Chichester
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Arthur, Baron Chichester (1563-1625), army officer and administrator, was
born
at Raleigh, Devon, in May 1563, and was five and a half years old when his
father
died
on 30 November 1568. He was the second son (in a family of seven sons and nine
daughters)
of Sir John Chichester of Raleigh, landowner, and Gertrude, daughter of Sir
William
Courtenay of Powderham Castle.
Education
and early career Chichester
matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford, in 1583, but did not graduate. This
may
have been due to financial considerations and he probably left university to
join the
army.
At that time the increasing intensity of the war with Spain presented
opportunities
for
career soldiers; by 1588, when he took part in the naval operation which
frustrated the
Spanish
Armada, Chichester already had substantial military experience, having attained
the
rank of captain, probably of marines.
A
promising military career was jeopardized in 1592 by Chichester's involvement in
a
notorious
attack on the queen's purveyor. The incident was not a simple case of highway
robbery
but a factional feud and Chichester and his kinsmen were summoned to appear
before
the English privy council. In serious trouble, Chichester absconded, sought
refuge
with
relatives in Ireland, and subsequently lay low for several years; exactly where
is not
clear.
He is next heard of in 1595 as a captain of marines on Sir Francis Drake's last
voyage
to the New World, where he distinguished himself in military operations, not
least
by
setting fire to the frigate of a Spanish admiral at Puerto Rico. His reputation
restored,
he
was promoted serjeant-major-general of the English army in Picardy. Wounded in
the
shoulder
during the siege of Amiens in 1597, he was knighted by the French king for his
valour. With the onset of the campaign against the earl of Tyrone in Ireland in 1594 it was only a matter of time before an experienced officer such as Chichester would be drawn into the conflict. The personal circumstances which provided the background to his involvement were important not only in dictating his comportment during the war, but also his later conduct as lord deputy of Ireland. His brother Sir John Chichester, governor of Carrickfergus, after notable military successes, had lost his life in a battle with the MacDonnells in Co. Antrim in 1597, his severed head forwarded as a trophy of war to Tyrone's camp, where it was reputed to have been kicked about like a football. When, therefore, Chichester arrived as part of the earl of Essex's expedition to Ireland in 1599, a desire for vengeance and restoration of family honour was apparent. Indeed, Chichester went to great lengths to obtain his brother's command at Carrickfergus, a highly dangerous posting in the wake of Tyrone's striking victory against English forces at the Yellow Ford in 1598. Ruins
of Dunluce Castle, power-base of the MacDonnells of Antrim. Scene of the
assassination of Sir James MacDonnell, by poisoning, in retaliation for the
death of Sir John Chichester. The plot seems to have been hatched by Sir Robert
Cecil in order to assuage the anger of Sir Arthur Chichester. Chichester's
rise through the ranks of the English army and officialdom, however, was
temporarily interrupted by the threat of financial ruin. Following Lord
Mountjoy's appointment to the viceroyalty in 1600, Chichester was forced to
return to England for a short time on private business, reportedly being on the
verge of bankruptcy.
Carrickfergus
Castle Mountjoy's
relatively successful prosecution of the war owed much to both
Chichester's
advice and his practical implementation of an effective military strategy in
the
north. Chichester was to the fore in advocating the twin-pronged approach of
encumbering
Tyrone's forces by a ring of garrisons combined with a ruthless policy of
despoliation.
Of the latter strategy he infamously remarked, 'a million swords will not do
them
so much harm as one winter's famine' (Chichester to Cecil, 21 May 1600, PRO, SP
63/207iii/53).
Ruthlessly efficient in the manner in which he subsequently carried out this
policy
of 'extermination' (Falls, 67), it was this trait which earned him his elevated
status
in
the pantheon of English hate-figures in Irish history. After one raid across
Lough
Neagh,
Chichester personally testified that he spared neither woman, child, nor beast.
On
reflection,
he acknowledged that in this period of his career in Ireland he had been among
the
'wasters and destroyers', though he later preferred to join the ranks of the
'builders
and
planters' (Chichester to Salisbury, November 1610, PRO, SP 63/229/135). However,
it
was precisely because of his successful military strategy that he enjoyed a
growing
reputation
which ultimately was rewarded with his appointment to the lord deputyship in
February
1605. Shortly after his appointment, on 8 April 1605, he married Letitia
(Lettice),
widow of Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove, Carmarthen, and of John
Langhorne
ofSt Bride's, Pembrokeshire, and daughter of Sir John Perrot, a former lord
deputy
of Ireland. They had only one child, Arthur, born on 22 September 1606, who
survived
little more than a month and was buried in Christ Church, Dublin, on 31 October
1606
and later reinterred in the family vault at Carrickfergus. Artist’s
impression of Chichester leaving Carrickfergus Lord deputy of Ireland, 1605-1616 Chichester
served almost exactly eleven years as lord deputy, 'one of the most powerful
positions
in European politics' (A. Hadfield and W. Maley, Introduction: Irish
representations
and English alternatives'. Representing Ireland: Literature
and the
Origins
of Conflict, 1534-1660, ed. B. Bradshaw, A. Hadfield, and
W. Maley, 1993, 13).
Fundamental
to his analysis of England's problem in Ireland was the Catholicism of the
vast
majority of the indigenous populace which he considered constituted a threat to
English
interests. His view, like so many contemporaries, protestant or Catholic, was
that
political
allegiance was measured by religious affiliation and one king meant, or should
mean,
one religion. Seeking to grasp the nettle of the Catholic issue, Chichester
launched
his
novel 'mandates' policy in 1605-6. He aimed to reduce Irish Catholics to
conformity
by
both coercion and persuasion. Persecution, using mandates (a prerogative
procedure),
was
designed to break the back of Catholic recalcitrance. Reinvigorating the Church
of
Ireland
and providing ministers to inculcate the new 'converts' was intended to bind the
Irish
to protestantism in the longer term. Symptomatic of Chichester's pragmatic
approach
was
his sponsorship of the translation of protestant religious texts and prayers
into Gaelic.
Hardly surprisingly, Irish Catholics did not appreciate Chichester's
'enlightened' approach, the
activities
of rampaging troops and priest-hunters giving rise to considerable resentment.
The
targeting of the Catholic Old English (who had largely remained loyal to the
English
crown
during the Nine Years' War of 1594-1603) as the primary focus of the mandates
campaign
precipitated conspiratorial activities. Intensely aggrieved, elements of the Old
English
conspired with Tyrone. Ultimately, apprehending that he had been compromised
by
his treasonable activities, and fearing Chichester's deep personal antipathy
towards
him,
the earl fled to exile in what has become known as the flight of the earls in
1607. For
Chichester,
the way was at last paved for the plantation of Ulster. Despite Chichester's demonic reputation in Irish nationalist historiography, the lord deputy was not a supporter of expansive plantation plans in Ulster at the expense of the local inhabitants, preferring to allocate to:
every
man of note or good desert so much as he can conveniently stock
and
manure
by
himself and his tenants and followers, and so much more as by conjecture he
shall
be
able to so stock and manure for five years to come. (Chichester to privy
council,
17
Sept 1607, PRO, SP 63/222/137) The
lord deputy hoped to lure the indigenous Ulster population away from their
fidelity to
their
traditional lords by an imaginative policy of inducement. At first it appeared
that
Chichester's
plans would be implemented as the king and privy council in England
indicated
that his advice would be followed, but as it turned out Chichester was not to be
the
architect of the Ulster plantation, as has so often been suggested. The eruption
of
O'Doherty's
rising in 1608 panicked the London authorities into giving way to the advice
of
others who suggested that the best way to extirpate the menace of a northern
revolt was
to
opt for a massive influx of British settlers instead. Chichester greatly feared
the
consequences
of the native Irish in Ulster receiving a paltry share of the lands on offer,
believing
that acute grievances would inevitably spawn revolt. In an effort to avert a
catastrophe
befalling the plantation he resorted to a transportation project. Disaffected
elements
from Ireland, mostly from Ulster, were deported. As many as 6000 were shipped
out.
Alert to the dangers of transporting 'swordsmen' to a hostile Catholic country,
Chichester
dispatched them to protestant Sweden instead, in an attempt to remove them
permanently
from harm's way. His only worry was that 'at their coming thither [Sweden]
they
will run to the adverse side and thereby discover the perfidy of their nation'
(Chichester
to Salisbury, 31 Oct 1609, PRO, SP 63/227/150). His concerns were realized
when,
during a battle between Swedish forces and the army of the Catholic king of
Poland,
a number of Irish companies in the service of Sweden duly deserted.
Despite his endeavours to rid Ulster of potentially rebellious elements the fact
remains
that
Chichester was appalled by the London government's change of tack on the
plantation
issue.
He believed that expectations were far too high. As an experienced military
commander
he would have been acutely conscious of the enormous logistical problems
attendant
on the building and settlement plans which were given three years for
realization.
Not surprisingly, in the short term the Ulster plantation made dilatory progress
when
measured against expectations. As a result, when decisions were later taken to
extend
the plantation policy to other parts of Ireland (to Wexford and other parts of
Leinster),
Chichester's preferred model of allocating the largest share of plantation lands
to
the local inhabitants was employed. Not that local opponents of the plantation
projects
appreciated
Chichester's 'generosity'. Such was the vehemence of opposition to his
plantation
plans in Wexford that the settlement was unable to proceed for some years.
What
particularly enraged the Wexford men was the duplicitous conduct of Chichester's
administration.
Having been encouraged to sue for firmer legal titles to their lands, a legal
loophole
was unearthed which rendered those titles invalid, thereby paving the way for
confiscation
and redistribution of the land by the crown. For Chichester matters of state
superseded
legal proprieties. This was evident in his response to suggestions that the
Wexford
controversy might spill into violence. In his view, there had been more reason
to
have
'doubted the men of Ulster who are forty times more in number, and I am assured
greater
grievance and harder measure was offered unto them' (Chichester to
Northampton,14 Aug 1613, BL, Cotton MS Titus B.X.224). Strategic considerations,
reflecting his
military
background, were uppermost in the lord deputy's mind as he sought to establish a
vigilant
presence in areas from which rebellion had particularly threatened the pale
during
the
sixteenth century.
In
the wake of the flight of the earls in 1607, and while the plantation of Ulster
was
being
planned and implemented between 1607 and 1610, the volatile situation in Ireland
forced
Chichester to suspend his penal activities against Catholics. Since, however, he
considered
the protestantization of Ireland to be the 'greatest and most sacred work his
Majesty
[King James] can do' (lord deputy and council to privy council, 5 Dee 1605,
PRO,
SP 63/217/95), it is not surprising that he availed himself of a hardening of
attitudes
in
London on the Catholic issue to relaunch a vigorous bid to suppress Catholicism
in
Ireland.
This time the oath of supremacy was employed as the catch-all method of
enforcing
religious conformity among the Catholic elites in the country. Having almost
entirely
purged Catholics from central government in the early stages of his
administration
(the
earl of Clanricard, a royal favourite, being the only exception), Chichester
extended
the
policy to municipal government-Catholics were excluded from office as mayors,
sheriffs,
and bailiffs. The renewed campaign of persecution reached its pitch with the
public
execution on I February 1612 of two Catholic clerics in Dublin: Cornelius
O'Devany,
the octogenarian Catholic bishop of Down and Connor, and Patrick
O'Loughran,
former chaplain to the earl of Tyrone, were sentenced to death for treason.
Chichester
believed that annihilating the influence of the Catholic clergy in Ireland was
fundamental
to his campaign. These executions, therefore, were designed to terrorize the
Catholic
community, lay and clerical alike. Reacting to suggestions that O'Devany and
O'Loughran
were regarded among Irish Catholics as saints and martyrs, the deputy
reportedly
declared that he had every intention of increasing the complement of Irish
martyrs.
In practice, however, Chichester was unable to eradicate the Catholic clergy by
'fire
and sword' (Chichester to privy council, 5 Feb 1609, PRO, SP 63/226/21). Such
were
the
hysterical scenes at the executions that the London government baulked at
further such
punishments.
Chichester continued in favour, however, and a year later, on 23 February
1613,
was created Baron Chichester of Belfast.
Frustrated
in his attempt to reduce Catholics to conformity to the protestant religion by
executing
their clergy, Chichester maximized pressure in other ways. He was keen to
utilize
the Irish legislature to pass additional anti-Catholic measures and, as
protestants
constituted
a tiny minority in Ireland at the time, he manufactured a protestant majority in
the
legislature, giving rise to a political crisis in May 1613. Dramatic scenes
occurred in
the
Irish House of Commons during the election to the speakership. Unwilling to
recognize
the protestant 'majority', the leader of the Catholic MPs, Sir John Everard,
ascended
the speaker's chair in unconventional fashion. He was just as unceremoniously
removed
by an enraged protestant contingent who wrestled him from his seat. As a result
the
Catholics walked out en masse, subsequently abstaining from
parliament for well over
a
year while their grievances were adjudicated in England. In what amounted to the
most
co-ordinated
effort to oust Chichester as deputy, there were rumours in England that he
had
been culpable of misconduct. In the end, however, menacing Catholic tactics
alienated
James I who branded them 'half subjects' (J. S. Brewer and W. Bullen, eds.,
Calendar
of the Carew Manuscripts, 5, 1871, 288-92). By the
time Chichester's term of
office
as lord deputy terminated in February 1616 he had managed to incline King James
to
his view that Irish Catholics were not to be trusted. A wide-ranging package of
anti-Catholic
measures, proposed by Chichester, was ratified by the king in 1614.
During
1614 the sequence of events leading to Chichester's replacement as lord
deputy
gathered pace. He had become seriously ill, prompting a senior official in the
Irish
administration
to predict his imminent demise. A rumour even swept London that he had
died.
Chichester survived this bout of illness and after he had steered a subsidy bill
through
the Irish parliament in the following year King James terminated his appointment
as lord deputy, citing concerns for Chichester's personal welfare.
Thus
concluded a long and highly eventful lord deputyship. A vigilant, perhaps at
times
paranoiac, lord deputy, Chichester played a pivotal role in securing the English
conquest
of Ireland in 1603. Backsliding had already occurred under his predecessor, the
aged
and infirm Sir George Carey. But for Chichester, it is a moot point whether the
conquest
would ever have been consolidated. A recrudescence of the power-base of the
earl
of Tyrone was by no means inconceivable. As a contemporary, Thomas Gainsford,
remarked,
Chichester 'watched those parts of the North more narrowly than any before
him'
(T. Gainsford, The True and Exemplary and Remarkable
History of the Earle of
Tirone,
1619). Chichester's tenure of office as lord deputy was also marked by a major
judicial
and administrative development in Ireland, with the successful regularization of
a
nationwide
system of assize circuits for the first time. Overall there is substantial
evidence
to
suggest that while Chichester was virulently anti-Catholic his tenure of office
was not
marked
by anti-Irish sentiment. He did not subscribe to the contemporary view among
elements
of the English who regarded the Irish as an inferior race. While often giving
vent
to
his frustrations at the apparent incorrigibility of the Catholic Irish,
Chichester always
hoped
to win them round to his way of thinking, whether by force or persuasion.
Indeed,
had
he managed to protestantize the indigenous Irish it is clear that he would have
seen
little
value in disappropriating them and bringing in so many 'British' settlers. As
Cyril
Falls
remarked, by the time Chichester became lord deputy: there
was coming a remarkable change, which continued throughout his viceroyalty,so
that, by the end of it, he is hardly to be recognized as the relentless Governor
of
Carrickfergus.
There is some excuse for regarding him as an inhuman monster in
those
early days, but historians who persist in picturing him as such when he was
Lord
Deputy cannot have read his letters, or are deliberately concealing their good
side.
(Falls, 222) While
there is considerable currency in Falls's remarks, he overstated his case.
Chichester's
ghoulish streak continued to be manifest at times during his lord deputyship,
not
least by his blood-curdling utterances at the time of the execution of Bishop
O'Devany
in
1612. What is more, it has been suggested that he was the first person to
sanction the
employment
of the rack as a means of torture during the ill-fated Ulster conspiracy of
1615,
a putative plot which ultimately only offered a token menace to the plantation. Later
career, death, and reputation Following
his retirement from the lord deputyship Chichester spent some years
completing
his stately mansion, Joymount, in Carrickfergus, as well as looking after his
ailing
wife, who died on 27 November 1620 and was buried on 10 January 1621 at
Carrickfergus.
In May 1622 Chichester was summoned into service again, being sent as
ambassador
on a high-profile mission to the Palatinate in the Habsburg empire. While
abroad
he contracted what he later referred to as 'my German sickness' (Chichester to
Calvert,
28 Dee 1622, PRO, SP 14/134/96), an illness which recurred in subsequent years.
On
his return in late 1622 he was appointed to the English privy council, and was
even
considered
a serious candidate for the post of lord treasurer of England. For the sake of
royal
finances it is perhaps just as well that he did not succeed in attaining this
lofty
position.
When he died in London on 19 February 1625 from pleurisy the formerly
indigent
Elizabethan captain was the proprietor of 100,000 acres earning some £6000
yearly,
though his estates were encumbered by vast debts, including one of £10,000.
Seven
months after his death his body was finally buried on 27 October 1625 in St
Nicholas'
Church, Carrickfergus.
Chichester
family vault, St.Nicholas’ church, Carrickfergus. Sir John Chichester is also
buried here, the vault including his image (head included). Having decapitated
Sir John following the battle of Altfracken in 1597, Sir Randal McDonnell was to
query on visiting the vault ‘how the de’il came he (Sir John) to get his
heid again? – for I was sure I had ance ta’en it frae him’.
Historical
Reputation |
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