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Richard Chichester (1423-1496), lord of the manor of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple, North Devon, was twice Sheriff of Devon, in 1469 and 1475.
He was the son and heir of Sir John Chichester (1385-1437) of Raleigh (who fought in the Battle of Agincourt (1415) in the retinue of the Sieur de Harrington) by his wife Alice Wotton, daughter and co-heiress of John Wotton, lord of the manor of Widworthy, Devon. Sir John was the son and heir of John Chichester (fl.1365) (lord of the manors of Treverbin in Cornwall and of Beggerskewish and Donwer in Somerset.) by his wife Thomasine de Raleigh (d.1402), daughter and heiress of Sir John De Raleigh of Raleigh.
He was a minor aged 14 on his father's death and entered wardship to a person unknown. He served as Sheriff of Devon in 1469 and 1475.
Chichester married twice. His first wife was Margaret Keynes, daughter of Nicholas Keynes, lord of the manor of Winkleigh, Devon, by whom he had three sons and two daughters.
His eldest son and heir apparent was John. He married Thomasine Steyning, the daughter of William Steyning, but died childless in 1477, before his father. Chichester's second son, Nicholas (c. 1447 – before 1496), also predeceased his father, having married Christine Paulet (widow of Henry Hull of Larkbear), the third daughter of Sir Nicholas Pawlet of Sampford Peverell in Devon, who survived him and remarried twice. By his wife Nicholas had children including John Chichester (1472-1537/8), heir to his grandfather, who by his marriage to the great heiress Margaret Beaumont, inherited substantial lands in Devon, including the manor of Shirwell, in which was Youlston, the former Beaumont seat, for which the Chichester family eventually abandoned Raleigh.
Chichester's third son by Margaret was Richard, who married Thomasine de Hall (died 1502), the heiress of Hall, in the parish of Bishops Tawton, and founded that line of the family, whose descendants (in a female line) still owned the estate as of 2012. Chichester's two daughters were Margaret, wife of John Hensley, and Elizabeth, who was the first wife of John Berry of Ilfracombe, Devon, whose son founded the family of Berry of East Leigh, Bideford.
Richard Chichester's second wife was Elizabeth Sapcott. She was the daughter of Sir John Sapcott, and survived her husband, dying in 1502. They had no children.
Chichester died on 25 December 1496 and his Inquisition post mortem was taken in 1498. His ledger stone survives set into the floor of the chancel aisle of Pilton Church. His heir was his grandson John Chichester (1472-1537/8), eldest son and heir apparent of Nicholas Chichester.