Page:A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices.djvu/184



Admitted 6 August, 1700.

Son and heir of Robert Molesworth of Edlington, Yorkshire (afterwards first Viscount Molesworth, and brother of Richard, the third Viscount (q.v.), who was admitted on the same day). From 1706 he became a Commissioner in the Stamp Office, an appointment in which he was succeeded by Sir Richard Steele in 1709. In the following year he proceeded to Tuscany as envoy to the Duke, and was subsequently employed on other diplomatic missions. In 1715 he succeeded his father as a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations. He became Viscount on his father's death in 1725, but lived only a few months to enjoy the title. He was a friend of Swift and other literary notabilities of the time.

Admitted 6 August, 1700.

Second son of Robert Molesworth of Edlington, Yorkshire, who was created first Viscount Molesworth on 16 July, 1719. He soon abandoned the law for the army and served in Holland, and was present at the Battle of Blenheim, and at Ramillies as Aide-de-camp of Marlborough, whose life he saved. He subsequently served in Flanders and Spain, and in the repression of the Jacobite rising in 1715. In 1726 he succeeded his brother as Viscount, and in 1751 became Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, and was made a Field Marshal in 1757. He died 12 Oct. 1758.

Admitted 28 May, 1716.

Son and heir of Hugh Molloy of Birr, King's County, Ireland. Beyond his admission to the Inn there is no record of his legal career, and he is known only as a Journalist, contributing to Fog's Weekly Journal, and Common Sense (a journal founded by himself), and as the author of three Dramas, The Perplexed Couple (1715); The Croquet (1718); and The Half-pay Officers (1720), all of which met with considerable success, due in a large measure to the acting in them of Peg Fryer, a famous actress of Charles II.'s days, who though an octogenarian was induced to take part in them. Molloy's articles in Common Sense were published in a collected form in 1738—9. He died 16 July, 1767.

Admitted 23 June, 1675.

Son and heir of Samuel Molyneux of Dublin, where he was born 17 April, 1656. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated with credit. Having a good fortune he was able to follow his tastes, which were rather for philosophical studies than law, and in 1679 translated the Meditations of Descartes into English. He took an active part in the founding of the Dublin Philosophical Society, of which he became the first secretary, 1683. In 1685 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in the following year published his Sciothericum Telescopicum, in which he discussed the true methods of scientific investigation. This was followed in 1692 by his Dioptrica Nova, which was for a long time the standard book on Optics. In the same year he was returned one of the members for Dublin University, which directed his thoughts to the effects of English legislation in Ireland, and led to the publication of the work by which he is best known, and