Arthur Chichester, 1st Marquess of Donegall

The Marquess of Donegall
Portrait of Lord Donegall by Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1780
Member of Parliament for Malmesbury
In office
1768–1774
Serving with Thomas Howard
Preceded byThomas Conolly
The Earl Tylney
Succeeded byCharles Fox
William Strahan
Personal details
Born
Arthur Chichester

(1739-06-13)13 June 1739
Died5 January 1799(1799-01-05) (aged 59)
Spouse(s)
Lady Anne Hamilton
(m. 1761; died 1780)

Charlotte Spencer Moore
(m. 1788; died 1789)

Barbara Godfrey
(m. 1790; died 1799)
RelationsSir Richard Newdigate, 3rd Baronet (grandfather)
Children7
Parent(s)Hon. John Chichester
Elizabeth Newdigate
Alma materTrinity College, Oxford

Arthur Chichester, 1st Marquess of Donegall (13 June 1739 – 5 January 1799), known as Arthur Chichester until 1757 and as The Earl of Donegall between 1757 and 1791, was an English nobleman and politician in Ireland.

Early life

Portrait of Arthur Chichester by Thomas Hudson, 1745

Chichester was born on 13 June 1739. He was the son of Hon. John Chichester and Elizabeth Newdigate (1703–1769), eldest daughter of Sir Richard Newdigate, 3rd Baronet. His paternal grandparents were Arthur Chichester, 3rd Earl of Donegall and Lady Catherine Forbes (a daughter of the 1st Earl of Granard), in 1726.[1]

He was educated at Westminster School in 1748 and Trinity College, Oxford, matriculating in 1757, before succeeding his uncle in 1757 as fifth Earl of Donegall.[2]

Career

After taking his seat in the Irish House of Lords in 1765, Donegall served at Westminster as Member of Parliament for Malmesbury (1768–1774) by his friend Lord Suffolk, first following Suffolk and the Grenville group. Reportedly, he never spoke in the House, and did not stand for reelection in 1774.[2]

As a means of securing his support for the Government in the Irish House of Commons, he was in 1790 created Baron Fisherwick, of Fisherwick in the County of Stafford, in the Peerage of Great Britain. The following year he was also created Earl of Belfast and Marquess of Donegall in the Peerage of Ireland.[2]

Personal life

Portrait of his third wife, Barbara, Marchioness of Donegall, by George Romney, 1793

Lord Donegall married three times. On 11 September 1761, he married Lady Anne Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton. Before her death on 11 November 1780, they had seven children:

On 24 October 1788 he married Charlotte (née Spencer) Moore, daughter of Conway Spencer, and widow of Thomas Moore. She died, without issue, on 19 September 1789.[4]

In October 1790, he married Barbara Godfrey, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Luke Godfrey, Rector of Midleton, County Cork.[6]

Lord Donegall held on lease a country residence at Butley Priory, Suffolk. He died on 5 January 1799, aged 59, at his London home in St James's Square, Westminster. His widow, the dowager Marchioness of Donegall, died on 28 December 1829.[4]

References

  1. ^ Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1908). Memorial Rings: Charles the Second to William the Fourth, in the Possession of Frederick Arthur Crisp. Grove Park Press. p. 287. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Brooke, John. "CHICHESTER, Arthur, 5th Earl of Donegall [I] (1739-99)". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  3. ^ The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James in the County of Middlesex Vol. V. 1761-1786. 6 October 1762.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 1160.
  5. ^ The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James in the County of Middlesex Vol. V. 1761-1786. 9 February 1765.
  6. ^ "Catalogue note for the portrait of Barbara, Marchioness of Donegall by George Romney". Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Malmesbury
1768–1774
With: Thomas Howard
Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Marquess of Donegall
1791–1799
Succeeded by
Preceded by Earl of Donegall
1757–1799
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Fisherwick
1790–1799
Succeeded by