Chichester, Arthur, 1st Baron

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Chichester, Arthur, 1st Baron [I] (1563–1625). Lord deputy of Ireland. Chichester came from a Devon family, his mother being a Courtenay of Powderham. After serving against the Armada and taking part in the expedition against Cadiz in 1596, he went to Ireland and was appointed governor of Carrickfergus. In 1604 he was made lord deputy in succession to Mountjoy and held the post for a remarkable eleven years, retiring in 1615. In 1613 he was made an Irish baron. There were two prominent features of his administration—to weaken the loyalty of the native Irish to their chiefs, which resulted in the Flight of the Earls in 1607, and to encourage Scottish and English immigration to Ulster, where he acquired large estates. The moderation which has been perceived in his policy towards the catholics may have been more fatigue than principle, for he shared the current English contempt for the native Irish and believed their conversion to be essential, and his cautious approach to settlement was prudential rather than fundamental.

J. A. Cannon

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Chichester, Arthur, 1st Baron

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