Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall

Monument to two first wives of Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall (1606-1674/5), Eggesford Church, Devon
Arms of Chichester of Eggesford: Chequy or and gules, a chief vair a crescent sable for difference

Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall (16 June 1606 18 March 1675) was an Irish peer and soldier.

Origins

He was the eldest son and heir of Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester of Eggesford, Devon, 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 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 in 1641, Chichester was admitted to the Privy Council of Ireland in 1643. It was on the advice of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, that in 1647 he was created Earl of Donegall in the Peerage of Ireland. The earldom was created with a special remainder to the male heirs of his father, whom he succeeded a year later as 2nd Viscount Chichester and Governor of Carrickfergus for life. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords in 1661. In 1668 he endowed a mathematical lectureship at Trinity College, Dublin with an annuity of 30 livre (pounds), which lectureship survives as an annual public lecture at the School of Mathematics in Trinity College.

Marriages & progeny

He married three times:

Death & burial

Lord Donegall died after a short illness in Belfast in 1675 and was buried in St Nicholas's Church, Carrickfergus.

Succession

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

References

  1. Per inscription on her monument in Eggesford Church
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Earl of Donegall
1647–1675
Succeeded by
Arthur Chichester
Preceded by
Edward Chichester
Viscount Chichester
1648–1675

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