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William Coles Finch

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Nationality
  
English

Name
  
William Finch

Other names
  
William Coles-Finch

Role
  
Author

Occupation
  
Waterworks manager

Died
  
June 6, 1944

Spouse(s)
  
Emily Sarah (nee Hall)


William Coles Finch

Born
  
23 October 1864 (
1864-10-23
)

Residence
  
Waterworks House, Luton, Chatham

Known for
  
Writing a number of books on Kent

William Coles Finch (1864–1944) 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.

Contents

Personal

William Coles Finch was born on 23 October, 1864 in Rochester, Kent. His wife was Emily, and they had four children, Vera, Dorothy, Irene and Neville. 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 Pilgirm Land was published, followed by The Lure of the Countryside in 1927, Life in Rural England in 1928 and Watermills in Windmills in 1933. The latter is considered a bible on windmills in Kent. Coles Finch died in Luton, Kent on 6 June 1944, aged 79. 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.

Career

Coles Finch was the resident engineer of the Brompton, Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester Water Company. He lived at Waterworks House, Luton, Chatham. 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.

Published works

  • Water, its origin and use. London: C W Daniel. 1908. 
  • Water in Nature. Nelson. 1914.  (jointly authored with Ellison Hawks).
  • The Foords of Rochester : Reminiscences. Parrett & Neves. 1917. 
  • In Kentish Pilgrim Land. London: C W Daniel. 1925. 
  • The Lure of the Countryside. London: C W Daniel. 1927. 
  • Life in Rural England. London: C W Daniel. 1928. 
  • The Medway River & Valley. London: C W Daniel. 1929. 
  • Watermills and Windmills. London: C W Daniel. 1933. 
  • Watermills and Windmills. Sheerness: A J Cassell. 1976. ISBN 0-903253-02-X.  (reprint)
  • References

    William Coles Finch Wikipedia


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