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Chichester baronets of Raleigh (1641)

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Escutcheon of the Chichester baronets of Raleigh[1]

The Chichester baronetcy, of Raleigh in the County of Devon, was created in the Baronetage of England on 4 August 1641 for John Chichester (1623–1667).[2]

1st Baronet

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John Chichester (1623–1667) was MP for Barnstaple, Devon.[3] He was the son of Sir Robert Chichester, knight, (1579–1627) of Raleigh (whose monument with effigies exists in Pilton Church) by his second wife Ursula Hill. Sir Robert was the son of Sir John Chichester by his wife Ann Denys, daughter of Sir Robert Denys (d.1592), MP, of Holcombe Burnell, Devon. John was the eldest surviving son.[4]

Succession

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Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Chichester, 9th Baronet (1849-1906)

The 1st Baronet's eldest son, John Chichester, the 2nd Baronet, died childless at an early age and was succeeded by his younger brother, Arthur Chichester, the 3rd Baronet. He too represented Barnstaple in the House of Commons.[5] On his death in 1718 the title passed to his son, John, the 4th Baronet. He again sat as MP for Barnstaple.[6]

His son, John, the 5th Baronet, and his son, John, the 6th Baronet, both served as High Sheriff of Devon (from 1753 to 1754 and from 1788 to 1789 respectively). The latter died unmarried in 1808 and was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, Arthur, the 7th Baronet whose seat was Youlston Park, Shirwell, Devon. He was the grandson of Reverend William Chichester, younger son of the 4th Baronet. He was High Sheriff of Devon between 1816 and 1817.

His son, Arthur, the 8th Baronet, was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Devon. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, the 9th Baronet. He was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy, Naval Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria and King Edward VII and Admiral Superintendent of the Naval Establishment in Gibraltar. As of 2024 the title is held by his great-grandson James, the 12th Baronet, who succeeded in 2007.[7]

The heir apparent is Edward John Chandos-Pole Chichester (born 1991).[7]

Extended family

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The aviator and world-circumnavigating sailor Sir Francis Chichester was the son of Reverend Charles Chichester, seventh son of the 8th Baronet.[13]

Background

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Raleigh was a manor held by the Chichester family in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple.

Location of historic Chichester family manors: Raleigh in the parish of Pilton; Youlston in the parish of Shirwell; Arlington; Hall in the parish of Bishops Tawton (also Pill, Bishop's Tawton); Eggesford House, Eggesford
2Arms of Chichester impaling de Raleigh, painted on stone escutcheon in strapwork surround on monument to Sir John Chichester (d.1569) in Pilton Church, Devon.
Arms of de Raleigh: Gules, a bend vair between six cross-crosslets or

Sir John Chichester (d.1569), knight, of Raleigh, whose elaborate monument (without effigy) exists in Pilton Church, was also father of Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester of Belfast (1563-1624/5), and of Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester (1568–1648), of Eggesford, Devon, ancestor of the Marquesses of Donegall (see this title for more information on this branch of the family).

Arms of Raleigh

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The arms of Raleigh are: Gules crusilly or, a bend vair, and are also shown as the second quartering of ten on an escutcheon on top of the monument. By marriage to the Raleigh heiress in the 14th century the Chichester family acquired the manor of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, and many others. These arms are also those blazoned for "Henri de Ralle" on the following mediaeval rolls of arms: Dering Roll (185), St George's Roll (E406), Heralds' Roll (HE317), Charles' Roll (F207).[14][15]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Foster, Joseph (1883). The Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire. Westminster: Nichols and Sons. pp. 116–117.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cokayne, George Edward (1902). Complete Baronetage. Vol. II. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co., Ltd. pp. 120–121.
  3. ^ "Chichester, Sir John, 1st Bt. (1623-67), of Raleigh, nr. Barnstaple, Devon and the Strand, Westminster, History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  4. ^ The inscription on the monument of Sir Robert Chichester states clearly that he was the son of Sir John Chichester by Anne Dennis and died in 1627 aged 48, giving a date of birth of 1579. His father Sir John must have been at least 18 on his son's birth, giving him a birth date of c. 1559, making him therefore older than his two eminent peer brothers, Arthur born in 1563 and Edward born in 1568. The fact that he inherited, apparently due to primogeniture, the principal paternal manor of Raleigh, in the parish church of which at Pilton his father was buried and has an elaborate monument, also seems to confirm that he was the eldest son. He appears to have had a brother also named John, who was Governor of Carrickfergus, beheaded by Irish rebels in 1597, unless the two brothers John are in fact the same person
  5. ^ "Chichester, Sir Arthur, 3rd Bt. (c.1662-1718), of Youlston, Devon, History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  6. ^ "Chichester, Sir John, 4th Bt. (1689-1740), of Youlston, nr. Barnstaple, Devon, History of Parliament Online". www.histparl.ac.uk.
  7. ^ a b c "Chichester, Sir James (Henry Edward)". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. ^ "Chichester, Sir Arthur". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ^ "Chichester, Rear-Adm. Sir Edward". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ^ Wikisource:Devonshire Characters and Strange Events/Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Chichester, Bart.
  11. ^ "Chichester, Sir Edward (George)". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  12. ^ "Chichester, Sir (Edward) John". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  13. ^ Heath, Edward. "Chichester, Sir Francis Charles (1901–1972)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30923. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  14. ^ Source: Brian Timms Website
  15. ^ Reed, Margaret, Pilton its Past and its People, Barnstaple, 1977, p.244, gives erroneous arms for Raleigh of Pilton as the arms of the family of Sir Walter Raleigh, the Elizabethan adventurer, namely: Gules, five fusils conjoined in bend argent