-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Dillon,_Count_Dillon

Arthur Count of Dillon

Was was a Jacobite soldier from Ireland who served in the French army.

Career

He was a younger son of Theobald, 7th Viscount Dillon who fought for James II of England and was killed at the Battle of Aughrim. In 1691, after their defeat at Limerick by William of Orange, the Jacobites went into exile under the terms of the Treaty of Limerick, with Arthur Dillon (like many other Irish Jacobites) choosing France. He was the lover of Mme de Tencin, when she found herself in the convent of Montfleury in 1708.

In France, he was made the colonel of the Dillon Regiment that his father had raised at his own expense in 1688. He became a maréchal de camp aged 34 and lieutenant général at only 36. He fought gloriously in the campaigns of Louis-Joseph de Vendôme in Spain and of François de Neufville de Villeroy in Italy, served under Claude Louis Hector de Villars (1708) and James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick (1709), and in 1713 he captured Kaiserslautern.

Titles

In 1711 Arthur was created "Comte de Dillon" in France by Louis XIV; and was awarded the Irish title "Earl of Dillon" in 1721 by the monarch he recognised as James III

Family

He married Catherine Sheldon, the daughter of an English Jacobite family, and a maid-of-honour to Mary of Modena, queen consort of James II of England. Catherine's parents were Ralph Sheldon of Ditchford, Worcs (1633–1723) and Elisabeth, heiress of Daniel Dunn of Garnish Hall in Essex. Their children included:

• Archbishop Arthur Richard Dillon
• Charles, 10th viscount (d. 1741)
• Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon
• James, killed at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745
• Edward, killed at the Battle of Lauffeld in 1747

He was also a grandfather of the French generals Arthur Dillon (1750-1794) and Théobald Dillon. He was a cousin of Gerard Lally.

He was a great-grandfather of the famous memoirist Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet, née Henriette-Lucy Dillon.

Notes:

• A Compendium of Irish Biography

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He was commissioned in 1690 with the rank of officer, in the service of the French Military.

He was Colonel Proprietor of the Dillon Regiment.

He gained the rank of Maréchal de Camp in 1705.

He held the office of Governor of Toulon.

He gained the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1706 in the service of the French Army.

He was decorated with the award of the Commander, Order of St. Louis of France.

He was created Comte Dillon [France] in 1711, by King Louis XIV.

He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Thistle (K.T.) in 1715 Jacobite.

He gained the title of Earl Dillon [Jacobite] on 24 June 1721.

He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of Nationary Biography.

References

• Hayes, R. (1942). Biographical Dictionary of Irishmen in France. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, 31(124), 477-492. Retrieved December 9, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30098105 page 487.
• http://www.pastellists.com/Genealogies/Dillon.pdf
• A compendium of Irish biography: comprising sketches of distinguished Irishmen, and of eminent persons connected with Ireland by office or by their writings by Webb, Alfred John. Page 150. Archive.Org