It has been held by the Finch-Hatton family of Kent, and united with the title of Earl of Nottingham under a single holder since 1729.

Thomas's eldest son Moyle Finch represented Weymouth, Kent and Winchelsea in the House of Commons.

[5] In 1660 the 3rd Earl of Winchilsea was created Baron FitzHerbert of Eastwell, Kent, in recompense for his efficient aid in the Restoration of the Monarchy.

After Sir Moyle's death in 1614, Elizabeth and her sons made considerable efforts to have the family's status elevated.

The third Earl, son of the second, supported the Restoration in 1660 and was thanked for his efforts the same year when he was created Baron FitzHerbert of Eastwell, in the County of Kent, in the Peerage of England.

The duel, which was over the issue of Catholic emancipation and related to insulting remarks made by the Earl, took place at Battersea Fields on 21 March 1829.

He died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his half-brother, the 12th Earl, who had sat briefly as Conservative Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire South and for Spalding.

His son was Heneage Finch, later 1st Earl of Nottingham, was a prominent lawyer and politician and served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1675 to 1682.

Edward Finch, the fifth son of the 1st Earl of Nottingham, was a composer and sat as Member of Parliament for Cambridge University.

Denys Finch Hatton, brother of the 14th Earl and nephew to Harold Heneage, moved to East Africa and became a noted pilot and hunter, and a close friend of writer Karen Blixen.

In the award winning film "Out of Africa" he was famously portrayed by Robert Redford opposite Meryl Streep.

Harold Heneage Finch-Hatton, fourth son of the 10th Earl, represented Newark in the House of Commons and later wrote books about Australia.

Eastwell Manor had previously been rebuilt in 1790s by Bonomi into a substantial residence for the 10th Earl's parents, George Finch-Hatton esq and Lady Elizabeth Murray.

Haverholme Priory was an estate in Lincolnshire, inherited by the 10th Earl from his childless aunt and uncle in law, Sir Jenison Gordon.

The Hatton estate is still (2024) owned by the present Earl of Winchilsea, although the palatial hall – now partially de-roofed – is no longer lived in by the family.

The heir apparent is the present holder's elder son Tobias Joshua Stormont Finch-Hatton, Viscount Maidstone (born 1998).