Chichester-Clark was born at Moyola Park, Castledawson, County Londonderry, his family's ancestral home.[3] He was the eldest of three children of James J. Lenox-Conyngham Clark and Marion Caroline Dehra, née Chichester.[3] His brother was James Chichester-Clark and his sister was Penelope Hobhouse, the garden writer and historian.[3] In 1924, his father changed the family name to Chichester-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 the Donegall Chichesters and were the heirs of the Dawsons of Castledawson, who had originally held Moyola Park.
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. When Edward Heath suspended the Stormont Government and Parliament in 1972, he asked Chichester-Clark to go with William 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 the February 1974 election he announced his retirement from the Londonderry constituency and did not put himself forward for reselection.[3]
Later life
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 The Arvon Foundation. He also helped with fundraising for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and with the development of the Museum of Illustration. Chichester-Clark was interviewed in 2012 and 2014 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project.[4][5]
Personal life
He was first married to Jane Helen Goddard, daughter of Air 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 executive Anthony Bull. They married in 1974 and had two sons; Adam and Thomas.[3][6] He owned homes in Fulham, London, and Yarlington, Somerset.[3]
During a holiday in Burnham 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]
