The Bathurst Family
Edward Bathurst (1680-1772), a London barrister and Master of the Bench of the Middle Temple, who inherited Finchcocks from an uncle in 1718, and, following his marriage to a local heiress, Elizabeth Stringer of Triggs, acquired sufficient wealth to "rebuild this seat at Great expense and in a most stately manner". Finished in 1725, the cost was £30,000.
Bathurst lived to the ripe old age of 92, outlasting most of his children. Previously he had sold Finchcocks to his second son, as his eldest son was occupied with their estates in Jamaica, where he died in 1751. On the death of his second son in 1767 the house passed to yet another son, the Reverend Richard Bathurst, canon of Rochester Cathedral. In 1797 Finchcocks had been bought by Robert Springett (1753-1826), from Hawkhurst, a relation of whose family included Gulielma Maria Postuma Springett, first wife of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. The Springetts however were only destined to remain at Finchcocks for two generations. The Reverend Richard Springett, eldest son of Robert, was forced to sell in 1860 to recoup the financial losses of his younger brother William, described by a descendant as a "well conducted bachelor, but not a business man"
The Spa Town & Music Tour for group visitors
Guided Walking Tour of Royal Tunbridge Wells and
A Visit to Finchcocks Musical Museum