Sir Arthur Chichester

The Lord Chichester
Anglo-Irish School portrait in the collection of Belfast Harbour Commissioners
Born	May 1563 Raleigh, Devon, England
Died	19 February 1625 (aged 61) London, England
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford
Spouse(s)	Lettice Perrot
Children	Arthur

Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester of Belfast (May 1563 – 19 February 1625), (known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester), was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1605 to 1616. He was instrumental in the founding and expansion of Belfast, now Northern Ireland's capital. Several streets are named in honour of himself and his nephew and heir Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, including Chichester Street and the adjoining Donegall Place, site of the Belfast City Hall.

Arthur Chichester was the second son of Sir John Chichester (d.1569), of Raleigh, Pilton, in North Devon, a leading member of the Devonshire gentry, a naval captain, and ardent Protestant who served as Sheriff of Devon in 1550-1551, and as Knight of the Shire for Devon in 1547, April 1554, and 1563, and as Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1559. Arthur's mother was Gertrude Courtenay, a daughter of Sir William III Courtenay (1477–1535) "The Great", of Powderham, Devon, 6th in descent from Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (died 1377), MP for Devon in 1529, thrice Sheriff of Devon, in 1522, 1525-6, 1533-4, an Esquire of the Body to King Henry VIII, whom he accompanied to the Field of the Cloth of Gold.