Christopher Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl of Winchilsea

The Earl of Winchilsea
Born	Christopher Guy Heneage Finch-Hatton 2 August 1911
Died	7 March 1950 (aged 38)
Predecessor	Guy Finch-Hatton
Successor	Christopher Finch-Hatton
Heir	Christopher Finch-Hatton
Spouse(s)	Countess Gladys Széchényi Sárvár-Felsövidék (m. 1935-1945; div.) Agnes Mary Conroy (m. 1946-1950; his death)
Parents	Guy Finch-Hatton Margaretta Armstrong Drexel

Christopher Guy Heneage Finch-Hatton (2 August 1911 – 7 March 1950) was the 15th Earl of Winchilsea and 10th Earl of Nottingham. He acceded to the titles in 1939 on the death of his father, Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea. His mother was Margaretta Armstrong Drexel, the daughter of banker Anthony Joseph Drexel of Philadelphia.^[1]

Early life

Finch-Hatton was born on 2 August 1911 to Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea (1885–1939) and his wife Margaretta Armstrong Drexel (1885–1952), the daughter of banker Anthony J. Drexel Jr. (1864-1934) of Philadelphia.^[1] His paternal grandfather was Henry Finch-Hatton, 13th Earl of Winchilsea (1852–1927), and his great-grandfather was Admiral Sir Henry Codrington (1808–1877), a captain who provided refuge on board ship for Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his family who were fleeing from revolutionary forces and then commanded the HMS Royal George in the Baltic Sea during the Crimean War. Codrington went on to be Admiral superintendent of Malta Dockyard and then Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. His maternal great-grandfather was Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826–1893), the founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co., along with J. P. Morgan, in New York in 1871, as well as the founder of Drexel University in 1891.^[2][3]

Personal life

On 10 July 1935, he married fellow half-American, Countess Gladys Széchényi Sárvár-Felsövidék (1913–1978), daughter of Count László Széchényi Sárvár-Felsövidék (1879-1938) and Gladys Moore Vanderbilt (1886-1965).^[4] Vanderbilt was the seventh and youngest child of Alice Claypoole Gwynne (1845-1934) and Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899), the president and chairman of the New York Central Railroad, and grew up in the family home on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and their summer "cottage," The Breakers (built in 1893) in Newport, Rhode Island.^[5] Before divorcing in March of 1945,^[6] Finch-Hatton and Széchenyi had two sons:

• Christopher Denys Stormont Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of Winchilsea (1936–1999), who in 1962 married Shirley Hatfield, daughter of Bernard Hatfield.^[7]
• Hon. Robin Heneage Finch-Hatton (born 1939), who in 1962 married Molly Iona Powell, daughter of Colonel Palgrave Dawson Turner Powell.^[8]

On 17 June 1946 he married for the second time to Agnes Mary Conroy, daughter of Patrick Joseph Conroy at the Corpus Christi Church in London.^[6] He died on 7 March 1950 at age 38^[9] and was succeeded by his son Christopher.

See also

• Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea
• Christopher Finch-Hatton, 16th Earl of Winchilsea
• Daniel Finch-Hatton, 17th Earl of Winchilsea

References

1. Lundy, Darryl. "Henry Stormont Finch-Hatton, 13th Earl of Winchilsea". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
2. Rottenberg, Dan (2001). The Man Who Made Wall Street: Anthony J. Drexel and the Rise of Modern Finance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1966-X.
3. White, Theo B. (1975). Fairmount: Philadelphia's Park. Philadelphia, PA: The Art Alliance Press. p. 94. ISBN 0879820152.
4. "Gladys Szechenyi Becomes Bride Of Viscount Maidstone in London: Nobility and Ambassadors of Many Countries Attend Brilliant Church Ceremony — Both Are Members of Prominent European and American Families.". The New York Times. July 12, 1935. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
5. Vanderbilt II, Arthur T. (1989). Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-07279-8.
6. "LORD WINCHILSEA, DREXEL KIN, WEDS: 15th Earl Marries in London Mary A. Conroy, Daughter of Fruit Merchant". The New York Times. June 18, 1946. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
7. Philip, A B (8 July 1999). "Obituary: The Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham". The Independent. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
8. "Robin Heneage Finch-Hatton". www.thepeerage.com. The Peerage. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
9. "Christopher Guy Heneage Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl of Winchilsea".