John Molesworth,2nd Viscount Molesworth Richard Molesworth,3rd Viscount Molesworth Hon. Robert Molesworth (I) Hon. William Molesworth Hon. Edward Molesworth Hon. Coote Molesworth (I) Hon. Robert Molesworth (II) Hon. Hamilton Walter Molesworth Hon. Coote Molesworth (II) Hon. Bysse Molesworth Hon. Robert Molesworth (III) Hon. Margaret Molesworth Hon. Mary Molesworth Hon. Letitia Molesworth (I) Hon. Charlotte Molesworth Hon. Letitia Molesworth (II)
Robert Molesworth was born on 7 September 1656,four days after the death of his father;[2] his mother Judith Bysse later remarried Sir William Tichborne of Beaulieu. He was probably raised by his mother's family,the Bysses,at Brackenstown,near Swords,County Dublin. In 1689 he was proscribed by James II's Patriot Parliament and fled from Ireland to London.[3]William III made him the English ambassador to Denmark partly to secure Danish mercenaries[3] and to break Denmark's alliance with France,[4] first in a private mission and from 1692 as envoy extraordinaire[5] He had to leave Denmark quickly.[5]
On his return animosity from William III meant he was unable to secure any position despite backing from influential Whig ministers.[3] Instead he became the center of the more radical Commonwealthmen faction of the Whigs and the Earl of Shaftesbury regarded him as a mentor.[6] He was regarded as the most quoted liberal Whig of his lifetime.[1]
In 1720,Molesworth and his grandson lost a significant investment in the South Sea Bubble. In Parliament,since his colleagues suggested there was no law under which to punish the perpetrators,he called for the Commons to "upon this occasion follow the example of the ancient Romans,who,having no law against parricide,because their legislators supposed no son could be so unnaturally wicked as to embrue his hands in his father's blood,made one to punish so heinous a crime as soon as it was committed;and adjudged the guilty wretch to be thrown alive,sewn up in a sack,into the Tiber". He concluded that he would see the same punishment applied to the directors of the South Sea Company,calling them the parricides of their country.[9]
Works
Molesworth's An Account of Denmark,as it was in the Year 1692[10] was somewhat influential in the burgeoning field of political science in the period. He made a case for comparative political analysis,comparing the political situation of a country to the health of an individual;a disease,he reasoned,can only be diagnosed by comparing it to its instantiation in other people.[11]
He also translated from French Franco-Gallia,which argued for an elective monarchy and that sovereignty rested in representative institutions.[12]
With his wife Hon. Letitia Coote,Molesworth had eleven sons and six daughters:[14][15]
John Molesworth,2nd Viscount Molesworth of Swords (4 December 1679 –17 or 18 February 1725/26). Ambassador at the Court of Tuscany and Sardinia in 1710 and 1720. He married Mary,daughter and co-heir of Thomas Middleton Esq. of Stansted Mountfitchet,Essex,by whom he had a posthumous daughter Mary,who married Frederick Gore Esq.,M.P.
The Hon. Elizabeth (wife of James Stewart Esq. of Killymoon)
The Hon. Mary and,who died with her mother in the fire at their London house,6 May 1763.
The Hon. Melosina,who died with her mother in the fire at their London house,6 May 1763.
The Hon. Robert Molesworth I (living in 1688)
Captain The Hon. William Molesworth (born 1688,died 6 March 1770),MP for Philipstown. His son Robert became 6th Viscount Molesworth. Married Anne,eldest daughter of Robert Adair Esq. of Holybrook,County Wicklow.
Major The Hon. Edward Molesworth (born c.1689,died 29 November 1768). Married firstly,in Sept 1718 Catherine Middleton,daughter of Thomas Middleton,with whom he had a son Robert. Edward married as his second wife Mary Renouard and had a son John (d.1791). John's son was the Rev. John Molesworth (d.1877),whose sons included Sir Guildford Lindsey Molesworth (d. 1925) and solicitor John Molesworth (d.1886),the grandfather of Margaret Patricia Molesworth (1904–1985) who is the grandmother of Sophie,Duchess of Edinburgh. Another son was the Rev. Rennell Molesworth (died 1906),grandfather of Lady Mogg née Margaret Molesworth (1914-2018).[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]
The Hon. Coote Molesworth I (born c.1689)
The Hon. Robert Molesworth II (born c.1692)
The Hon. Walter Molesworth (born after 1692,between Robert II and Letitia II,died 1773). He left children.
The Hon. Coote Molesworth II M.D. (born 1698,died 9 November 1782)
The Hon. Bysse Molesworth (born 1700,died 1779). Married 7 Dec 1731,Elizabeth Cole,sister of John Cole,1st Baron Mountflorence and widow of Edward Archdall Esq. of Castle Archdall,County Fermanagh.
The Hon. Robert Molesworth III (born c.1702,died aged c.10 of smallpox)
The Hon. Juliana Molesworth (died unmarried in 1759)
The Hon. Margaret Molesworth (1677–1684)
The Hon. Mary Molesworth (1682–1716),a celebrated beauty and poet. Married George Monk Esq. of Dublin.
The Hon. Letitia Molesworth I (living in 1688)
The Hon. Charlotte Amelia Molesworth (born c.1691). Married Capt. William Tichborne,younger son of Robert Molesworth's half brother Henry Tichborne,1st Baron Ferrard[1] making him her cousin on the Bysse side
The Hon. Letitia Molesworth II (born 7 or 8 March 1697). Married Edward Bolton Esquire of Brazeel,County Dublin. In 1760,their son Robert Bolton (c.1727 - c.1798) translated the charter and statutes of Trinity College,Dublin from which he had graduated with an A.B.[23]
Robert also appears to have had a natural son:
John Phillips of Swords (1711–1779),a surgeon,County Dublin,married to Henrietta Eccleston (b. 1715),herself a talented painter,daughter of John Eccleston of Termonfekin,and his wife Elizabeth. John was the son of William Eccleston of Drumshallon,High Sheriff of Louth (1656–1705) and his wife,Rose Brabazon (1663-1686),daughter of Captain James Brabazon.[24][25] They had a son and two daughters:
Brevet-Major Molesworth Phillips of Swords (1755–1832),a marine officer and adventurer who sailed to Pacific Ocean with Captain Cook. He married Susannah Elizabeth Burney (1755–1800),an English letter and journal writer,daughter of Charles Burney,a music historian by his first wife,Esther Sleepe. Molesworth thus became brother-in-law of Charles Burney,a clergyman and chaplain to George III and Fanny Burney,Madame d'Arblay,an English satirical novelist,diarist and playwright. He inherited entailed land in Swords,and from his maternal great-grandfather,William Eccleston (d. 1720),and his uncle,William Eccleston (d. 1795),he inherited the estate of Belcotton and the townland of Termonfeckin,County Louth.[26] The couple left issue.
Magdalene Dorothea (1750-1824),married in June 1780 to George Kiernan of Blackhall,Dublin. They had issue.[27]
Henrietta Maria Phillips (d. 15 Dec 1792),married on 26 August 1766 to Rev Walter Shirley,Rector of Loughrea,co. Galway
Death and succession
The 1st Viscount died in Dublin on 22 May 1725 at the age of sixty-nine and was buried in Swords[citation needed].[28] His widow,Letitia,died "of a great cold" on Saint Patrick's Day 1729 and was buried privately in St. Audoen's Church in Dublin. Their eldest son,John,succeeded as 2nd Viscount Molesworth in 1725. John,in turn,was succeeded by his younger brother Richard a year later in 1726.
Arms
Coat of arms of Robert Molesworth,1st Viscount Molesworth
Crest
A Dexter Arm embowed in armour proper holding a Cross Crosslet Or
Escutcheon
Gules an Escutcheon Vair within an Orle of eight Cross Crosslets Or
Supporters
Dexter:a Pegasus Argent wings elevated Or;Sinister:a Pegasus wings elevated Gules semée of Cross Crosslets Or
Motto
Vincit Amor Patriae (The love of my country prevails)
↑Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage - 2011. Debrett's Peerage Limited, 2011. 2011. ISBN9781870520737. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2017. ....Cecilia Margaret (Lady Mogg) Church Close Cottage, Watlington, Oxon,.... b 1914; m 1939, Gen Sir Herbert John Mogg, .... Grandchildren of the late Rev. Rennell Francis Wynn Molesworth, son of the .....John (Molesworth).... Lawrence Teesdale... Margaret Patricia Newell... Sophie Helen....
↑Mogg, Lady Margaret (7 February 2017). "Watlington was always home". wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018. I learned to ride a horse age 8 or 9 years old.... went out horseriding together...we had (three) sons....
↑"Edward and Sophie". Australian Women's Weekly NZ - 1 October 2016. 1 October 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018. The problem for those around the Queen's youngest child is that his ... They (the Queen and Sophie, Countess of Wessex) have a shared passion for horses and military history and, despite...
↑"Sophie's Brush With Greatness". Manchester Evening - News 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018. Rochdale solicitor's firm Molesworth, Bright and Clegg. The firm was set up in 1840 by John Molesworth, one of the vicar's sons and Sophie's great-great grandfather.
↑"The Solicitors' Journal and Reporter, Volume 14". Law Newspaper Company, 1870 -. 1870. p.280. Retrieved 27 August 2018. Mr John Molesworth, solicitor ...has been elected one of the County Coroners for ....
↑Bolton, Robert (1760). A translation of the charter and statutes of Trinity-College ... Dublin: Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Retrieved 23 November 2023. ...Together with the library-statutes, and the rules of the University. ... By Robert Bolton, A.B. 1760. by: Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland)....
Heiberg, Steffen (8 December 2015). "Christian Siegfried von Plessen". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (lex.dk) (in Danish). Den Store Danske / Gyldendal. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
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