produced at court (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 17 Jan. 1618). Finet was in Paris early in 1610, and sent home an account of the treatment accorded to duellists in France, dated 19 Feb. 1609-10 (see Cott. MS. Titus, C. iv.) He seems to have been at the time in the service of Lord-treasurer Salisbury (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 29 April 1612). Wood states that he was in France on diplomatic business in 1614, but on 15 Dec. 1614 he was reported in a contemporary news-letter to have just returned from Spain, whither he had been despatched to present gifts of armour and animals to members of the royal family (ib. 15 Dec. 1614). Next year he was with the king at Cambridge. On 23 March 1615-16 he was knighted, and on 13 Sept. 1619 he was granted the reversion of the place of Sir Lewis Lewknor, master of the ceremonies, whom he had already begun to assist in the performance of his duties. On 19 Feb. 1624-5 he was granted a pension of 120l., vacant by the death of Sir William Button, assistant-master of the ceremonies, and on 18 March 1624-5 he was formally admitted into Button's office on the understanding that on Finet's promotion to Lewknor's place the office should be abolished. On Lewknor's death Finet succeeded to the mastership of ceremonies (12 March 1625-6). Thenceforward Finet was busily employed in entertaining foreign envoys at the English court, and determining the numerous difficulties regarding precedence which arose among the resident ambassadors. He was intimate with all the courtiers. Lord Herbert of Cherbury (Autobiography, ed. S. L. Lee, p. 164) had made his acquaintance before 1616. In 1636 it was proposed at Oxford to confer on him the degree of D.C.L., but it is doubtful if the proposal was carried out. Finet died 12 July 1641, aged 70, and was buried on the north side of the church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. Sir Charles Cotterell [q. v.] was his successor at court.
In 1618 Finet married Jane, the 'lame' daughter of Henry, lord Wentworth, of Nettlestead, Suffolk, whose brother Thomas was created Earl of Cleveland 7 Feb. 1624-5. By her he had a son, John, and two daughters, Lucy and Finetta.
Finet was the author of the following: 1. 'The Beginning, Continvance, and Decay of Estates. Written in French by R. de Lusing, L. of Alymes, and translated into English by I. F.' (London, 1606); dedication, signed Iohn Finet, to Richard Bancroft, archbishop of Canterbury : an essay on the history of the Turks in Europe. 2. 'Finetti Philoxenis : some choice observations of Sr John Finett, knight, and master of the ceremonies to the two last kings, Touching the Reception and Precedence, the Treatment and Audience, the Puntillios and Contests of Forren Ambassadors in England,' London, 1656. The dedication to Philip, viscount Lisle, is signed by the editor, James Howell [q. v.] The incidents described by Finet chiefly concern the reign of James I. A manuscript copy of the book belongs to C. Cottrell Dormer, esq., of Rousham, near Oxford (Hist. MSS. Comm. 2nd Rep. 83). An interesting letter from Finet to Lord Clifford is among the Duke of Devonshire's MSS. at Bolton Abbey (ib. 3rd Rep. 39). Others are at Hatfield and the Record Office. Some recipes by Finet appear in a manuscript volume belonging to the late E. P. Shirley of Ettington Hall, Oxford (ib. 5th Rep. 365).
[Wood's Fasti, ed. Bliss, ii. 492-3; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1611-41; Berry's County Genealogies, Kent, p. 449; authorities cited in the text.]
FINEUX, Sir JOHN (d. 1525). [See Fyneux.]
FINGALL, second Earl of. [See Plunket, Christopher, d. 1649.]
FINGER, GODFREY or GOTTFRIED (fl. 1685–1717), composer, a native of Olmütz in Moravia, came to England probably about 1685. This date is fixed by the preface to his first composition, 'Sonatæ XII,' in which he says that it was the fame of James II which led him to bid farewell to his native land. The work was published in 1688, but from his calling the king 'tutissimum contra æmulos et invidos zoilos patrocinium' it may be inferred that he had at that time been long enough in England to make enemies, who no doubt resented the intrusion of a foreigner. The title of his opus primum is 'Sonatæ XII, pro diversis instruments . . . authore Godefrido Finger Olmutio-Moravo Capellæ Serenissimi Regis Magnæ Britaniæ Musico' (no publisher's name is given). A beautifully engraved frontispiece shows the composer protected by Minerva, offering before a bust of the king his musical production, on which is inscribed the motto, 'Puras non plenas aspice manus.' A false interpretation of this title seems to have given rise to the impression that Finger was appointed chapel-master to the king (Roger North, Memoirs of Musick, ed. Rimbault; Grove, Dictionary), but it is plain that no such office was claimed in the title, and it is also almost a matter of certainty that Nicholas Staggins held the post during the whole period of Finger's residence in England. For some time Finger was no doubt a member of the king's
