William Coles Finch

{{Infobox person

| name = William Coles Finch

| image = William_Coles_Finch.png

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1864|10|23|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Rochester, Kent, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|06|06|1864|10|23|df=yes}}

| death_place = Luton, Kent

| burial_place = St Nicholas Church, Rochester

| spouse = Emily Sarah (née Hall)

| children = Vera
Dorothy
Irene
Neville

| other_names = William Coles-Finch

| known_for = Writing a number of books on Kent

| occupation = Waterworks manager

| signature = WCF signature.JPG

}}

William Coles Finch {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MICE}} (23 October 1864 – 6 June 1944) was a British historian and author of a number of books on Kent-related topics. He is best known for writing Watermills and Windmills, published in 1933 and reprinted in 1976, which is considered a standard work on the topic of Kent windmills.

Personal

File:Jerusalem Jaffa Gate 1858.jpg, Jerusalem. Picture originally published in Illustrated London News in 1858 and republished in "Watermills and Windmills" by William Coles Finch, first published in 1933.]]

William Coles Finch was born on 23 October{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=In Memoriam |date=23 October 1948 |page=1 |issue=51210 |column=A}} 1864 in Rochester, Kent.General Register Office index of births registered in October, November, December, 1864 - Name: Finch, William Coles. District: Medway Volume: 2A Page: 373.1901 Census of Medway, RG13/731, Folio 11, Page 14, Name: William C Finch, Address: 55 Queen's Road, Chatham, Occupation: Mining Engineer (Waterworks) Where Born: Rochester, Kent Condition: Married His wife was Emily, and they had four children, Vera, Dorothy, Irene and Neville.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Deaths |date=20 February 1951 |page=1 |issue=51930 |column=A}} In 1908, his first book, Water, its origin and use, was published. This was followed in 1914 by Water in Nature, jointly authored with Ellison Hawks. In 1925, In Kentish Pilgrim Land was published, followed by The Lure of the Countryside in 1927, Life in Rural England in 1928 and Watermills in Windmills in 1933.See Published Works section of this article The latter is considered a bible on windmills in Kent.{{sfn|Cumming|2010|p=24}} Coles Finch died in Luton, Kent on 6 June 1944, aged 79.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Deaths |date=8 June 1944 |page=1 |issue=49877 |column=A}} He is buried in the churchyard of St Nicholas Church, Rochester.{{cite web |url=https://city-of-rochester.org.uk/features/hidden-rochester/ |title=Hidden Rochester |publisher=City of Rochester Society |access-date=20 June 2021 }} In 1976, Watermills and Windmills was reprinted. BBC Radio Medway produced an hour-long documentary Sweeping Changes, The Windmills of Kent in response to the reprint.{{sfn|Nicholas|1993|pages=2-3}}

Career

Coles Finch was the resident engineer of the Brompton, Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester Water Company.{{sfn|Coles-Finch|1908|p=Title page}} He had previously been engineer and manager of the Higham and Hundred of Hoo Water Company and assistant manager of Strood Waterworks.{{cite journal |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89053823878&view=1up&seq=269 |title=Electrical Water Level Recorders, and their use in Connection with Waterworks |journal=Transactions of the British Association of Waterworks Engineers |year=1897 |page=239 |location=London }} He lived at Waterworks House, Luton, Chatham.{{sfn|Coles Finch|1933|p=12}} In 1897, Coles Finch read a paper at the British Association of Waterworks Engineers meeting at the Town Hall, Westminster, London on Electrical Water Level Recorders.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=British Association of Waterworks Engineers |date=23 July 1897 |page=13 |issue=35263 |column=F}}

Published works

{{cite book |title=Water, its origin and use |year=1908 |publisher=Alston Rivers, Ltd. |location=London }}
{{cite book |title=Water in Nature |year=1914 |publisher=T. C. and E. C. Jack Ltd. |location=Edinburgh }} (jointly authored with Ellison Hawks).
{{cite book |title=The Foords of Rochester : Reminiscences |year=1917 |publisher=Parrett & Neves |location=Rochester }}
{{cite book |title=In Kentish Pilgrimland, its Ancient Roads and Shrines |year=1927 |publisher=C W Daniel |location=London }}
{{cite book |title=The Lure of the Countryside |year=1927 |publisher=C W Daniel |location=London }}
{{cite book |title=The Lure of the Countryside |year=2009 |publisher=Lightning Source UK |location=Milton Keynes |isbn=978-1-44465-090-7 }} (reprint)
{{cite book |title=Life in Rural England |year=1928 |publisher=C W Daniel |location=London }}
{{cite book |title=The Medway River & Valley |year=1929 |publisher=C W Daniel |location=London }}
{{cite book |title=Watermills and Windmills |year=1933 |publisher=C W Daniel|location=London }}
{{cite book |title=Watermills and Windmills |year=1976 |publisher=A J Cassell |location=Sheerness |isbn=0-903253-02-X }} (reprint)

References

Sources

{{cite journal |last1=Cumming |first1=Rob |year=2010|title=Bromley's Windmill:Debunking a few myths. |journal=Cant Post|publisher=Kent Mills Society |issue=2 |location=Kent }}
{{cite book |title=Water, its origin and use |last=Coles-Finch |first=William |year=1908 |publisher=C W Daniel|location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/wateritsoriginus00coleiala }}
{{cite book |title=Watermills and Windmills |last=Coles Finch |first=William |year=1933 |publisher=C W Daniel|location=London }}
{{cite journal |last1=Nicholas |first1=Nick |year=1993 |title=William Coles-Finch |journal=Newsletter 55 |publisher=Suffolk Mills Group |location=Ipswich |url=http://www.millarchive.com/kent/PeoplePageData/PeopleContainer.aspx?peopleID=55 }}

External links

Category:1864 births

Category:1944 deaths

Category:People from Chatham, Kent

Category:English mechanical engineers

Category:20th-century English historians

Category:English male non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century English male writers

Category:19th-century British engineers

Category:20th-century British engineers

Category:English nature writers