Sir Henry Chicheley (b. 1614 or 1615 – d. February 5, 1683) was a

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

who also served as

Acting Governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...

during multiple periods in the aftermath of

Bacon's Rebellion Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Colony of Virginia, Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon (Virginia colonist), Nathaniel Bacon against List of colonial governors of Virginia, Colon ...

.Billings, Warren M. “Chicheley, Sir Henry.” In the ''Dictionary of Virginia Biography'', Vol. 3, edited by Sara B. Bearss, 203–205. Richmond: Library of Virginia, 2006. Having first visited the Virginia colony as a Royalist in exile, where he served in the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

in violation of his probation, Lt. Gov. Chicheley wielded power during a period of sociopolitical turmoil and change, and later in his career was increasingly troubled by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's growing aggression and control over the colony.

Early life and education

Chicheley was born in either 1614 or 1615 to Dorothy, the wife of Sir Thomas Chicheley of

Wimpole Estate Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its of parkland and farmland are owned ...

Cambridgeshire, England Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

. His name honors

Henry Chichele Henry Chichele ( , also Checheley; – 12 April 1443) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1414–1443) and founded All Souls College, Oxford. Early life Chichele was born at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in 1363 or 1364; Chicheley told Pope Euge ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

and founder of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, from whom he is descended. He received a Bachelor's degree from University College, University of Oxford in 1635.

Royalist

Enlisting as a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

of the Royal English Army during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

s, Chicheley attained the rank of lieutenant colonel before

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed him in 1644 for his loyalty to

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

. Chicheley was detained in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

for alleged complicity in a plotted coup against the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

. In 1650, the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

paroled Chicheley and granted him permission to sail to Virginia so long as he did “nothing prejudicial to the State and present government thereof.”

Exile to Virginia

Upon arrival to Virginia, Chicheley quickly established himself within society and among fellow supporters of the Crown. In 1652, Chicheley married Agatha Eltonhead Stubbins Wormeley, the wealthy and influential widow of Ralph Wormeley Sr.. The marriage gave Chicheley control of the properties and estates owned by the Wormeley family, including the

Rosegill Rosegill is a historic Plantation house in the Southern United States, plantation house and farm complex located near Urbanna, Virginia, Urbanna, Middlesex County, Virginia. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 197 ...

estate. Chicheley is named on a

land patent A land patent is a form of letters patent assigning official ownership of a particular tract of land that has gone through various legally-prescribed processes like surveying and documentation, followed by the letter's signing, sealing, and publi ...

dated June 9, 1654, for 950 acres along the

Rappahannock River The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the entir ...

. With his newly obtained land and farms, Chicheley tended

silkworms The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...

and produced silk for export to England, and established

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

From burgess to Lieutenant Governor

In 1656, Chicheley served as a member of the

Virginia House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

representing Lancaster County. After violating the terms of his parole, he returned to

, where he engaged with supporters of Charles II who were plotting the

Stuart Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...

of 1660. Chichely returned to Virginia in 1662. In April 1670,

Colonial Governor of Virginia This is a list of colonial governors of Virginia. Some of those who held the lead role as governor of Virginia never visited the New World and governed through deputies resident in the colony. Others, such as Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, hel ...

Sir William Berkeley appointed Chicheley to the

Virginia Governor's Council The Governor's Council (also known as the "Council of State" or simply "the Council") was the upper house of the colonial legislature (the House of Burgesses was the other house) in the Colony of Virginia from 1607 until the American Revolution i ...

. Two years later, he was appointed Lieutenant General of the Virginia Militia in 1672. Chicheley’s used his influence with his brother Sir Thomas Chicheley the younger, the royal

Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

, to obtain arms and ammunition during the Third

Anglo-Dutch War The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( nl, Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen) were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Great Britain) from mid-17th to late 18th century. The first three wars occurred in the second ...

. Governor Berkeley arranged with King Charles II to appoint Chicheley as lieutenant governor of Virginia Colony in 1674. As lieutenant governor, Chicheley advocated restrictions on

tobacco cultivation Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the c ...

to increase its price and to help promote further agricultural diversification in the colony.

Bacon's Rebellion and recall to England

In 1675, Chicheley stood by Governor Berkeley during

. The Baconians regarded Chicheley as a traitor to their cause and held him hostage for a brief period. In the aftermath of the rebellion, Berkeley was relieved of the governorship and recalled to England. On December 30, 1678, Chicheley became acting governor of Virginia, a position he held until May 1680.John Berry, Francis Moryson, and Herbert Jefferys, "A True Narrative of the Rise, Progress and Cessation of the Late Rebellion in Virginia, Most Humbly and Impartially Recorded by His Majesties Commissioners, Appointed to inquire into the Affairs of the Said Colony." Ed. by Charles Andrews, in ''Narrative of the Insurrections 1675 to 1690'', (Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1915)

Return as Lieutenant Governor

In May 1680, Chicheley returned to his post as lieutenant governor upon the arrival of newly appointed Governor

Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, (21 March 1635 – 27 January 1689) was an English peer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683. Biography Born in 1635, Colepeper (often referred to by the alt ...

, who only remained in the territory for a few months. He served as acting governor during Colepeper's absence from August 1680 to December 1682 during his travels and time away from Virginia. In the Spring of 1682, in response to falling tobacco prices, disgruntled farmers deliberately cut down tobacco seedlings on over 200 plantations in protest. Chicheley played a central role in quelling the plant-cutter riots of Virginia and preventing further intervention from the Crown.

Death and legacy

After Colepeper returned to Britain, Chicheley remained in Virginia, continuing as lieutenant governor from December 1682 until his death in February 1683 at his Rosegill estate. He is interred in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

of Christ Church, Middlesex County, and named on a plaque on the cemetery wall commemorating the founders of Virginia, installed by the Virginia Society Order of Founders and Patriots of America.

Notes

References

* The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

External links

Biography
at

Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities (VH), formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a humanities council whose stated mission is to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth of Virginia by creating learning opportunities f ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicheley, Henry Colonial governors of Virginia 1683 deaths 1610s births English emigrants English Civil War House of Burgesses members 1614 births