Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Sir John Chicheley ( – 20 March 1691) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer. He commanded a squadron at the

Battle of Schooneveld The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 (New Style; 28 May and 4 June in the Julian calendar then in use in England) between an allied Anglo ...

in June 1673 and the

Battle of Texel The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the western coast of the island of Texel on 21 August 1673 (11 August O.S.) between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets. It was the last major battle of the T ...

in August 1673 during the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...

. He went on to be Commissioner of the Ordnance and then Senior Naval Lord. He was also a Member of Parliament.

Naval career

Born the second son of

Thomas Chicheley Sir Thomas Chicheley (25 March 1614 – 1 February 1699) of Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire was a politician in England in the seventeenth century who fell from favour in the reign of James II. His name is sometimes spelt as Chichele. Life He wa ...

Wimpole Wimpole is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. Until 1999, the main settlement on the A603 was officially known and signed as ''New Wimpole and Orwell, Camb ...

, Chicheley entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

to study the law in 1657. Promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1662 and to

post-captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...

in 1663, he took command of the

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...

HMS ''Milford'' in August 1664, of the

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

HMS ''Bristol'' in September 1664 and of the fourth-rate HMS ''Phoenix'' in December 1664. He went on to command the fourth-rate HMS ''Antelope'' in October 1665, the

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

HMS ''Fairfax'' in July 1666 and the third-rate HMS ''Rupert'' in August 1668. He served as an envoy to the

Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...

in 1670 and then took command of the third-rate HMS ''Dreadnought'' in 1671. Promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in 1672, Chicheley commanded a squadron at the

in June 1673 and the

in August 1673 during the

. He was elected to the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

as MP for

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

, Lancashire from 1679 to 1681, 1685 to 1687 and 1689 to 1691. Chicheley joined the

Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

under

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

in September 1677 but stood down to become Commissioner of the Ordnance in May 1679. He resigned as Commissioner of the Ordnance in January 1682 and returned to the Admiralty Board. After advancement to Senior Naval Lord in January 1690,Rodger, p. 34 he retired from the Board in June 1690. Chicheley died suddenly on 20 March 1691 and was buried at

St Giles in the Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. The parish stands within the London Borough of Camden and forms part of the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as the c ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Family

Chicheley married Isabella, the daughter and coheiress of Sir John Lawson of Alresford, Essex, and the widow of Daniel Norton of Southwick, Hampshire. They had four sons (two of whom predeceased him) and two daughters.

References

Sources

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiceley, John Members of the Inner Temple Royal Navy rear admirals English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 1640s births 1691 deaths People from Wimpole Lords of the Admiralty