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Harold Finch-Hatton

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The Honourable
Harold Finch-Hatton
The Hon. Harold Finch Hatton seated
Member of Parliament
for Newark
In office
1895–1898
Personal details
Born23 August 1856
Eastwell Park, Kent, England
Died16 May 1904
London, England
Political partyConservative
Parent(s)George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea
Fanny Royd Rice

The Hon. Harold Heneage Finch-Hatton (23 August 1856 – 16 May 1904)[1] was a British politician and Australian federationist.

Early life

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Finch-Hatton was born in Eastwell Park, Kent, England,[1] the fourth son of George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea and his wife Fanny Margaretta, daughter of Edward Royd Rice of Dane Court, Kent and Elizabeth Austen Knight (niece of Jane Austen).[2] He was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford, and at 19 years of age went to Queensland to visit his brother Henry Finch-Hatton.[1] He took up land in the Mackay district and later worked on the Nebo goldfields. Returning to England in 1883 he published in 1885 an account of his travels Advance Australia! (2nd ed. 1886).[3]

Royal St. David’s Golf Club

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Royal St. David’s Golf Club was founded by keen golfer Finch-Hatton before it was updated and extended by the acclaimed Fred Hawtree. the Prince of Wales was club captain in 1934, before being crowned King Edward VIII and granting the club his royal patronage[4] The gold course that Finch-Hatton laid out with help from William Henry More in 1894 serves as the bones for the course that is played today. The golf course overlooking great dunes to the west, to the north Snowdon Mountain, the tallest peak in both Wales and England and to the east the 13th century Harlech Castle built by Edward I.[5][6]

"Advance Australia!" publication

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Finch-Hatton's written recollections of his eight years around the Mackay area of Queensland is an account of British colonial life in the Antipodes.[7][8] According to The Times in 1904 this book was written in an entertaining way, but his statements about the Aborigines and his views on Australian politicians must be accepted with caution.[9]

Politics

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Finch-Hatton was an unsuccessful candidate for the British House of Commons in 1885, 1886 and 1892, but was returned as a Conservative for Newark in 1895. He resigned in 1898 on account of disagreement with the policy of his party of making concessions made to the Liberal Unionists.[1] He was one of the founders of the Imperial Federation League, and when the North Queensland Separation League was formed he was appointed chairman of the London committee. He also worked for the development of the Pacific route to Australia, and was secretary to the Pacific Telegraph Company for the formation of a line from Vancouver Island to Australia.[1]

Later life

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Harlech Castle, from Twgwyn Ferry, Summer's Evening Twilight by J. M. W. Turner, 1799.

When not in London he henceforth lived at Harlech, and in 1903 was high sheriff of Merionethshire. Highly skilled in field sports, a good rifle shot and keen huntsman, he excelled at golf, often competing for the amateur championship. He could also throw the boomerang 'like a black.'[10]

A painting of Harlech bought by Finch-Hatton turned out to be a lost oil painting by J. M. W. Turner, the painting was exhibited in 1903.[11][12]

He died suddenly of heart failure at his own doorstep at 110 Piccadilly, on 16 May 1904.[1][3] 'After having completed the last of his morning runs round the park.' He was buried in Ewerby churchyard, Lincolnshire.[10]

He was unmarried.[9] He left an estate worth £19,000 between Elizabeth Inglis Davis, wife of a settler living in Mount Carmel, Victoria and his nephew Hon. Denys Finch-Hatton. As the settler's wife had predeceased him and his nephew was still not of age, the bulk of his estate went to his older brother Henry, 13th Earl of Winchilsea.[8]

Legacy

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The town of Finch Hatton, Queensland in Australia is believed to be named after him.[13]

Publications

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  • Finch-Hatton, Harold (1886), Advance Australia! : an account of eight years' work, wandering, and amusement, in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria (2nd ed.), W.H. Allen — available online

Ancestry

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Coat of arms of the Finch-Hatton (combination of the previous Hatton and Finch coat of arms)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f D. P. Crook, David Denholm (1972). "Finch-Hatton, Harold Heneage (1856–1904)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4. MUP. p. 168. Archived from the original on 28 July 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
  2. ^ "A Watercolour of Jane Austen". The Rice Portrait of Jane Austen. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Family Notices". The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946). Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 21 May 1904. p. 36. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Across the drawbridge: castles & golf • Kingdom Magazine". Kingdom Magazine. 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Royal St. David's Golf Club Gwynedd, Wales, United Kingdom". Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  6. ^ "History". Royal St. David’s Golf Club. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  7. ^ Finch-Hatton, Harold (1885). Advance Australia!. Pall Mall: Allen & Co. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  8. ^ a b "The Harold Finch-Hatton Website". www.mackayhistory.org. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  9. ^ a b Serle, Percival (1949). "Finch-Hatton, Harold Heneage". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  10. ^ a b Norgate, Gerald le Grys (1912). "Finch-Hatton, Harold Heneage" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  11. ^ Truth. 1903.
  12. ^ Spielmann, Marion Harry (1903). The Magazine of Art. Petter and Gallpin.
  13. ^ "Finch Hatton (entry 12437)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Newark
1895 – 1898 		Succeeded by
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