[7] Finch had five siblings: Charles Wightwick (1851–1924), Anna Francesca Wilhelmina (1853–1933), Daniel Harry (1858–1890), Clement Edward (1861–1895) and George Cecil Moyle (1864–1865)[10] He was educated at Eton.

[26] Much of Finch's participation in public life involved outdoor pursuits, including fox hunting as a member of the North Warwickshire hounds[26] and athletic feats such as challenging local tradesmen in Warwickshire to running races, sometimes giving the winnings to charity:[27] Finch took part in a 100-yard race on 5 June 1874 against a Master Butcher of Leamington which took place at 3 a.m. in Warwick High Street, the prize being two bottles of champagne.

[27][30] On an occasion at the Packington Steeplechases a gang of thieves attempted to steal some ancestral silver tableware from Finch's tent, and he fought them off largely single handed.

[32] Some well-known horses that were at one time owned by Finch include Acropolis,[27] Algérie,[32] Bonnie Dundee,[32] Butress,[27] Chandos,[33] Chausseur,[33] Claremont (came second in the 1875 Derby, which was won by Gusztáv Batthyány's stallion Galopin),[33][34] Colonel Crockett,[27] Creon,[32] Dhawalgirl,[32] Flash,[32] Glenorchie,[32] Hermitage,[26] Killingholme,[32] Knight of the Garter,[35] Lady Hilda,[32] Leveret,[26] Lillington (a winner at Birmingham),[32] Little Retty,[32] Lord Darnley,[27] Lord of the Mines,[32] Lowlander,[26] Marfiori,[27] Mexborough,[32] Noyre Tauren,[32] Pain Killer,[32] Petrel,[32] Queensland,[32] Redivivus,[33] Regal[33][27] (on whom Finch won a private sweepstake at Stockbridge in 1875),[26] Reugny[33] (winner of the Grand National in 1874[36] after passing out of Finch's ownership),[27] Rose of Athol[33][32] (won the Great Yorkshire Stakes in 1871),[26] St. Pancras,[33] Sir George,[27] Soapsuds,[27] Vanderdecken[33] (Vanderdecken won the Liverpool Cup in 1872),[26] Violetta,[33][32] and Wentworth.

Finch ordered six Brougham carriages to wait outside the Prison for the journalists who had been allowed to witness the execution, to drive them back to Warwick town in state.

[43] On a brief return to England from Texas, on 28 May 1884, Finch attended the Epsom Derby and broke a leg on his railway journey back to London Bridge.

[45] The Yorkshire Post gave an account from London Bridge railway station officials: that a man travelling on the 11.40 p.m. train from Epsom had refused to show his ticket, and had instead attempted twice to strike a Ticket Inspector on the head; the Inspector had warded off the passenger's blows and pushed him down, after which the injured man was assisted to a Cab and had given the name 'Lord Aylesford' which they had thought at the time was an assumed name.

"[29] Another newspaper noted that the Aylesford family estates had yielded about £30,000 a year when Finch inherited them, but that he had been in a dire financial situation by the time he emigrated to the U.S.A.[4] The Yorkshire Gazette summed up Finch's contradictory attitude to his finances: "Ever impulsive and headstrong, he was yet generous to a fault, and the embarrassments in which he became involved, and which eventually crushed him down so completely that he was compelled to leave England, were probably due more to his open-handed liberality and reckless consideration for other interests than his own than to base profligacy and ruinous wantoness.

Now and again he threw about money as though it were mere trash, though sometimes he was remarkably careful in financial affairs, and betrayed a shrewdness and thrift which struck his friends with amazement.

[26] Finch may have borrowed a lot of money to fund his hospitality for the Royals and one later commentator noted that "after the festivities Lord Aylesford was simply broken.

[55] Prince Edward regularly hunted while he was in India, and Russell implied the presence of Finch and Charles Wynn-Carington, as competent huntsmen, would have added a degree of protection for Edward: "to the anticipation of similar enjoyment in the chase Lord Aylesford and Lord Carington had superadded a task imposed by their personal attachment, which happily had no need for its exercise.

Edith wrote to her mother-in-law in March 1876 to explain why she had left home: "I do not attempt to say a word in self-defence, but you can imagine I have suffered much before I could have taken such a step: how much it would be impossible to tell you, but it is the only reparation I can make to Guernsey, and he will now have the opportunity of getting rid of one he has long ceased to care for.

[58] Edith and George Spencer-Churchill spent some time living together at the Hotel de Rivoli in Paris, assuming the disguise of a married couple named Spencer.

[58][61] Finch was also accused of compromising his marriage vows early in his union with Edith, by going to the Alhambra or Cremorne Gardens and "supping there with loose women or forming vulgar amours with them.

[65] Edith had confided in her baby nurse Mrs Brittain that she had suffered physical difficulties from 'mysterious pain' after the birth of Guy Bertrand.

[57] Edith remained single, living later in life at an estate named Honeys near Waltham St. Lawrence,[66] and died in Welbeck Street, London on 24 June 1897 after a short illness.

[70] Newspapers with stories of Countess Edith and her son Guy Bertrand had reached as far as Big Spring by April 1884, but Finch did not read them.

The building had survived to at least 2018 as the Lone Star Barber Shop,[72] with a later brick frontage, at South Main Street, and it was given a commemorative plaque from the Howard County Historical Commission.

The plaque details how Finch was remembered for being very particular about how his meat was prepared, travelling with his own personal butcher named Von Paussen, and being a big fan of mutton.

[73] In April 1884 Finch's ranch house at Big Spring burned to the ground in a fire that had begun as a result of a servant mishandling kerosene.

Finch rode into Big Spring town the next day and obtained permission to occupy the empty property belonging to his neighbour Denmark, until a new cabin could be built for him.

[11][69][77] His cause of death was described variously as dropsy [Edema] and hardening or cirrhosis of the liver,[69][78][79] inflammation of the bowels,[26] peritonitis[79] or the effects of a severe cold.

[78] Finch's funeral cortege was headed by 200 of his estate tenants, and he was buried in a private ceremony attended by his family at St James' Church, Great Packington.