Eva Chichester

Evelyn Maria Catherine Chichester was born in 1873 to the Reverend Robert Chichester, a Church of Ireland Clergyman in the Diocese of Derry, and his second wife Harriette Anne Catherine, the eldest daughter of Reverend Townley Blackwood Price.

Eva and her elder sister Anne Henrietta grew up ‘more like twins… we did everything together all our lives'. Their father died when Eva was 5 years old and the girls moved with their mother to Newcastle, County Down, in 1897.

As children, the girls were educated by a succession of governesses and sent to London each spring for music and singing lessons. In Newcastle they both became Sunday School teachers and dedicated their lives to social enterprise with the Church Mission Society.

Eva had many interests, she travelled widely through Europe and the British Isles and was a keen amateur photographer.

Following her sister’s death in 1927 and her mother the following year, playing the church organ saved Eva from her grief. She lived out her life alone in the family home devoted to her church and community. She died on 7 June 1958 leaving her estate to an Arthur O’Neill Chichester of Galgorm Castle, Ballymena.

Researcher: Noelle Patterson

PRONI Reference for Diary: D4563/1/3/5