Biography

Finch was born at Standish, Lancashire, and baptised on 8 September 1633. He was educated at the grammar schools of Standish and Wigan. Calamy does not say at what university he graduated. After preaching in the Fylde country (between the Lune and the Ribble) he was presented in 1656 to the vicarage of Walton-on-the-Hill

Walton-on-the-Hill

Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, is a village in England, situated midway between Reigate and Epsom, just inside the M25 orbital motorway around London. It is situated close to the larger village of Tadworth. Other neighbouring villages include: Kingswood, Burgh Heath, Headley and Box Hill...

, Lancashire, a parish which then included the town of Liverpool. He was a member of the fifth presbyterian classis of Lancashire.

In July 1659 he took an active part in the plans for the rising of the 'new royalists' under Sir George Booth

George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer

George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer , known as Sir George Booth, 2nd Baronet, from 1652 to 1661, was an English peer.-Civil War:...

. His property was seized by the parliamentary sequestrators, and not restored. Unable then to accept the terms of the Uniformity Act 1662, he was ejected. He retired to Warrington, where he lived for some years in dependence on his wife's relatives. The Five Mile Act (1665) compelled him to leave, and he settled in Manchester (not then a corporate town), where he supported himself by keeping a school.

Both at Warrington and Manchester he attended the ordinary services of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

, preaching only occasionally on Sunday evenings in his own dwelling to such restricted gatherings as the law allowed. On the indulgence of 1672 he took out a license as a 'general presbyterian minister,' and officiated in the licensed 'private oratory' (Birch Chapel), which was in the hands of Thomas Birch of Birch Hall, Lancashire, though the legal owners were the warden and fellows of the collegiate church of Manchester. On 29 October 1672 he took part in the first ordination conducted by the ejected nonconformists, in the house of Robert Eaton at Deansgate

Deansgate

Deansgate is a main road through the city centre of Manchester, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile long....

, Manchester.

On the outbreak of the Monmouth rebellion

Monmouth Rebellion

The Monmouth Rebellion,The Revolt of the West or The West Country rebellion of 1685, was an attempt to overthrow James II, who had become King of England, King of Scots and King of Ireland at the death of his elder brother Charles II on 6 February 1685. James II was a Roman Catholic, and some...

 (1685) Finch was imprisoned at Chester; but later was allowed to resume his ministry. The Toleration Act (1689) called attention to the insecurity of his position: Birch Chapel, being a consecrated place, could not be licensed as a dissenting meeting-house. Finch, however, stayed on until the death of Thomas Birch the younger in 1697, when the chapel was ceded by his son, George Birch, to the legal owners. Finch then preached at licensed houses in Platt and Birch, till his friends built a meeting-house at Platt (1700), Finch himself contributing towards the erection. The opening discourse was preached by Finch's son-in-law, James Grimshaw of Lancaster, author of 'Rest from Rebels,' 1716.

Finch was a member of the provincial meeting of united ministers (presbyterian and congregational) formed in Lancashire in 1693 on the basis of the London 'agreement' of 1691, involving a doctrinal subscription. He preached before this meeting on two occasions, 4 August 1696, and 13 August 1700, both at Manchester. Edmund Calamy

Edmund Calamy (historian)

Edmund Calamy was an English Nonconformist churchman, divine and historian.-Life:A grandson of Edmund Calamy the Elder, he was born in the City of London, in the parish of St Mary Aldermanbury. He was sent to various schools, including Merchant Taylors', and in 1688 proceeded to the university of...

 acknowledged Finch's corrections to his account of the silenced ministers. A strong supporter of the Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

 of 1688, Finch was also a charitable contributor to nonjurors

Nonjuring schism

The nonjuring schism was a split in the Church of England in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange and his wife Mary could legally be recognised as King and Queen of England....

.

Finch died on 13 November 1704, and was succeeded by Robert Hesketh, early in whose ministry the chapel was conveyed (25-6 October 1706) in trust for the maintenance of an 'orthodox' ministry.

Family

Peter Finch (1661-1754), presbyterian minister, son of Henry Finch, was born on 6 October 1661. On 3 May 1678 he entered the non-conformist academy of Richard Frankland

Richard Frankland (tutor)

Richard Frankland was an English nonconformist, notable for founding the Rathmell Academy, a dissenting academy in the north of England.-Biography:...

 at Natland

Natland

Natland is village and civil parish about two miles south of Kendal in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, close to the village of Oxenholme. At the time of the 2001 census the population was 747....

, Westmoreland. He soon moved on to the university of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, where he graduated M.A. on 16 July 1680. His first employment was as chaplain in the family of William Ashhurst

William Ashhurst

Sir William Ashhurst or Ashurst was an English banker, Sheriff of London, Lord Mayor of London and Member of Parliament.-Biography:...

. In 1691 he was invited to become colleague at Norwich to Josiah Chorley; his first entry in the presbyterian register of baptisms is dated 1 June 1692. He remained at his post for over sixty-two years, and survived Edward Crane and Thomas Dixon the younger, both of whom had been designated as his successor. Himself a strict Calvinist, he contributed much, by his love of peace, to preserve concord when doctrinal differences threatened to divide his flock. From 1733 John Taylor was his colleague. He died on his ninety-third birthday, 6 October 1754, and was buried in the church of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich. A small portrait of him hung in the vestry

Vestry

A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....

 of the Octagon Chapel

Octagon Chapel, Norwich

The Octagon Chapel is a Unitarian Chapel located in Colegate in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It is home to a growing liberal religious community, welcoming people of all religious faiths and none. The congregation is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.The chapel...

. His great-grandson, Peter, was mayor of Norwich in 1827.