons. He was succeeded by an elderly first cousin living in Canada, born 1917. Francis was younger brother of Pamela, Countess of Aylesford (d. 1990).
  2. ^ Darryl Landy. "Charles Daniel Finch-Knightley, 10th Earl of Aylesford" The Peerage. Last edited 31 March 2007, and retrieved 24 February 2008. According to Landy, his name was changed in 1912 from Finch to Finch-Knightley, which has remained the family name of the Earls of Aylesford since 28 May 1940.
  3. ^ Michael Rhodes. 11th Earl of Aylesford (1918-2008) Peerage_News on Google Groups, 22 February 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  4. ^ Darryl Landy. "Heneage Charles Finch-Knightley, Lord Guernsey"The Peerage. Last edited 26 February 2004, and retrieved 24 February 2008.
  5. ^ This Charles Finch married Jane Wynne, daughter of Watkin Wynne, in December 1778. Their son was Charles Wynne Griffith-Wynne, MP, father of Charles Wynne-Finch, MP for Caernarvonshire (1815-1874}, and ancestor of the subsequent Wynne-Finches of Voelas, Denbighshire (now Voelas, Caernarvonshire).
  6. ^ Darryl Landy. Charles Edward Ifan Wynne-Finch The Peerage. Last edited 22 May 2004, and retrieved 24 February 2008.
  7. ^ Brooke. "The Earldom of Aylesford" Peerage_News on Google Groups, 22 December 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  8. ^ Michael Rhodes. "Florence Manon Wynne Finch" Peerage_News on Google Groups, 21 October 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2008. Rhodes and other posters list the daughters as born in 2002, 2004, and September 2006. Their mother is Henrietta Thring
  9. ^ Paul Theroff. "Descendants of King James VI & I Part One". Retrieved 24 February 2008
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