Up for auction a RARE! "4th Earl of Aylesford" Heneage Finch Clipped Signature.
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Heneage
Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford, PC, FRS, FSA (4
July 1751 – 21 October 1812), styled Lord Guernsey between
1757 and 1777, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1772 to 1777 when he succeeded to
a peerage. He was also a landscape artist. Aylesford was the son
of Heneage
Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford, and Lady Charlotte Finch, daughter
of Charles
Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. He was born at his paternal
grandfather's residence, Syon House, near London. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. Aylesford
was returned to parliament for Castle
Rising in 1772, a seat he held until 1774, and then
represented Maidstone until
1777,when he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. He was a Lord of the Bedchamber to George III between
1777 and 1783. The latter year he was sworn of the Privy
Council and appointed Captain of the Yeomen of
the Guard[4] by William Pitt the Younger.
He retained this office until 1804, the last three years under the premiership
of Henry
Addington. When Pitt resumed office in 1804, Aylesford was
made Lord Steward of the Household.
He continued in this office until his death in 1812, under successively Lord
Grenville, the Duke of Portland and Spencer Perceval. Aylesford also held the honorary position
of High Steward of Sutton
Coldfield from 1796 until his death. Apart from his political career Lord
Aylesford was an artist of some repute in the British landscape
tradition. Tate Britain has
50 watercolours, drawings and prints by Finch in its collection.
In 1795 an Album of Etchings by Lord Aylesford and Others was
published. A. P. Oppe wrote an article giving some
background and listing 85 of Aylesford's etchings titled The Fourth
Earl of Aylesford. The Print Collector's
Quarterly 1924, Vol 11, p. 263. Lord Aylesford was elected
a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1773
and was a trustee of the British Museum between 1787 and 1812.