Dermot Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall

Dermot Richard Claud Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall LVO (18 April 1916 – 19 April 2007) was an Irish soldier, landowner and member of the House of Lords.

Biography

Chichester was the second son of Arthur Chichester, 4th Baron Templemore, whom he succeeded in the Barony. He was educated at Harrow and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

In 1937, he was briefly engaged to Hollywood gossip columnist Sheila Graham, just before she became the last lover of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

He served in the Second World War as a captain with the 7th Queen's Own Hussars in Egypt. He was reported missing in action and believed to have been killed, but had been captured in Libya in November 1942 during the North African Campaign. He remained a prisoner of war in Italy until escaping in June 1944. He was promoted Major that year, and retired from the British Army in 1949, but served for several years with the Leicestershire Yeomanry.

His elder brother, Arthur, having been killed in 1942 serving with the Coldstream Guards, Chichester succeeded his father as 5th Baron Templemore in 1953. In 1975, he also succeeded his distant cousin as 7th Marquess of Donegall, being the descendant of Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Templemore (who in turn was descended from Sir Arthur Chichester, a former Lord Deputy of Ireland), grandson of Arthur Chichester, 1st Marquess of Donegall. He also inherited other titles, and was Lord High Admiral of Lough Neagh.

He became a member of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms in 1966, and was its Standard Bearer from 1984 to 1986. He was appointed LVO in 1986, and was for many years an active member of the Conservative Monday Club. In 1981, he became Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, a post he held until 1992. Chichester also served as master of the Wexford Hounds. He bred horses, including The Proclamation, winner of the Punchestown champion hurdle in 1989, and Dunbrody Millar, winner of the Topham Trophy at Aintree in 2007.

In 1946, he married Lady Josceline Gabrielle Legge (died 1995), daughter of William Legge, 7th Earl of Dartmouth. They had a son, Patrick Chichester (born 1952) and two daughters, Lady Jennifer (1949-2013) and Lady Juliet (b. 1954). The Marquess lived at the family home of Dunbrody Park, County Wexford.

References

• Copping, Robert, The Monday Club - Crisis and After May 1975, page 25, published by the Current Affairs Information Service, Ilford, Essex, (P/B).
• Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 20 July 2007

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Donegall

Masonic offices
Preceded by The Earl of Donoughmore	Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Ireland 1981–1992	Succeeded by Darwin Herbert Templeton
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Edward Chichester	Marquess of Donegall 1975–2007	Succeeded by Patrick Chichester
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Arthur Chichester	Baron Templemore 1953–2007	Succeeded by Patrick Chichester