John Finch (1st Baron Finch)

“Sir John Finch, 1584-1660, Speaker of the House of Commons in 1628; Attorney-General to Queen Henrietta Maria in 1635 ; the following year promoted to be Judge of the Common Pleas ; afterwards Lord Chief Justice ; thence promoted to be Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in 1637 ; and in April, 1640, advanced to the peerage as Baron Finch, of Fordwich.” –AD.

Finch presided over the trial of John Hampden, who resisted the payment of ship money, and was chiefly responsible for the decision of the judges that ship-money was constitutional. As a reward for his services he was, in 1640, appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and was also created Baron Finch, of Fordwich. He had, however, become so unpopular that one of the first acts of the Long Parliament, which met in the same year was his impeachment. His estates were sequestrated and he took refuge in Holland.

Referring entries

• Sir John Fotherbee
• Sunday 22 August 1641
• Monday 26 July 1641

<ul>
<li><a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Finch,_1st_Baron_Finch</a></li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>Wikipedia for background</li>
</ul>