John Finch (1584-1660), Lord Finch of Fordwich, Royalist Speaker of the House of Commons prior to the English Civil War. In 1637, as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, Finch presided over the trial of MP John Hampden, a leading parliamentarian and opponent of the king, for failing to pay 'Ship Money', a hated tax. Square detail of engraving created in the 1700s by George Vertue (1683-1756), after a portrait by Cornelius Johnson (1593-1661).
John Finch (1584-1660), Lord Finch of Fordwich, Speaker of the House of Commons and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Square detail of an original copperplate engraving by George Vertue (1683-1756), after a portrait by Cornelius Johnson (1593-1661). John Finch, 1st Baron Finch, was descended from a prominent legal family and was called to the Bar to practice law in 1611. He was elected to Parliament, as MP for Canterbury, Kent, in 1621. In June 1625, he welcomed King Charles I to Canterbury when the king arrived for his wedding in Canterbury Cathedral and was knighted two days later. Finch was elected Speaker of the House of Commons in 1628, but Parliament was dissolved by the king the next year. In 1637, as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, Finch presided over the trial of the MP John Hampden for refusing to pay 'Ship Money’, a hated tax, originally levied on coastal areas in wartime, which the king attempted to extend to inland counties while the country was at peace. Also in 1637, Finch imposed harsh sentences on Puritans such as William Prynne. The king rewarded Finch by elevating him to the peerage and appointing him Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England. In 1640, two years before the outbreak of the English Civil War and after being impeached by Parliament, Finch fled to the Netherlands. He died in 1660, shortly after the Restoration of the Stuart Monarchy. George Vertue was an English antiquarian and engraver known primarily for his portraits and book illustrations. Cornelius Johnson or Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen was a Flemish painter active in England in the first part of the 17th century.
Size: 2685px × 2685px
Location: London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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