The Most Hon. Dermot Richard Claud Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall,

LVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(18 April 1916 – 19 April 2007), known as the Hon. Dermot Chichester from 1924 to 1953, and as Baron Templemore from 1953 to 1975, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

soldier, landowner and member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Lord Donegall was usually known to his family and friends as Dermey Donegall.

Biography

Lord Donegall was the second son of the 4th Baron Templemore, whom he succeeded in the barony. He was educated at Harrow and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

. He served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

with the

7th Queen's Own Hussars The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in ...

in Egypt. He was reported

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...

and believed to have been killed, but had been captured in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

in November 1942 during the North African campaign. He remained a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

until escaping in June 1944. He was promoted

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

that year, and retired from the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1949, but served for several years with the

Leicestershire Yeomanry The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two fie ...

. His elder brother, Arthur, having been killed in 1942 serving with the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

, Chichester succeeded his father as the 5th

Baron Templemore Baron Templemore, of Templemore in the County of Donegal, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, since 1975 a subsidiary title of the Marquessate of Donegall. It was created on 10 September 1831 for Arthur Chichester, Member of Par ...

in 1953. In 1975, he also succeeded his distant cousin to become the 7th

Marquess of Donegall Marquess of Donegall is a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the head of the Chichester family, originally from Devon, England. Sir John Chichester sat as a Member of Parliament and was High Sheriff of Devon in 1557. One of his sons, Sir ...

, being the descendant of the 1st Baron Templemore, grandson of Arthur Chichester, 1st Marquess of Donegall. He also inherited other titles and was Lord High Admiral of

Lough Neagh Lough Neagh ( ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come ...

. Lord Donegall became a member of the

Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms His Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. Until 17 March 1834, they were known as The Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners. Formation The corps was formed as the Troop of Ge ...

in 1966, and was its Standard Bearer from 1984 to 1986. He was appointed

in 1986, and was for many years an active member of the

Conservative Monday Club The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...

. In 1981, he became Grandmaster of the

Grand Lodge of Ireland The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, as ...

, a post he held until 1992. Lord Donegall also served as master of the

Wexford Hounds Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

. He bred horses, including The Proclamation, winner of the

Punchestown Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays host to the annual Punchestown Irish Nationa ...

champion hurdle in 1989, and Dunbrody Millar, winner of the Topham Trophy at

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. It i ...

in 2007. In 1946, he married Lady Josceline Gabrielle Legge (1918–1995), daughter of the 7th Earl of Dartmouth. They had a son, Patrick Chichester (born in 1952, and who used the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

of Earl of Belfast from 1975 to 2007), and two daughters, Lady Jennifer (1949–2013) and Lady Juliet (b. 1954). The Marquess lived at the family home of Dunbrody Park in

Arthurstown Arthurstown () is a small village in the townland of Coleman in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located at the junction of the R733 and R770 regional roads on the eastern shore of the Waterford Harbour estuary, where The Three Sister ...

in the southwest of

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

References

* Copping, Robert, ''The Monday Club – Crisis and After'' May 1975, page 25, published by the Current Affairs Information Service, Ilford, Essex, (P/B).
Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 20 July 2007

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donegall, Dermot Chichester, 7th Marquess of 1916 births 2007 deaths 7th Queen's Own Hussars officers British World War II prisoners of war Escapees from Italian detention Formerly missing people People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order British Army personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Italy

Dermot Diarmaid () is a masculine given name in the Irish language, which has historically been anglicized as Jeremiah or Jeremy, names with which it is etymologically unrelated. Earlier forms of the name include Diarmit and Diarmuit. Variations of the ...

Leicestershire Yeomanry officers Politicians from County Wexford 7 Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Missing in action of World War II Younger sons of barons Donegall