The Riddell Collection of Wax Seals:
Seal Life Stories: the remarkable careers of 23 individuals from the Riddell Collection of Wax Seals
21: george augustus chichester, 2nd Marquess of Donegal (1769-1844)
George Augustus Chichester, Marquis of Donegall (National Portrait Gallery, London. Licence: Creative Commons by NC ND
Born at St James's, Westminster to Arthur Chichester, 1st Marquess of Donegall and Lady Anne Hamilton, George served as representative in the Irish House of Commons for Carrickfergus, County Antrim, before succeeding his father as second Marquess of Donegall in 1799. Admitted to the Irish Privy Council in 1803, he later served as Lord Lieutenant for County Donegal. In 1821 he was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick when George IV visited Ireland.
George had inherited vast estates along with his title and developed a love of gambling. His father paid his debts several times before allowing him to be sent to the debtors prison.
While inside, he was offered payment by a lawyer named May to secure his release in return for marrying his daughter Anna (August 1795). The couple fled to Belfast where they raised seven sons, the eldest of whom was engaged to marry a daughter of the earl of Shaftesbury in 1819.
An anonymous letter was sent to the Marquess to inform him that his marriage to Anna May had been performed illegally and that all their children were therefore illegitimate. A retrospective change in the law was achieved, with the agreement that the Marquess would pay off the entirety of his debts. The subsequent sale of a huge proportion of Donegal’s estates had the effect of weakening the power of the aristocracy in Ireland.