Henry was born in 1705, most likely at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, where the Jacobite Court was. He was the second of the five sons of Arthur Dillon and his wife Christina Sheldon. His father was born in 1670 in Ireland, had fought for the Jacobites in the Williamite War and had gone to France as the colonel of Dillon's Regiment with the Irish Brigade in April 1690 when Irish troops were sent to France in exchange for French troops sent to Ireland with Lauzun. He was a younger son of the 7th Viscount Dillon. His father's family was Old English Irish and descended from Sir Henry Dillon who came to Ireland with Prince John in 1185. Henry's mother was a daughter of Ralph Sheldon, and Dominic Sheldon, the English Catholic Jacobite, was her uncle. She was a maid of honour to Queen Mary of Modena, wife of James II. Both parents were thus Jacobites and Catholics. They had five sons and several daughters.
Early life and career
While Henry was a child, he lived with his mother at the court in exile of James Francis Edward at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Louis XIV had recognised James Francis Edward as the rightful heir to the English, Scottish and Irish thrones. Dillon's Regiment, led by Henry's father, fought for France in the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV made Henry's father lieutenant-general in 1706 and comte de Dillon in 1711. However, in 1713 France signed the Peace of Utrecht recognising the Hanoverian succession and ending its support for the Jacobites. James Francis Edward had to leave France and went to Lorraine, then to Avignon, and finally to Italy. His mother, the dowager queenMary of Modena, however, stayed behind at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and died there in 1718. On 13 January 1714 Henry's uncle the 8th Viscount Dillon died in Dublin, Ireland. This uncle had been attainted as Jacobite in 1691 but had been pardoned and had obtained the reversal of the attainder in 1693. He therefore got back his title and lands. The 8th Viscount was succeeded by his son Richard as the 9th Viscount Dillon, to whom Charles would succeed later in his life as the 10th Viscount. In 1716 Henry, aged 11, was made an ensign to the Colonel, his father, in the Regiment. In 1722 James Francis Edward Stuart, who now resided in Rome, created Henry's father Earl of Dillon. In 1730 his father retired from active service and on 1 May 1730 Charles became colonel of Dillon's Regiment. On 5 February 1733 N.S., his father died at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Charles, already colonel, now also succeeded in his father's titles: comte de Dillon in France and Earl of Dillon in the Jacobite peerage. Henry, aged 25, was promoted Captain in May 1730. During the War of the Polish Succession, Henry and his elder brother Charles fought under Marshal Berwick, the commander of Louis XV's Rhine army, at the Siege of Kehl and then the Siege of Philippsburg where Berwick was beheaded by a chance cannonball. In 1737 Richard, the 9th Viscount, died and Henry's elder brother Charles, already comte and earl, succeeded as the 10th Viscount in the Irish peerage.
Viscount and Colonel
On 24 October 1741 Henry's elder brother Charles, the 10th Viscount Dillon and Colonel of Dillon's Regiment, died in London without surviving children. He was buried in St Pancras churchyard where Catholics were usually buried in London. Henry succeeded as the 11th Viscount Dillon and as colonel proprietor of Dillon's regiment. During the War of the Austrian Succession France challenged the succession of Maria Theresa to the Habsburg Monarchy. Lord Dillon, as he now was, participated in the Battle of Dettingen on 27 June 1743. Being a peer of Ireland, Lord Dillon resigned the colonelcy in favour of his brother James and left France in 1744 as England prepared a law to forbid its citizens to fight for foreign countries. His brother James succeeded him as colonel-proprietor of Dillon's Regiment.
Marriage and children
On 26 October 1744 Lord Dillon, aged 39, married Charlotte Lee, second daughter of George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield in a Catholic ceremony at the chapel of the Portuguese Embassy in London. She was probably born late in 1724 and accordingly was 19 at the time. Her father had died on 13 February 1742 and her brother George Henry had succeeded as the 3rd earl. Charlotte was a great-granddaughter of Charles II and Barbara Villiers by her paternal grandmother Charlotte Fitzroy. The marriage produced at least seven children:
Charles, succeeded him as the 12th Viscount Dillon;
Frances, married Sir William Jerningham, 6th Baronet Baronet Jerningham;
Henry, became the last colonel of Dillon's Regiment and married Frances Trant.
Second term as Colonel
Lord Dillon's brother James commanded the regiment as colonel-proprietor from 1744–1745 when he was killed in the Battle of Fontenoy fighting under Maréchal de Saxe for France against the English under the Duke of Cumberland. Thereupon the 4th brother, Edward, succeeded as colonel. He continued to fight with the regiment under de Saxe against the English under Cumberland, but in 1747 he was wounded at the Battle of Lauffeld, taken prisoner, and died. Dillon's brother Edward's unexpected death created a vacancy in the colonelcy of Dillon's Regiment that was hard to fill. The four brothers Charles, Henry, James, and Edward, had served one after the other as colonel, the fifth brother, Arthur Edward, was in holy orders. The only son born to Lord Dillon, Charles, was 18 months old at the time and destined to be viscount, not colonel. Eventually Louis XV allowed Lord Dillon, to serve a second term as colonel, even if absent abroad. This second term lasted 20 years 1747–1767, during which the regiment fought during the Seven Years' War under several hired commanders. During these twenty years another son was born and grew up. This was Arthur, born on 3 September 1750. He became owner and colonel of Dillon's Regiment on 25 August 1767 at the age of 16. He went to France and was sent to America to fight in the American Revolutionary War.
Lichfield inheritance
Charlotte, Lord Dillon's wife turned out to be a rich heiress. Her father, the George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield, had died in 1742, two years before her marriage. The 3rd earl, her only surviving brother George Lee, 3rd Earl of Lichfield married in 1745, but his marriage was childless. When he died in 1772, he was succeeded by their uncle Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield, whose marriage also was childless. When the uncle, the 4th Earl, died on 4 November 1776, the earldom went extinct. Henry's mother, the eldest surviving sister of the 2nd Earl, was the nearest relative and inherited the Lichfield estate. However, Henry and Charlotte never went to live at Ditchley House, which was probably inhabited by the last Earl's widow, Catharine, who died in 1784.
Death, succession, and timeline
Lord Dillon died on 15 September 1787 in Mansfield Street, London, and was buried at St. Pancras churchyard. He was succeeded by his eldest son Charles as the 12th Viscount.
