Sir Thomas Molyneux (1531-1597) and the English occupation of Calais
Raymond Perrault
1531, d. Dublin 1596/7), Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the
Molyneux of Sefton. The facts I have are these:
* DNB says that he was born in Calais in 1531, an only child whose parents,
who are not named, died young, and that he was brought up by John Brishin,
an alderman of Calais. When the French took Calais in 1558, he was made
prisoner and ransomed himself. He then removed to Bruges where he married
Catherine Stabeort, daughter of a wealthy burgomaster. He moved to London
in 1568 and to Dublin in 1576, where he settled, eventually becoming
Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1590. He died there in Jan 1596/7. He left
two sons -- Samuel, surveyor-general of buildings, and Daniel, Ulster
king-of-arms -- and two daughters. Citations are: Chancery and Exchequer
Records, Dublin; Extract from the Memoranda Roll of the Exchequer of
Ireland, privately printed at Evesham, 1850(?), 4to; Account of Sir T.
Molyneux, 1820; Carew MSS, 158, p. 255; Cal. State Papers, Ireland, 1592-6;
Lascelles, Liber Munerum, vol, i, pt ii. p. 48.
* Encyclopedia Britannica 1911, in its article "Molyneux", mentions the
Molyneux of Sefton and continues "Another Molyneux family of some
importance is the Irish one, descended from Sir Thomas Molyneux
(1531-1597), Irish chancellor of the exchequer, who, born at Calais,
settled in Ireland in 1576." No explicit link between the Irish and
Lancaster families is mentioned.
* Nellie Zada Rice Molyneux, in her "History Genealogical and Biographical
of the Molyneux Families" (1904) makes quite a hash of it. In her main
entry on Sir Thomas (p. 94), she cites the DNB entry word-for-word. But
she also says on the same page that he is the son of Thomas Molyneux
(dubbed at Greenwich June 24 1580), ancestor of Teversal and Mansfield),
which Thomas is also said (p. 74) to be son of Sir Richard Molyneux,
knighted 1586, m. Francis, dau of Sir Gilbert Gerard, Master of Rolls. Sir
Richard Molyneux, lord of Sefton, was born 1557 and died in 1622 (VCH Lanc,
III:73), so obviously neither he nor his son could have been the father of
the Irish Sir Thomas. From what I have been able to reconstruct of the
pedigree of the Molyneux of Sefton, I do not believe that the Irish Thomas
could be the son of any of the lords of Sefton.
* Elsewhere (p.12), Nellie Molyneux mentions (without support) another
Thomas, son of Sir William Molyneux, lord of Sefton, and Jane, dau of Sir
Robert Holland. Of this Thomas she says "a celebrated warrior under the
Black Prince [Š who] commanded the force of Robert de Vere of Ireland.
This branch off the Molyneux family (descendants) resided in Calais in
1531, ancestors of the Molyneux, of Castle Dillon, Co. Armagh, Ireland.
Sons supposed to have been Thomas, William, John, Robert,Š (The genealogy
and records of this branch of the family fell into the hands of the Duke de
Guise, and were destroyed. Of necessity a chasm occurs in the pedigree of
this branch, which resided in Calais in 1531)". Thomas, son of William,
appears neither in the pedigree in Dugdale, Visit. Of Lanc 1664-5, p.
204-5, nor in that of Flower, Visit of Lanc 1587, p 103-4.
* Calais was occupied by the English from 1346 to 1558, when it was taken
by the Duc de Guise.
So my questions are:
* Is anything further known about the Molyneux of Calais, or is Nellie
Molyneux right when she says all the evidence was destroyed in 1558? In
particular, is there evidence of which Molyneux settled there first?
* More generally, could someone point me to a good source about the history
of the occupation of Calais? Were the families there isolated from those
of the British Isles?
Many thanks,
Ray Perrault
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A Channing
Biographical
> of the Molyneux Families" (1904) makes quite a hash of it. In her main
> entry on Sir Thomas (p. 94), she cites the DNB entry word-for-word. But
> she also says on the same page that he is the son of Thomas Molyneux
> (dubbed at Greenwich June 24 1580), ancestor of Teversal and Mansfield),
> which Thomas is also said (p. 74) to be son of Sir Richard Molyneux,
> knighted 1586, m. Francis, dau of Sir Gilbert Gerard, Master of Rolls.
Sir
> Richard Molyneux, lord of Sefton, was born 1557 and died in 1622 (VCH
Lanc,
> III:73), so obviously neither he nor his son could have been the father
of
> the Irish Sir Thomas. From what I have been able to reconstruct of the
> pedigree of the Molyneux of Sefton, I do not believe that the Irish
Thomas
> could be the son of any of the lords of Sefton.
BTW there is no Thomas Molyneux recorded in Shaw's "Knights of England"
being knighted on 24 June 1580. In fact I have a note that there was
Sickness in London in June 1580.
In Shaw there is a Thomas Molyneux knighted 24 July 1482 in Scotland
(banneret, knight bachelor) and a Thomas Molineux of Chertsey, Surrey
knighted 9 June 1715 (knight bachelor)
Sutliff
1772) was married to Jane Molyneux (d. 30 Sep 1762) of Castle Dillon, Co.
Armagh. Jane was daughter of Thomas Molyneux, first Baron of Castle Dillon.
There are several references to the Molyneux family of Castle Dillon in some
pedigrees published by Sir T. Phillipps as found in Marshall. However, so
far I have not been able to access these pedigrees so am unsure if they will
ultimately help answer your question. If you can find these, the following
may be of help:
Pedigree of Molyneux of Castle Dillon, Co. Armagh by Sir T. Phillipps, Bart.
Evesham, 1819; 2nd edition 1840; another edition 1868.
Account of the Family and Descendants of Sir Thomas Molyneux, Kt. by Sir T.
Phillipps, Bart. Evesham, 1820, 4to.
A History of the Family of Molyneux, by Sir T. Phillips, Bart., 1821, 12 mo.
Should you find these, I would be most interested in the results as I
believe it likely that Rev. St. George and Jane Molyneux are ancestors of my
g-g grandfather Henry St. George (18 Apr 1818 Co. Kilkenny - 23 Sep 1904
Stockton, San Joaquin, California).
Best regards.
Henry Sutliff
Raymond Perrault <perr...@ai.sri.com> wrote in message
news:perrault-ya023180...@127.0.0.1...
> Black Prince [S who] commanded the force of Robert de Vere of Ireland.
> This branch off the Molyneux family (descendants) resided in Calais in
> 1531, ancestors of the Molyneux, of Castle Dillon, Co. Armagh, Ireland.
> Sons supposed to have been Thomas, William, John, Robert,S (The genealogy
Suzanne Doig
Perrault) wrote:
>* More generally, could someone point me to a good source about the history
>of the occupation of Calais? Were the families there isolated from those
>of the British Isles?
I can't address the Molyneux question, but I too have ancestors who
lived in Calais shortly before it passed back to France, and who also
made their way eventually to Ireland. (They were John Hampton of
Hampshire, clerk, and his sons Christopher (1552-1625), later
Archbishop of Armagh, Francis, and others.)
I have found that the abridged version of 'The Lisle Letters' (ed.
Muriel St. Clare Byrne, selected by Bridget Boland, London/Chicago,
1983, ISBN 0-436-07905-4) gives an interesting view of life in Calais
in the 1530s, albeit from the very top of the social heap.
Suzanne
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