Dermot Richard Claud Chichester: Dermot Richard Claud Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall, who died last week at the age of 91, was the second son of the 4th, Baron Templemore.
After going to Harrow School near London and to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, he was commissioned in the 7th Hussars who were stationed in Egypt.
Always an enthusiast for horses and racing, he was persuaded to keep a racehorse, even though he had promised his father he would not do so. Just as he was about to run the horse in a race, his father, on his way to the Far East, dropped in for the weekend.
So in order to avoid parental displeasure, he persuaded a friend to go to the course and buy up all the racecards making it impossible for the punters to know the names of the owners.
The second World War broke out while he was still in north Africa and in 1941 he was captured fighting in Libya. On his way to Germany, the train on which he was travelling was bombed and in the confusion many of the prisoners, including Dermot Chichester, escaped but were soon recaptured.
They remained in prison until Italy surrendered in 1944. The Italian commandant immediately opened the gates of the prison, even though that part of Italy was still under German control.
Dermot Chichester took to the mountains where he spent the winter on the run, fed by the peasants who did not like the Germans. From a hideout, he had a grandstand view of the battle of Monte Cassino and was then able to walk to the Allied lines.
In 1951, he came back to Dunbrody Park in Arthurstown in Co Wexford, an estate that had been in the family since the dissolution of Dunbrody Abbey in the 16th century.
His elder brother had been killed in action in 1942, so when his father died he inherited the title of Templemore and also that of Baron Fisherwick which is an English title. This allowed him to sit in the House of Lords where he was a member of the conservative Monday Club.
He was asked to join the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, a troop that had been founded by Henry VIII for the protection of the sovereign and whose battle honours are the Battle of Spurs, the Field of the Cloth of Gold and the Siege of Boulogne.
It now gathers for ceremonial occasions as a bodyguard of Queen Elizabeth when the members carry both swords and battleaxes. Dermot Chichester became the standard bearer, one of the four officers of the corps.
In Wexford, he had joined the Masonic lodge and for 10 years was the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland.
In 1975, on the death of a distant cousin, he inherited the marquessate of Donegall. (It is said that Donegall is spelt with two Ls because the herald who drew up the original patent could not spell!). Besides the marquessate, he held six other hereditary titles including Lord High Admiral of Lough Neagh and Governor of Carrickfergus Castle in Co Antrim. The Chichesters were also the heirs of Sir Arthur Chichester who as Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord High Treasurer had been granted huge estates in Ireland, including great tracts of Belfast most of which were sold in the 1850s, turning it from a landlord's town to a rapidly-expanding city of freeholders.
Dermot Chichester was keenly interested in racing and was appointed senior steward of the National Hunt Committee. He was a noted breeder of racehorses, his last success being only a few weeks ago when his horse, Dunbrody Millar won the John Smith's Topham Chase at Aintree.
He was also an enthusiastic shot and fisherman, and was joint Master of the Wexford Hounds for 10 years.
The affairs of the Church of Ireland claimed much of his time, as he was on many diocesan and national committees as well as being involved in his local parish, Killesk.
A man of charm and integrity with a most unassuming nature, (there is one story about how he was mistaken for the gardener), he inspired great affection among his friends and employees.
Dunbrody Park has been sold to become a hotel, but Dermot Chichester, Marquess of Donegall, continued to live on the estate in the steward's house. In 1946, he married Lady Josceline Legge, daughter of the Earl of Dartmouth, who died in 1995.
He is survived by his son, Patrick, the present Marquess and two daughters Julie Fraser and Jennifer "Chich" Fowler.
Dermot Richard Claud Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall: born April 18th, 1916; died April 19th, 2007.