Royal St. David’s Golf Club was founded by keen golfer Finch-Hatton before it was updated and extended by the acclaimed Fred Hawtree. the Prince of Wales was club captain in 1934, before being crowned King Edward VIII and granting the club his royal patronage[4] The gold course that Finch-Hatton laid out with help from William Henry More in 1894 serves as the bones for the course that is played today. The golf course overlooking great dunes to the west, to the north Snowdon Mountain, the tallest peak in both Wales and England and to the east the 13th century Harlech Castle built by Edward I.[5][6]
"Advance Australia!" publication
Finch-Hatton's written recollections of his eight years around the Mackay area of Queensland is an account of British colonial life in the Antipodes.[7][8] According to The Times in 1904 this book was written in an entertaining way, but his statements about the Aborigines and his views on Australian politicians must be accepted with caution.[9]
Politics
Finch-Hatton was an unsuccessful candidate for the British House of Commons in 1885, 1886 and 1892, but was returned as a Conservative for Newark in 1895. He resigned in 1898 on account of disagreement with the policy of his party of making concessions made to the Liberal Unionists.[1] He was one of the founders of the Imperial Federation League, and when the North Queensland Separation League was formed he was appointed chairman of the London committee. He also worked for the development of the Pacific route to Australia, and was secretary to the Pacific Telegraph Company for the formation of a line from Vancouver Island to Australia.[1]
Later life
When not in London he henceforth lived at Harlech, and in 1903 was high sheriff of Merionethshire. Highly skilled in field sports, a good rifle shot and keen huntsman, he excelled at golf, often competing for the amateur championship. He could also throw the boomerang 'like a black.'[10]
A painting of Harlech bought by Finch-Hatton turned out to be a lost oil painting by J. M. W. Turner, the painting was exhibited in 1903.[11][12]
He died suddenly of heart failure at his own doorstep at 110 Piccadilly, on 16 May 1904.[1][3] 'After having completed the last of his morning runs round the park.' He was buried in Ewerby churchyard, Lincolnshire.[10]
He was unmarried.[9] He left an estate worth £19,000 between Elizabeth Inglis Davis, wife of a settler living in Mount Carmel, Victoria and his nephew Hon. Denys Finch-Hatton. As the settler's wife had predeceased him, the bulk of the estate went to his older brother Henry, 13th Earl of Winchilsea.[8]