Notes |
Anne Finch (ne?e Kingsmill), Countess of Winchilsea (April 1661 in Syd
monton, Hampshire ? 5 August 1720 in Westminster, Middlesex) was on
e of the first female English poets to be published. She was the thir
d child of Sir William Kingsmill of Sydmonton Court in Hampshire and h
is wife, Anne Haslewood. She was well educated as her family believe
d in good education for girls as well as for boys. In 1682, Anne Kings
mill went to St James's Palace to become a Maid of Honour to Mary of M
odena (wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II.) T
here she met the courtier Heneage Finch whom she married on 15 May 168
4. It was a very happy marriage and Anne wrote several love poems to h
er husband, most famous perhaps A letter to Dafnis. On 4 August 1712
, Charles Finch, 4th Earl of Winchilsea died childless. This made hi
s uncle, Anne's husband, the 5th Earl of Winchilsea, and Anne, the Cou
tess of Winchilsea. She died in Westminster in 1720 and was buried a
t her home at Eastwell in Kent. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedi
a.org/wiki/Anne_Finch,_Countess_of_Winchilsea See also: Mary Mark Ocke
bloom, A Celebration of Women Writers: Anne Finch, Countess of Winchi
lsea (1661-1720) online at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/finc
h/finch-anne.html Also a thorough review of Anne Finch's poetry and a
insightful biography can be found online at http://www.jimandellen.o
g/finch/emionch1.htm
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