Dermot Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall

Who was Dermot Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall?

Dermot Richard Claud Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall LVO was an Irish soldier, landowner and member of the House of Lords.

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. 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, grandson of Arthur Chichester, 1st Marquess of Donegall. He also inherited other titles, and was Lord High Admiral of Lough Neagh.