Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester

Infobox Person
name = Sir Arthur Chichester


caption =
birth_date = 1563
birth_place = Pilton, Devon
death_date = February 19, 1625
death_place = London

Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625), known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester, was an English administrator and soldier, best known as the Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1604 to 1615.

Early life

Chichester's parents were Sir John Chichester and the former Gertrude Courtenay, daughter of Sir William Courtenay, of the Earls of Devon. After attending Exeter College, Oxford, Chichester commanded HMS "Larke" against the Spanish Armada in 1588. In 1595 he accompanied Sir Francis Drake on his last expedition to the Americas. Later in the Anglo–Spanish War he commanded a company during the 1596 raid on Cádiz, for which he was knighted. [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p20599.htm thepeerage.com] ] [ [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Arthur_Chichester,_baron_Chichester_of_Belfast 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica] ]

Ireland

His career in Ireland began when the Earl of Essex appointed him Governor of Carrickfergus in 1598, upon the death of his brother Sir John Chichester. John Chichester had been killed at the Battle of Carrickfergus the previous year. It is said that John Chichester was decapitated, his head being used as a football by the MacDonnell clan after their victory. James Sorley MacDonnell, commander of the clan's forces at the Battle of Carrickfergus, was poisoned in Dunluce Castle on the orders of Robert Cecil to placate Chichester. [ [http://www.theflightoftheearls.net/chichester4.htm theflightoftheearls.net] ] During the Nine Years' War he commanded crown troops in Ulster. His tactics included a scorched earth policy. He also encircled O'Neill's forces with garrisons, effectively starving the Earl's troops. In a 1600 letter to Cecil he stated "a million swords will not do them so much harm as one winter's famine". While these tactics were not initially devised by Chichester, he carried them out ruthlessly, gaining a hate-figure status among the Irish.

In 1604 he succeeded Lord Mountjoy as Lord Deputy of Ireland. A year later he married Lettice Perrot. She was the daughter of John Perrot, a former Lord Deputy of Ireland. They had one child the following year, who died in infancy.

Lord Deputy Chichester saw Irish Catholicism as a major threat to the crown. He oversaw widespread persecution of Catholics, and ordered the execution of two bishops.

Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, Chichester was a leading figure during the Plantation of Ulster. Initially he intended that the number of Scottish planters would be small, with native Irish landowners gaining more land. However, after a rebellion in Donegal in 1608, his plans changed and all the native lords lost their land. Most of the land was awarded to wealthy landowners from England and Scotland. However Chichester successfully campaigned to award veterans of the Nine Years' War land as well, funded by the London Livery Companies.

Later life

Chichester was instrumental in the founding and expansion of Belfast, now Northern Ireland's capital. In 1611 he built a castle on the site of an earlier 12th century Norman Motte-and-bailey. [ [http://www.belfastcastle.co.uk/history.asp History of Belfast Castle] ] In 1613 he was given the title Baron Chichester of Belfast. In 1614 ill health led to his retirement. In his final years be built a mansion in Carrickfergus and served as an ambassador to the Habsburg Empire.

He died from pleurisy in London in 1625. He was buried seven months later in St Nicholas' Church, Carrickfergus. He was succeeded as Baron Chichester by his younger brother Edward. Edward's son was also named Arthur Chichester and was the first Earl of Donegall. The family's influence in Belfast is still evident. Several streets are named in their honour, including Donegall Place, site of the Belfast City Hall and the adjacent Chichester Street.

References