Sir Robert Chichester-Clark
Chichester-Clark in 1962
Minister of State for Employment
In office 7 April 1972 – 4 March 1974
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	Paul Bryan
Succeeded by	Albert Booth
Member of Parliament forLondonderry
In office 26 May 1955 – 8 February 1974
Preceded by	William Wellwood
Succeeded by	William Ross
Personal details
Born	(1928-01-10)10 January 1928 Castledawson, County Londonderry
Died	5 August 2016(2016-08-05) (aged 88) Burnham Overy, Norfolk, England
Resting place	Yarlington,Somerset, England
Political party	Ulster Unionist
Spouse(s)	Jane Helen Goddard ​ ​ (m. 1953; div. 1972)​ Caroline Bull ​ (m. 1974)​
Parents	James Lenox-Conyngham Clark (father) Marion Caroline Dehra Chichester (mother)
Relatives	James Chichester-Clark (brother) Penelope Chichester-Clark (sister) Dehra Parker (maternal grandmother) Robert Chichester (maternal grandfather) Emma Chichester Clark (daughter)
Education	Royal Naval College
Alma mater	Magdalene College, Cambridge

Sir Robert "Robin"Chichester-Clark (10 January 1928 – 5 August 2016)^[1][2] was a British politician who served as aMember of Parliament forLondonderry from 1955 until February 1974, and to date was the last MP representing a seat inNorthern Ireland to be a Britishgovernment minister.

Chichester-Clark was born atMoyola Park,Castledawson, County Londonderry, his family's ancestral home.^[3] He was the eldest of three children ofJames J. Lenox-Conyngham Clark and Marion Caroline Dehra, née Chichester.^[3] His brother wasJames Chichester-Clark and his sister wasPenelope Hobhouse, the garden writer and historian.^[3] In 1924, his father changed the family name toChichester-Clark by deed poll, thus preventing the old ascendancy name Chichester (his wife's maiden name) from dying out. On his mother's side the family are descended from theDonegall Chichesters and were the heirs of the Dawsons ofCastledawson, who had originally held Moyola Park.

He was educated at theRoyal Naval College,Dartmouth andMagdalene College, Cambridge.^[3] He began work as a journalist in 1949, worked aspublic relations officer forGlyndebourne 1952–3, before joining the publishing houseOxford University Press.^[3]

Chichester-Clark was elected forLondonderry at the1955 general election.^[3] He was the third generation of politicians from his family. His grandfather,Robert Chichester, represented South Londonderry at theImperial Parliament atWestminster; his grandmother,Dame Dehra Parker, and father were both members of theParliament of Northern Ireland. His brother,MajorJames Chichester-Clark, wasPrime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1971, but resigned in the face of increasing violence and internalUlster Unionist Party splits. The family were also active in politics in the 19th century and Chichester-Clark's great-great-grandfather, The Rt. Hon. George Robert Dawson, was Member of Parliament for Londonderry, later for an English constituency, before joining the government ofSir Robert Peel, whose sister Mary he married. They lived atCastledawson.^[3]

Chichester-Clark was consistently either a Front Bench Spokesman for the Opposition or a member of the Government of Harold Macmillan and, later, Edward Heath. He held the position of Assistant Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of the Treasury,Comptroller of the Household, was Conservative Spokesman for Northern Ireland and on the Arts, Shadow Minister of Public Building and Works and, ultimately, Minister of State for Employment. In 1970 he remained outside the UK government because of the Premiership of his brother in Northern Ireland. WhenEdward Heath suspended theStormont Government and Parliament in 1972, he asked Chichester-Clark to go withWilliam Whitelaw to Northern Ireland as Minister of State. Chichester-Clark did not accept but later joined the administration as Minister of State for Employment. Before theFebruary 1974 election he announced his retirement from the Londonderry constituency and did not put himself forward for reselection.^[3]

From 1974 he worked as a director of companies in the construction industry, as a political adviser to the NFBTE, as a management consultant and as chairman of the medical research charity RAFT (www.raft.ac.uk) and TheArvon Foundation. He also helped with fundraising for theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra and with the development of the Museum of Illustration. Chichester-Clark was interviewed in 2012 and 2014 as part ofThe History of Parliament's oral history project.^[4][5]

He was first married to Jane Helen Goddard, daughter ofAir Marshall Sir Robert Victor Goddard, KCB, CB. They married in 1953 and had three children,Emma, Mark and Sophia; they divorced in 1972.^[3] His second wife was the barrister Caroline Bull, daughter of the transport executiveAnthony Bull. They married in 1974 and had two sons; Adam and Thomas.^[3][6] He owned homes inFulham, London, andYarlington, Somerset.^[3]

During a holiday inBurnham Overy, Norfolk, Chichester-Clark died from a stroke on 5 August 2016, at the age of 88.^[3] He was buried near his home in Yarlington.^[3]

• Watson, Nigel (2020).Robin Chichester-Clark: A Passionate Moderate. London, England:Profile Books.ISBN 978-1-78816-244-9.

• Robin Chichester-Clark interview at History of Parliament Online
• The Papers of Sir Robin Chichester-Clark held atChurchill Archives Centre, Cambridge

• 1928 births
• 2016 deaths
• Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge
• Burials in Somerset
• Chichester family
• Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Londonderry constituencies (since 1922)
• Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964
• People from Castledawson
• People from Fulham
• Politicians from County Londonderry
• UK MPs 1955–1959
• UK MPs 1959–1964
• UK MPs 1964–1966
• UK MPs 1966–1970
• UK MPs 1970–1974
• Ulster Unionist Party MPs

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