Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea

Jennifer Donald (University of Glasgow)

Ed. by Janet Todd, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

Born Apr 1661
Died 5 Aug 1720
Activity 1683-1720

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Anne Finch was born in April 1661 (the month of Charles II's coronation) at Sydmonton, Hampshire into the affluent Kingsmill family. Sir William Kingsmill died five months after his daughter's birth but guaranteed her independence as an adult with a bequest of £1500, to be paid when she was twenty-one. Finch's mother, Anne Haslewood Kingsmill, subsequently remarried; however, her death soon afterwards in 1664 resulted in a legal battle over the custody of her three children and management of the Kingsmill estates. The Court of Chancery suit was resolved in favour of the three Kingsmill children, Bridget, William and Anne, and the girls were sent to London to live with their grandmother Lady Kingsmill. After Lady Kingsmill's death, …

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2042 words

Citation: Donald, Jennifer. "Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 June 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1531, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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