| Constituency Mp: | Newark |
| Term Start: | 1895 |
| Term End: | 1898 |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Birth Date: | 23 August 1856 |
| Birth Place: | Eastwell Park, Kent, England |
| Death Date: | 16 May 1904 |
| Death Place: | London, England |
| Parents: | George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea Fanny Royd Rice |
| Honorific Prefix: | The Honourable |
The Hon. Harold Heneage Finch-Hatton (23 August 1856 – 16 May 1904) was a British politician and Australian federationist.
Finch-Hatton was born in Eastwell Park, Kent, England,[1] the fourth son of George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea and his wife Fanny Margaretta, daughter of Edward Royd Rice of Dane Court, Kent and Elizabeth Austen Knight (niece of Jane Austen).[2] He was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford, and at 19 years of age went to Queensland to visit his brother Henry Finch-Hatton.[1] He took up land in the Mackay district and later worked on the Nebo goldfields. Returning to England in 1883 he published in 1885 an account of his travels Advance Australia! (2nd ed. 1886).[3]
Royal St. David’s Golf Club was founded by keen golfer Finch-Hatton before it was updated and extended by the acclaimed Fred Hawtree. the Prince of Wales was club captain in 1934, before being crowned King Edward VIII and granting the club his royal patronage[4] The gold course that Finch-Hatton laid out with help from William Henry More in 1894 serves as the bones for the course that is played today. The golf course overlooking great dunes to the west, to the north Snowdon Mountain, the tallest peak in both Wales and England and to the east the 13th century Harlech Castle built by Edward I.[5] [6]
Finch-Hatton's written recollections of his eight years around the Mackay area of Queensland is an account of British colonial life in the Antipodes.[7] [8] According to The Times in 1904 this book was written in an entertaining way, but his statements about the Aborigines and his views on Australian politicians must be accepted with caution.
Finch-Hatton was an unsuccessful candidate for the British House of Commons in 1885, 1886 and 1892, but was returned as a Conservative for Newark in 1895. He resigned in 1898 on account of disagreement with the policy of his party of making concessions made to the Liberal Unionists.[1] He was one of the founders of the Imperial Federation League, and when the North Queensland Separation League was formed he was appointed chairman of the London committee. He also worked for the development of the Pacific route to Australia, and was secretary to the Pacific Telegraph Company for the formation of a line from Vancouver Island to Australia.
When not in London he henceforth lived at Harlech, and in 1903 was high sheriff of Merionethshire. Highly skilled in field sports, a good rifle shot and keen huntsman, he excelled at golf, often competing for the amateur championship. He could also throw the boomerang 'like a black.'
A painting of Harlech bought by Finch-Hatton turned out to be a lost oil painting by J. M. W. Turner, the painting was exhibited in 1903.[9] [10]
He died suddenly of heart failure at his own doorstep at 110 Piccadilly, on 16 May 1904. 'After having completed the last of his morning runs round the park.' He was buried in Ewerby churchyard, Lincolnshire.[11]
He was unmarried. He left an estate worth £19,000 between Elizabeth Inglis Davis, wife of a settler living in Mount Carmel, Victoria and his nephew Hon. Denys Finch-Hatton. As the settler's wife had predeceased him, the bulk of the estate went to his older brother Henry, 13th Earl of Winchilsea.
The town of Finch Hatton, Queensland in Australia is believed to be named after him.[12]