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Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall (16 June 1606 – 18 March 1675), was an Anglo-Irish military officer, politician and peer.

Origins

He was the eldest son and heir of the 1st Viscount Chichester, from

Eggesford Eggesford () is a parish in mid-Devon, without its own substantial village. It is served by Eggesford railway station on the Exeter to Barnstaple railway line, also known as the Tarka Line. Descent of the Manor de Reigny The manor of Eggesfo ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, by his first wife Anne Copleston, heiress of Eggesford.

Career

He made a career as a soldier before being elected to the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

as Member of Parliament for Antrim in 1634 and again in 1640. Having distinguished himself in helping to put down the rebellion which took place in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

in 1641, Chichester was admitted to the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

in 1643. It was on the advice of

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde Lieutenant general, Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, Knight of the Garter, KG, Privy Council of England, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond fr ...

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

, that in 1647 he was created Earl of Donegall in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. The earldom was created with a special remainder to the male heirs of his father, whom he succeeded a year later as Viscount Chichester and

Governor of Carrickfergus Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Be ...

for life. He took his seat in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

in 1661. In 1668 he endowed a mathematical lectureship at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

with an annuity of 30 livre (pounds), which lectureship survives as an annual public lecture at the School of Mathematics in Trinity College.

Marriages and children

He married three times: *Firstly to Dorcas Hill (1607–1630), a daughter of John Hill of

Honiley Honiley is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall, in the Warwick district, in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is from Kenilworth, and from Coventry on the A4177 road. The ...

, Warwickshire (whose arms are shown on her monument in Eggesford Church: ''Sable, six talbot hounds argent, 3,2,1''), by whom he had one daughter:Per inscription on her monument in Eggesford Church **Mary Chichester, wife of John St Leger and mother of

Arthur St Leger, 1st Viscount Doneraile Arthur St Leger, 1st Viscount Doneraile (died 7 July 1727) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. Biography St Leger was the son of John St. Leger and his first wife Lady Mary Chichester, the daughter of the 1st Earl of Donegall and his first ...

(died 1727). *Secondly to Lady Mary Digby (died 1648), daughter of

John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol (February 1580 – 21 January 1653),David L. Smith, 'Digby, John, first earl of Bristol (1580–1653)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008. was an ...

(whose arms are shown on her monument in Eggesford Church: ''Azure, a fleur de lys argent''), by whom he had eight children all of whom died young. *Thirdly in 1651 he married Letitia Hicks, daughter of

Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet (1596 – 9 October 1680), of Beverston, in Gloucestershire, and of Ruckholt, at Leyton in Essex, was an English Member of Parliament. Early life William Hicks was born in 1596. He was the son of the wealthy courti ...

, by whom he had surviving children one son and one daughter, four other daughters having died young: **William Chichester (died 1660) **Anne Chichester (died 1697) who married firstly

John Butler, 1st Earl of Gowran John Butler, Earl of Gowran (1643–1677) was an MP in the Irish Parliament 1661–1666 before being created Earl of Gowran in 1676. He married but died childless. Birth and origins John was born in 1643 in Dublin, the sixth child of Jame ...

, and secondly

Francis Aungier, 1st Earl of Longford Francis Aungier, 1st Earl of Longford PC (Ire) (ca. 163223 December 1700) was an English politician, who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1679. He was an administrator in Ireland. Aungier was the eldest son of Ambrose Aungier, Chancel ...

Death and burial

Lord Donegall died after a short illness in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in 1675 and was buried in St Nicholas's Church,

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 28,141 at the 2021 census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...

Succession

As all his sons had died young, the earldom passed under the remainder to his nephew

Arthur Chichester Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625), known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester, of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1605 ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donegall, Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of 1606 births 1675 deaths Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Chichester, Arthur Chichester, Arthur People associated with Trinity College Dublin

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

People from County Antrim Irish soldiers Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Antrim constituencies 1 Peers of Ireland created by Charles I