George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea (4 November 1752 – 2 August 1826), was an English peer, army officer and cricketer who was an important figure in the history of cricket. His main contributions to the game were patronage and organisation but Winchilsea, an amateur, was also a very keen player. Finch was appointed to command the Rutland Militia in 1778 at the time of the American Revolutionary War, but transferred to the 87th Foot from its formation in 1779 to its disbanding in 1783, with the temporary ranks of major and lieutenant-colonel. Finch was the first president of the Royal Institution, and it was through his influence that it received the endorsement of King George III.
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Early life
Finch was the son of Hon. William Finch, second son of Anne Hatton and Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham (1647–1730), by his wife Charlotte Fermor, daughter of Thomas Fermor, 1st Earl of Pomfret. His sister was Sophia Finch.
In the 1770s Finch was in Florence and appears as one of the recognisable people on the right-hand team of Johann Zoffany's painting the Tribuna of the Uffizi.
He became the next Earl of Winchilsea in 1769 when his uncle, Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea and 3rd Earl of Nottingham who had no male heir died, he also inherited the Burley House estate and ancestral seat at Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland.