John Chichester (officer)

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John Chichester. Miniature by Philip Jean, around 1790

John Palmer Chichester ( 1769– November 1823 ) was a British officer and large landowner. He had a new mansion built in Arlington twice .

origin

John Chichester came from a Catholic line of the Chichester family , a gentry family from northern Devon . He was the eldest son of John Chichester (1707–1783) and his second wife Mary McDonald (1738–1815). He received his middle name Palmer in memory of his grandmother Catherine Palmer , who brought extensive estates in Wales into the family when they married. The Chichester family owned extensive estates in Devon and Wales, but as recusants , as Catholics who opposed the Church of England , the members of the family were excluded from public office.

Conversion to Anglicanism

Through his marriages to the daughters of other influential country nobles, Chichester improved his social standing. He made the decisive step for the further social advancement of his family in 1793 when he converted to Anglicanism because of his second marriage . He did this despite the opposition of his mother and other relatives, in addition he dismissed the Catholic clergyman who had previously employed his family in Arlington. In 1810 he became a colonel in the Royal Cardigan Rifle Corps militia unit , which is why he was also called Colonel Chichester .

Arlington's new building

In 1790, Chichester commissioned the architect John Meadows to build a new Georgian mansion in place of the old Tudor mansion in Arlington . Meadows died in 1791, after which Chichester himself took over the construction management and had the manor built. To do this, he had an English landscaped garden laid out around the house , which is why he had to evict some of his tenants and have their houses demolished. However, after less than thirty years, the new mansion showed significant construction defects. Chichester then had the architect Thomas Lee build a new, this time neo-classical mansion near the manor house and demolish the dilapidated manor house. However, he died shortly before the completion of his new mansion.

The first Arlington mansion, built after 1790 and demolished around 1820. Painting by Maria Pixell from 1797

Marriages and offspring

In 1790 Chichester married Mary Anne Cary , daughter of George Cary of Torre Abbey . She died on October 31, 1791 after giving birth to a daughter. On July 3, 1793, he married his second wife Agnes Hamilton († 1814), the eldest daughter of James Hamilton and his wife Margaret Bruce from Bangour . His wife was a niece of the famous explorer James Bruce . A few years after her death in 1822 he married Sophia Catherine Ford († 1847), a daughter of Sir Francis Ford, 1st Baronet from Embar Court in Surrey. From his first two marriages he had four sons and at least two daughters, including:

The third marriage with the much younger Sophia Ford remained childless. His heir became his eldest son, John.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ National Trust (ed.): Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum . Swindon, National Trust 2009, ISBN 978-1-84359-352-2 , p. 6.
  2. ^ National Trust (ed.): Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum . Swindon, National Trust 2009, ISBN 978-1-84359-352-2 , p. 28.
  3. ^ National Trust (ed.): Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum . Swindon, National Trust 2009, ISBN 978-1-84359-352-2 , p. 6.
  4. ^ National Trust (ed.): Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum . Swindon, National Trust 2009, ISBN 978-1-84359-352-2 , p. 7.
personal data
SURNAME Chichester, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chichester, John Palmer; Chichester, Colonel John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British officer and landowner
DATE OF BIRTH 1769
DATE OF DEATH November 1823