Heneage Finch

Sir Heneage Finch (15 December 1580 – 5 December 1631) was an English nobleman, lawyer, Member of Parliament, and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1607 and 1626. He was Speaker of the English House of Commons in 1626. Early life Finch was born on 15 December 1580 at The Moat, his father's house near Canterbury. He was the fifth of seven sons of Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet (–1614) and the former Elizabeth Heneage (1556–1634). Among his siblings were Theophilus, Thomas and Francis Finch. His sister Anne was a noted writer who married Sir William Twysden and his sister Catherine married Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet of Gosfield. He was the second to be named after his maternal grandfather, and godparent, Sir Thomas Heneage, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household. His paternal grandfather was Sir Thomas Finch, the prominent military commander. After his father's death in 1614, his mother, Lady Finch, was elevated to the peerage in her own right as Viscountess Winchilsea in 1623 and was further honoured when she was made Countess of Winchilsea in 1628. His mother died in 1634 and was succeeded by his elder brother Thomas, who had already succeeded their eldest brother Theophilus in the baronetcy.