Viscount Molesworth | |
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| Member of Parliament for County Dublin with Edward Deane | |
| In office 1695–1703 | |
| Preceded by | John Allen Chambre Brabazon |
| Succeeded by | John Allen Joseph Deane |
| Member of Parliament for Swords with James Peppard (1703–1713) Plunket Plunket (1713–1715) | |
| In office 1703–1715 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Ashe John Reading |
| Succeeded by | Richard Molesworth Plunket Plunket |
| Member of Parliament for Camelford with Ambrose Manaton (1695–1696) Sidney Wortley Montagu (1696–1698) | |
| In office 1695–1698 | |
| Preceded by | Ambrose Manaton Henry Manaton |
| Succeeded by | Henry Manaton Dennys Glynn |
| Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel with Russell Robartes | |
| In office 1705–1706 | |
| Preceded by | Sir John Molesworth Russell Robartes |
| Succeeded by | Russell Robartes James Kendall |
| Member of Parliament for East Retford with Sir Hardolph Wastneys | |
| In office 1706–1707 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Willoughby Hickman William Levinz |
| Succeeded by | Parliament of Great Britain |
| Member of Parliament for East Retford with Sir Hardolph Wastneys | |
| In office 1707–1708 | |
| Preceded by | Parliament of England |
| Succeeded by | William Levinz Thomas White |
| Member of Parliament for Mitchell with Nathaniel Blakiston | |
| In office 1715–1722 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Henry Belasyse John Statham |
| Succeeded by | Charles Selwyn John Hedges |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 September 1656 Brackenstown, Swords, Ireland |
| Died | 22 May 1725 (aged 68) Dublin, Ireland |
| Spouse | Hon. Letitia Coote |
| Children | 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) |
| Parent(s) | Robert Molesworth Judith Bysse |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin (1675, B.A.) |
Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth, PC (Ire) (7 September 1656 – 22 May 1725) was an Anglo-Irish politician, peer and writer.
Molesworth came from an old Northamptonshire family. He married Hon. Letitia Coote, daughter of Richard Coote, 1st Baron Coote, and Mary St. George. His father Robert (d. 1656) was a Cromwellian who made a fortune in Dublin, largely by provisioning Cromwell's army; Robert Molesworth the younger supported William of Orange and was made William's ambassador to Denmark. In 1695 he became a prominent member of the Privy Council of Ireland. The same year he stood for County Dublin in the Irish House of Commons, a seat he held until 1703. Subsequently, he represented Swords until 1715. In the following year, he was created Viscount Molesworth, of Swords, in the Peerage of Ireland.
Molesworth's An Account of Denmark, as it was in the Year 1692 (1694) 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 (Thompson, 495).
Robert Molesworth was born on 7 September 1656, four days after the death of his father;[1] 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 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.[2]
With his wife Letitia, Molesworth had eleven sons and six daughters:[3][4]
Robert also appears to have had a natural son:
The 1st Viscount died in Dublin on 22 May 1725 at the age of sixty-nine and was buried in Swords[citation needed]. His widow, Letitia, died "of a great cold" on St Patrick's Day 1729 and was buried privately in St. Audoen's Church 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.
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