Politician

He unsuccessfully contested Newark in 1880 but entered Parliament for Lincolnshire South in an 1884 by-election, a seat he held until the following year when the constituency was abolished. He then represented Spalding from 1885 until 1887 when he succeeded his half-brother in the two earldoms and entered the House of Lords.^[1] His succession led to a network of legal difficulties engaging at different times, it is stated, no fewer than 22 different firms of lawyers.^[2] In 1884 Finch-Hatton, with 135 other members of Parliament, voted that a clause of the Representation of the People Act 1884 enfranchising women be read a second time.^[3]

Agriculturalist

He was particularly interested in agricultural questions, where he sought to improve the conditions of agricultural workers.^[1]

Obliged by the agricultural depression and huge inherited debt from his half brother the 11th Earl of Winchilsea, Murray was forced to sell the ancestral family seat Eastwell Park for £250,000 (equivalent to £26 million) to 2nd Baron Gerard of Garswood Hall in 1894. He became the recognised head of the movement which followed on the Agricultural Congress of 1892 and led in 1894 to the formation of The National Agricultural Union. It aimed at a thorough organisation of the agricultural interests represented alike by the landlords, tenants and labourers. Its programme included:

• reduction of local taxation of agricultural property
• abolition of preferential railway rates for British produce
• old-age pensions for working men
• amendment of the law relating to adulteration of food and the Merchandise Marks Acts
• amendment of the Agricultural Holdings Act
• increased facilities to enable working men to obtain small holdings^[2]

By the time of his death in 1898, most of these aims were achieved, including the reduction in railway charges by bulking shipments. To that end, he established early in 1896 British Produce Supply Association Limited with a capital of £50,000 which opened extensive stores for the sale and distribution of British produce under the Cable brand. Cable was the title of the weekly newspaper, the official organ of the National Agricultural Union. County associations of agriculturists were formed for mutual support and combination.^[2]

The National Farmers Union (at that time Lincolnshire Farmers Union) was formed in his home county of Lincolnshire in 1904, six years after his death.

Children's Order of Chivalry

In 1893 with his wife, the Countess, he founded the Children's Order of Chivalry in memory of their only son,^[4] George Edward Henry, Viscount Maidstone ("Maidy"), who had died the previous year at the age of nine. Prior to his death, the child had discussed with his father the idea of establishing the Order.^[5]

Outdoor recreations

Among Lord Winchilsea's outdoor recreations were bricklaying, glazing and the digging of dykes "in which accomplishment it is said he was not surpassed by any workman in the county". In the summer of 1895, he spent nearly all his holidays repairing the roof of Ewerby church.^[2]

Motorist

He was also a great motoring enthusiast, and played a leading role at the very first London to Brighton Car Run on 14 November 1896, symbolically tearing a red flag in two to start the event, and presiding at the dinner which took place in Brighton at its conclusion.^[6]