In 1571 he became a Member of Parliament for Higham Ferrers, later he was made a MP for the whole of Northamptonshire. Hatton was given grants of valuable land and estates and offices by the Queen. In 1578 he was knighted, becoming Sir Christopher Hatton.
Hatton became one of Elizabeth's closest advisors and helped with many of the important decisions of her reign. He was one of the commissioners who found Mary Queen of Scots guilty. He never married and remained Elizabeth's lifelong faithful servant. She visited him during his final illness in 1591.
Sir Christopher commissioned Ralph Treswell to undertake a survey of his estates in Northamptonshire in 1580. This survey includes a collection of beautifully drawn maps. This work, Treswell's earliest surviving survey, is now in the care of Northamptonshire Record Office. The maps show great attention to detail and include Hatton's estates at Holdenby and Kirby.
Holdenby House was the largest private house in Elizabethan England, three storeys high with two state rooms and two great courtyards. It was an impressive house, built in the hope Elizabeth would visit: she never did!
Kirby Hall, near Corby was used as a film location for Mansfield Park (1999) and Tristram Shandy: a Cock and Bull Story (2005).
Why not visit Kirby Hall or Holdenby House?
Want to know more? - The Record Office has lots of documents from the Finch Hatton Collection.
See also:
1587: Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
1647: Charles I held prisoner at Holdenby House
2005: Northamptonshire in Film
