Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton

Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton (1632–1706), was an English aristocrat and diplomat. He was born in 1632 and was the son of Christopher Hatton, 1st Baron Hatton. He succeeded his father as the 2nd Baron Hatton in 1670 and also became the governor of Guernsey in the same year.

In 1672, Hatton and his family were residing in Castle Cornet, the official residence of the governor of Guernsey, when an explosion destroyed part of the keep and some living quarters. During this incident, his mother and wife were killed. Hatton and his three young daughters survived and were rescued by James Chappell, a black servant. Following the tragedy, Hatton employed George Jeffreys, who was both a steward and a composer, to oversee the care of his family estate at Kirby Hall. Many letters from Jeffreys, known as the Hatton-Finch correspondence, have been preserved and span nearly forty years.

In 1682, King Charles II elevated Hatton to the peerage as Viscount Hatton of Gretton, Northamptonshire.

Hatton’s family included his younger brother, Charles Hatton, a botanist. His first marriage was to Cecily Tufton on 12 February 1667. Cecily was the daughter of John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet, and Lady Margaret Sackville, who was the daughter and heiress of the 3rd Earl of Dorset and Lady Anne Clifford. Christopher and Cecily had several children:

- Anne Hatton (d. 1743), who married Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, in 1685. Her children included Edward Finch-Hatton.

- Margaret Hatton (circa 1670)

- Elizabeth Hatton (circa 1672)

- One other daughter

Cecily died in 1672. In 1676, Hatton married Frances Yelverton, daughter of Sir Henry Yelverton, 2nd Baronet. They had several children, but only one daughter, Alice Elizabeth Hatton, survived infancy. Frances Yelverton died in 1684, the same year her monument was erected by William Mason at Gretton.

In August 1685, Hatton married Elizabeth Haslewood, the daughter and heiress of Sir William Haslewood of Maidwell, Northamptonshire. Elizabeth was a first cousin to Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea. They had several children, including:

- William, 2nd Viscount Hatton (1690–1760)

- Anna Maria Hatton (1697–1764)

- Henry Charles, 3rd Viscount Hatton (circa 1700–1762)

Elizabeth Haslewood died in Kensington on 15 January 1733.

Both of Hatton's sons inherited the viscountcy in turn—William upon his father's death in 1706, and Henry Charles for a brief period from 1760 to 1762. Neither son married, leading to the extinction of the title upon Henry Charles’s death.

The Hatton family remains connected to the Finch-Hatton line, Earls of Winchilsea and Nottingham, through the marriage of Daniel Finch, 7th Earl of Winchilsea and 2nd Earl of Nottingham, to Anne Hatton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Hatton.

Christopher Hatton was buried in 1706 in the church at Gretton, where monuments to his wives and children had been erected in 1684.