Reverend William O'Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill (4 March 1813 – 18 April 1883), was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

hereditary peer, clergyman and musical composer. Born William Chichester, he changed his surname to O'Neill in 1855.

Background and education

The eldest son of Reverend Edward Chichester, he was a member of the prominent Irish Chichester family headed by the

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, Si ...

. He was the great-great-great-grandson of John Chichester, grandson of

Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester (1568 – 8 July 1648), was an English peer. Origins He was the third son of Sir John Chichester (died 1569), John Chichester (died 1569), knight, lord of the manor of Raleigh, Pilton, Raleigh, in the ...

, and younger brother of

Arthur Chichester, 2nd Earl of Donegall 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 ...

. O'Neill was educated at

Foyle College Foyle College is a co-educational non-denominational voluntary grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. The school's legal name is Foyle and Londonderry College. In 1976, two local schools, Foyle College and Londonderry High School, merged unde ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

and

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 ...

, and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1837.

Career

He was a prominent church organist and composer of

church music Church music is a genre of Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian musi ...

, glees and songs. When the Belfast Hospital for Sick Children was opened in 1878, Reverend O'Neill was appointed as the first president of the Medical Board. A marble dedication was installed in the hospital's surgical ward honouring him. This was a role he fulfilled with keen interest up until his death, at which time his son Robert Torrens took over the responsibility. In 1855 he succeeded to the substantial O'Neill estates on the death of his relative John O'Neill, 3rd Viscount O'Neill (on whose death the viscountcy became extinct), and assumed by royal licence the surname of O'Neill in lieu of Chichester the same year. In 1868 the O'Neill title was revived when he was raised to the peerage as Baron O'Neill, of

Shane's Castle Shane's Castle is a ruined castle near Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, which was mostly destroyed in 1816 by fire. The castle is situated on the north-east shores of Lough Neagh, 2.7 miles from Randalstown. Built ...

in the

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Family

Lord O'Neill married, firstly, Henrietta Torrens, daughter of Robert Torrens, judge of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, and his wife Anne, in 1839. After her death in 1857 he married, secondly, Elizabeth Grace Torrens, daughter of the Venerable John Torrens, Archdeacon of Dublin, in 1858; she was Henrietta's first cousin. His third son from his first marriage, Robert Torrens O'Neill, represented Antrim Mid in Parliament for many years. Lord O'Neill died in April 1883, aged 70, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son from his first marriage,

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

. Two of Lord O'Neill's descendants gained particular distinction. His grandson Hugh O'Neill was Speaker of the

Northern Ireland House of Commons The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished with the p ...

and created

Baron Rathcavan Baron Rathcavan, of The Braid in the County of Antrim, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 February 1953 for the Unionist politician Sir Hugh O'Neill, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Cl ...

in 1953, while his great-grandson

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Privy Council of Northern Ireland, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ...

was

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972), Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the L ...

and given a life peerage as Baron O'Neill of the Maine in 1970. Elizabeth Grace, Lady O'Neill, died in 1905. His great-great-great-great-grandson is British record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ,

Fred again Frederick John Philip Gibson (born 19 July 1993), known professionally as Fred Again (stylised as Fred again..) or simply Fred (stylised as FRED), is an English record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. At the 66th Ann ...

... Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th Edition. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage(Genealogical Books) Ltd. ISBN 0971196621.3012

Publications

*
Biblical and Theological Gleanings: a collection of comments, criticisms, and remarks, explanatory or illustrative of nearly two thousand seven hundred passages in the Old and New Testament ... With some original observations
' (1854) *
Confession, Absolution, and Penance. A Tract For the Times
' (1859) *
The Christian Sabbath
' (1859)

References

Bibliography

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, William Oneill, 1st Baron 1813 births 1883 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Ordained peers

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...