Anne Finch was born in 1661 in Hampshire, the second daughter of Sir William Kingsmill. In 1683 she was appointed maid of honour to Mary of Modena, the wife of the future King James II. In 1684 she married Colonel Heneage Finch, a member of the royal household and later MP for Hythe. The couple lived at Westminster until 1688 when James II fled to the Continent. Because of their royal associations, the Finchs fell into disgrace and poverty, and retired for a time to a country estate. When they returned to London in 1712, Anne Finch began to be recognised in the literary circle of Pope and Swift. In 1713 a collected edition of her poems was published as Miscellany Poems, written by a lady. She died in 1720.