William O’Brien The Earl of Inchiquin 1675 - 1680
The 2nd Earl of Inchiquin (Irish Peerage) 1675 – 1680 accompanied his father to Portugal in 1660 to help the Portuguese against the Spanish. Both were captured by pirates in the Tagus; William lost the sight of his left eye in the fight, and was held captive in Algiers for a year.

In 1674 he succeeded to the title, and the following year was appointed Governor of Tangier to replace the late Earl of Middleton. He was not a great success in this appointment as he was regarded as ineffectual and tactless and indeed was absent for two of the five years of his Governorship, with Sir Palmes Fairborne acting as his Deputy. In 1680 he was recalled to London to answer for his conduct.

In 1690 he was appointed Captain General and Governor of Jamaica by King William III, but again he was not a success. He died after sixteen months on 16th January 1692 and was buried in the Parish Church of St Jago de la Vega in Jamaica.
•
•
© The Queen's Royal Surrey Regimental Association.