HE branch of Molineux of Haughton and Teversal, Co. Notts, from which the Molineux families in Staffordshire and Sussex are descended, came from Sir Thomas Molineux, Knight Banneret, of Haughton, Co. Notts, second son, by his wife Joane, daughter and heiress of Sir Gilbert Haydock, Knt., of Sir Richard Molyneux, of Sefton, Knight Banneret (13th in descent from William de Moulins), who signalised himself in the wars with France under King Henry V. and was one of the heroes of Agincourt.

Sir Thomas Molineux was Attorney-General and one of the Privy Council of Edward IV. He was among the “good lordes, knights, and esquiers” who attended the obsequies of that monarch at Windsor in April, 1483. On the 17^th of that month, relates an eye-witness quoted in Holinshed, the corpse of the King was conveyed into the Abbey at Westminster, borne by divers knights and esquires, namely, Sir Gilbert Stanley, Sir John Savage, Sir Thomas Wortley, Sir Thomas Molyneux, Sir John Welles, John Cheny, and others; having upon the corpse a rich and large black cloth of gold, with a cross of white cloth of gold; and above that a rich canopy of cloth imperial, fringed with gold and blue silk, borne by Sir Thomas Seyntley, Sir William Parr, Controller, Sir John Asteley, and Sir William Stonor, Knights; and at every corner a banner; and the Lord Howard bore the King's banner next before the corpse; the officers of arms standing about them. The body was then placed in a “worthy herse,” preceded by a great procession. The Lord Howard, the King's Bannerer, riding next before the fore-horse, bearing the King's banner upon a courser trapped with black cloth, with divers escutcheons of the King's arms, with his mourning hood upon his head. In above order they proceeded to Syon that night, where, at the church door, the Bishop “censed the corps,” which was then borne into the choir; and in the morning in like manner to Windsor, where at Eton the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Ely, and the College met and “censed the corps,” and so proceeded to the Castle gate, and thence to the new church. In the evening, they of the College said the whole Psalter; and there was a great watch at night, by great lords, knights, esquires of the body, and others; among them being the Lord Burgoyne, the Lord Audley, the Lord Morley, the Lord Lisle, the Lord Howard, the Lord Wells, the Lord Delawar, the Lord Fitzhugh, the Lord Cobham, Sir John of Arundell, Sir Thomas Bonser, of Berneys, Sir Thomas St. Leger, Sir Gilbert Debenham, Sir Henry Ferrers, Sir John Savage, Sir Gilbert Stanley, Sir Thomas Wortley, Sir Thomas Molyneux, Sir William Parker, and Sir William Stonor.

Sir Thomas was created a Knight Banneret by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, at Berwick, for his services in the expedition to Scotland in 1482. He built the church and the ancient hall at Hawton, and was buried, 6 Henry VII., in the chancel of the church, under an altar tomb, surmounted by his effigy in armour, with the following inscription:—

“Hic jacet Thomas Molineux, Banneretus factus in recuperatione Ville Berwick in munibus scotorum, An. Dom. 1482, per manus Ricardi Ducis Gloucesterie, postea Regis Anglie.”

The church, in which several of the Molineux family are interred, is a remarkably fine specimen of the decorated style of ecclesiastical architecture prevailing at that period. In the windows were formerly to be seen the Molineux coat, impaled with those of Markham, Cotton, Bingham, Bussy, Cranmer, &c. Two shields with the cross moline are yet to be seen over the old west door of the church. The effigy upon the tomb of Sir Thomas, much mutilated, with two shields of the Molineux arms, still remain, but the inscription has long since disappeared.

The following inscriptions are mentioned in Thoroton's History of Notts, as formerly existing in the church:—

In the Brass of a Stone on which are the Molyneux Arms, with a Crescent—

“Of your charitie pray for the soules of William Molyneux, and Margaret, his wife, and their children's soules, and all christian soules, which William departed this present life the last day of October, 1541.”

In the Chancel on a piece of brass, upon a little plain stone—

“Of your charity pray for the soules of Robert Molineux, Esquire, and Dorothy, his wife, which Robert deceased 13 April, 1539.”

Sir Thomas Molineux was twice married; his first wife being Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Markam, of Cotham, Co. Notts, Knight, by whom he had an only son, Robert, and a daughter, Elizabeth. He married secondly, Katherine, daughter of John Cotton, of Ridware, Co. Stafford, and widow of Thomas Powtrell, of West Hallam, Derbyshire, by whom he had two sons, Edmund and Anthony, and two daughters, Ellen, who married first, John Bond, of Coventry, and secondly, Laurence Ireland, of Lidiat; and Margaret, wife of Sir Hugh Willoughby, Knt., of Risley, Derbyshire.

Robert Molineux espoused Dorothy, daughter of Thomas Powtrell, of West Hallam, Derbyshire, and had issue five sons, Thomas, Richard, William, Robert and Edmund; and four daughters, Anne, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary.

Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir Thomas Molineux by his first wife, was married first to John Bacard, and second to Stephen Hadfield, whose great-granddaughters, Elizabeth and Barbara, married respectively Thomas Whalley, of Kirketon, and William Whalley.

Radcliffe Molineux, a nephew of Sir Thomas Molineux, was vicar of Chishall Parva, Essex, in 1521; and William, another nephew, was rector of Packlesham, in the same county, in 1515.

Robert, younger brother to Sir Thomas Molineux, married Agnes, widow of Robert Sheryngton, who it appears from the inscription to her memory in the church of St. Michael's, Paternoster, London, had as her third husband William Cheney. “Prey of your cherete for the soul of Agnes Cheney, wydow, late wyff vnto William Cheney, somtym Esquyr for the body vnto King Harry the seventh. Whych Agnes dyed the fyfteenth day of July, in the yere of our Lord God on thousand four hundryd-eyghty and seven. And for the souls of William Cheney, Robert Molyneux, and Robert Sheryngton, her husbands, and all Christen souls.”

Adam Molineux, LL.D., uncle to Sir Thomas Molineux, elected Dean of Salisbury, 24^th October, 1441, having been previously Archdeacon, was consecrated Bishop of Chichester in 1445; and filled also the offices of Keeper of the Privy Seal to Henry VI., and Clerk to the Privy Council. In 1449 he received permission to retire from all secular employment, and to travel for the benefit of his soul, taking with him the sum of 500 marks for his maintenance. On the 9^th January, 1450, when at Portsmouth preparing to sail for France, he was murdered by a party of sailors, at the instigation, it is alleged, of Richard, Duke of York.

Adam Molineux, or as he is styled in the Acts of the Privy Council, Dr. Moleyns, was a man held in high repute and estimation, and was employed on several occasionsin the conduct of various important State affairs. In 1440 he was directed, conjointly with John, Lord Tiptoft and four other persons, to conclude a treaty with the envoysof the Archbishop of Cologne, who, it appears from their instructions, wished to become the “King's homager and feoded man,” and to perform the services stipulated at a former period. In July, 1443, Dr. Moleyns was empowered, with the Bishop of St. David's, to treat with the Commissioners from Holland and Zealand respecting some infringements of the truce, and on the commercial relations of those countries with England; and in 1444 he with the Earl of Suffolk were appointed two of the King's Ambassadors to conclude a truce with France. They were subsequently appointed Commissioners to borrow money for the King's marriage with Margaret of Anjou. In the will of Henry VI. The Bishop is named as one of the King's feoffees.

That the Bishop was a favorite with the King is evident from the unusual privileges granted to him:—The exemption of all coast land belonging to the see from the jurisdiction of the Court of Admiralty; and the licence to impark 10,000 acres of land in his diocese, and to case with stone and fortify twelve out of his fifteen manor-houses.

A writ of Privy Seal issued 20 Henry VI. authorises the payment of £20 paid “by the hands of Master Adam Moleyns,” to divers doctors, notaries, and clerks, lately by the King's command laboriously employed respecting “a superstitious sect of necromancers, and persons charged with witchcraft and incantations,” and which sum the King commanded to be distributed amongst them by way of reward.

Upon the death of Adam Molineux his brother Robert was found to be his heir. Robert Molineux married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Baldwin L'Estrange, Knt., by his wife Margaret, daughter of Edmund Lodelowe. His daughter Elizabeth became the wife of Sir William Troutbeck, Knt., whose daughter and heir, Ellen, was married to Gilbert Talbot, of Grafton, Northamptonshire, ancestor of the Earls of Waterford, now extinct.

Edmund, eldest son of Sir Thomas Molineux, by his second wife, Katherine, daughter of John Cotton, was created a Knight of the Bath, on being appointed Judge of the Common Pleas, 22^nd October, 1550, 4 Edward VI. He was a member of “His Majesty's Council in the Northern Parts,” an institution arising out of the demands of the Pilgrims of Grace for the purpose of facilitating the administration of justice, and saving suitors in the north the inconvenience and cost of repairing to the metropolis. The Earl of Shrewsbury was appointed Lord President, with an allowance of £1,000 a year for the entertainment of himself and his Council, which body was composed of twenty-two members besides the President, including Henry, Earl of Westmorland, Henry, Earl of Cumberland, Cuthbert, Bishop of Durham, Lord William Dacres of the north, John, Lord of Conyers, Thomas, Lord Wharton, John Hind, Knt., one of his Majesty's Justices of the Common Pleas, and Edmund Molineux, Knt., Sergeant-at-law. Sir Edmund received his legal instruction at Gray's Inn, to which society he was twice reader; was made King's Sergeant in 1543, and died at Thorpe, Co. Notts, in 1532, and was buried in the church of Hawton. By his wife, Jane, youngest daughter of John Cheney, of Cheshamboys, Bucks, Sheriff of Bucks and Beds, 1505 and 1520, he left five sons—John, his heir, Edmund, Thomas (who married his cousin Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux of Sefton, by whom he had a son, Edward), Anthony, Rector of Walton, 1557, and Christopher (who married Emotta, sister and coheir to John Darbyshire)—and four daughters—Margaret (wife of Robert Fletcher, of Stoke Bardolph), Katherine (who died unmarried), Dorothy (wife of Robert Purslow), and Jane (wife of George Lascelles).

Frances, daughter of Robert Fletcher, married Francis, son of Francis Molineux, of Haughton, and had issue Francis Molineux, of Stoke Bardolph, Robert, John, and Mary.

The character of Sir Edmund Molineux is depicted by Gregory King, Lancaster Herald, as “that of a man of very mild spirit, modest and courteous behaviour, affable, fine, neat, cleanly, gracious, an acceptable to all sorts of men, well beloved, and not meanly regarded and esteemed where he carried authority, and had place of Government; who, for his integrity, honest plainness, and sincerity, coupled with an ancestor kind of godly life and sanctimony, was a man, for all these respects, greatly to be admired, honoured, and reverenced.”

Sir Edmund Molineux was Lord of the Manor of Thorpe, to which he added lands formerly belonging to the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem, of the preceptory of Eagle, in the county of Lincoln, besides other lands in the counties of Bucks and York, He was succeeded by his eldest son John, of Thorpe, Knight of the Shire in 1562, who married Anne, daughter of John Lascelles, of Gasford, Notts, by whom he had five sons—Edmund, of Thorpe; Thomas (who by his wife Katherine had twin daughters, Anna and Isabella); Rutland, of Woodcotes (who married first, Mary, daughter and heir of Cuthbert Bevercotes, of Bevercotes, Notts, and secondly, Frances, daughter to Richard Timperley, of Hintlesham, Norfolk, by whom he had five sons, Rutland, of Little Markham, Nicholas, Edmund, Marke, and Francis, and two daughters, Margaret, wife of Edward Henshaw, of Fledborough, Co. Notts, and Anne); Gervase (who married Anne, daughter of Sir William Moting); and John, of Farnton, near Newark; besides four daughters—Elizabeth (wife of Sir Thomas Cornwallis, of Horsley, groom porter to Queen Elizabeth and James I.), Christian, Fayth, and Margaret (married first to Leonard Lovelace, of Hever, Kent, and secondly to Thomas Clarke, of Hyde Abbey, near Winchester.

Rutland Molineux, of Little Markham, married Jane, daughter of John Rayner, of Great Drayton, Notts, and had one daughter, Mary. His brother, Marke, married Anne, daughter of —— Meires, of Lownd Hall, Nottinghamshire.

Thoroton states that Queen Elizabeth granted to John Molineux, Esquire, of Thorpe, the lordships or manors of Carleton, Kingston, and Carleton Baron, with other lands which were late the possessions of Thomas, Lord Dacre. The grant was probably made in recognition of his military services, and as a zealous and active justice of the peace.

The Earl of Shrewsbury, in a letter to the Privy Council dated Chatsworth, 27^th May, 1750, states that he has sent the book of certificates for the county of Nottingham, of the sums raised and expended for provision of armour, &c., as they elucidate the charges against Mr. Molyneux, Mr. Lassells, and other captains who served against the rebels in the North.

In 1574, a William Wharton, of Ripon, Co. York, presented a petition to the Privy Council, praying that a book of prophecies, delivered by the petitioner to John Molineux, justice of the peace in the North Riding of Yorkshire, may be sent for; it having been delivered to Mr. Molineux, that the person from whom it was received might be examined, and the author punished. In the book, her Majesty's person and estate were “dishonorably touched and reprehended,” and a ”discourse made of the acts of the nobility of the realm, and of persons beyond the seas.”

In February of the same year, Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, wrote from Hampton Court to John Molineux and Avery Uvedale, stating that her Majesty understands that there are divers fugitive traitors lurking in corners, and maintained by their secret friends, ”to the peril of peace by their naughty devices;” and that he requires them on her Majesty's behalf, with all dexterity to seek to bring the said rebels and their coadjutors to light. That it is suspected that divers letters and messages are conveyed through the West Marches to the Queen of Scots by persons repairing into Yorkshire under colour to buy horses,—adding in conclusion, ”Let diligent regard be had for their apprehension.”

Rutland Molyneux was it seems a recusant, and a grant of lease of two parts of his manors and lands was made, 4^th June, 1622, to Dan. Wood and Rich. Andrews, in trust for payment of his debts, and maintenance of his wife and children, a rent of £20 being reserved to the King.

The estate of Bevercotes, with other lands, were sold by Rutland Molineux to the Earl of Clare.

John Molineux, of Farnton, married Ruth, daughter of —— Delwood, of Ossington, Co. Leicester, and had issue two sons, Paul and John; and four daughters, Fayth (married to Edward Jermin, of Branton, Huntingdonshire), Mary, Anne, and Elizabeth.

Edmund, eldest son of John Molyneux, of Thorpe, had as his first wife, Etheldred, daughter of John Herle, by whom he had an only son, John, and a daughter, Anne. He married secondly, Bridget, daughter and heir of Robert Sapcote, of Elton, Co. Huntingdon, by whom, who died in 1612, he had four sons, Sapcote, Edmund, William, and Richard, with two daughters, Dorothy and Bridgett. His son and heir, John, was knighted in 1614, married Lucy, daughter and heir of —— Read, of Northamptonshire, by whom he had six children, Vivian being his heir. The manor of Thorpe was sold by Sir John to John Halsey and others.

From an order issued 26^th October, 1616, by Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, requiring Sir John Molyneux to give security to allow his wife Lucy £120 per annum for maintenance, it would seem that their married life was the reverse of felicitous. Lady Molyneux, two years later, in 1618, petitioned the King for relief of herself and six children, representing that “her husband deals hardly with her, and has sold his estate, worth £30,000, much under its value.” Sir Thomas Coventry, Solicitor-General, and Sir Anthony Ben, Recorder of London, to whom the matter was referred, reported, however, to the Privy Council, that Lady Molyneux ”was unable to disprove most of the allegations” of Mr. Holt and Mr. Halsey that they were losers by their transactions with Sir John Molyneux. On the 17^th June, 1628, Lady Molyneux, then a widow, presented a petition to the House of Lords ”that Sir Francis Clarke may be ordered to pay the arrears of the annuity due to her out of the lands belonging to her late husband.” Sir Francis Clarke in his answer characterized the petition as scandalous, and denied the charge of defrauding Lady Molyneux of her annuity, many persons having a prior right to the profit from the manor of Thorpe.

Sir John leased the manors granted by Queen Elizabeth to his grandfather to a Mr. Halsey for a term of eighty years. The inheritance was after sold by Vivian Molineux, his son and heir, to Gervas Clifton, Knight and Baronet.

Anthony Molineux, D.D., younger brother to Sir Edmund Molineux, Knt., of Thorpe, was Rector of Sefton and Walton, Co. Lancaster; he likewise held the living of Tring, Herts. The church at Sefton, dedicated to St. Helen, and school-houses adjoining, were rebuilt by him, whether wholly or in part is uncertain, in the reign of Henry VIII., and Dodsworth states that he built the great wall around Magdalen College, Oxford. He died 5 Queen Mary. Contemporary writers describe him as ”a man of great integrity, and liberal to the poor,” as well as ”a famous preacher.” By his will, dated 1553, he appoints as his executors Sir Richard Molyneux, Knt., and his brother-in-law, Lawrence Ireland, and bequeaths his property to his brothers and sisters. To his godson, Anthony Molineux, he leaves a gilt spoon.

Thomas, eldest son of Robert Molineux, of Haughton, died without issue.

Richard Molineux, of Haughton, the second son, married Margaret, daughter of Edmund Bussy, of Hather, Co. Lancaster, and had issue and only son, Francis, and a daughter, Mary, wife of Daniel Disney, of Norton Disney.

Francis Molineux, of Haughton and Teversal, Notts, and of Hallam, Derbyshire, filled the office of High Sheriff of Derbyshire anno 6 Elizabeth, and of Nottinghamshire anno 24 Elizabeth. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Thomas, eldest son of Roger Greenhalgh, of Teversal, Co. Notts, by which marriage he had a family of five sons, Thomas, Gervase (Recorder of Newark, 2 James I.), John, Robert, and Richard; and two daughters, Frances and Jane.

Roger Greenhalgh, by his will dated in December, 1502, gave all his plate and other valuables to his cousins, Francis Molineux and Ann Neville. Teversal, with Woodhouse, Stanley, Dunshil, Newbald, and several other lordships and manors in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, he gave to the said Francis Molineux and his heirs.

Thomas, the eldest son and heir of Francis Molineux, died in 1597, leaving by his wife, Alice, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Cranmer, of Aslacton, Co. Notts, great-nephew of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, two sons, John and Thomas, and a daughter, who became the wife of Sir Anthony Thorold.

Catherine, daughter of Richard, youngest son of Francis Molineux, was married to John, son of Richard Stanhope.

John, the eldest son of Thomas Molineux, was knighted by King James I., at Whitehall, 10^th November, 1608, and created a Baronet 29^th June, 1611, in which year his kinsman, Sir Richard Molyneux, of Sefton, was likewise advanced to that dignity. Sir John served the office of High Sheriff for Notinghamshire the same year. He was twice married, his first wife being Isabell, daughter of John Markham,of Sedgebrook, Co. Lincoln, by whom he had two sons, Francis and Thomas, and three daughters, Mary, married to Michael Fawkes, of Woodhall, South Duffield, and Farnley Hall, Co. York, Anne, and Elizabeth. Sir John married secondly, on the 11^th August, 1613, at St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, Anne, daughter of Sir James Harynton, of Ridlington, Co. Rutland, and widow of Sir Thomas Foljambe, Knt., by whom, besides a daughter, Frances, he had one son, Roger Molineux, of Hasland Hall, Chesterfield, a colonel in the army, who married Jane, daughter of Sir Robert Monson, of Carleton, Lincolnshire, M.P. for the county.

By her will, dated July, 1644, Dame Anne Molineux, of Chesterfield, Co. Derby, widow of Sir John Molineux, after desiring to be buried in St. Bride's Church, London, bequeaths her manors in the counties of Derby and York to her daughter, Frances, and her son, Roger, ”if he shall be reduced to the obedience of the King and Parliament.”

In 1643, during the Civil War between King Charles I. and the Parliament , a party of Newarkers, headed by Colonel Molyneux, seized a Committee of Parliamentarians at Wirksworth, in Derbyshire. At the commencement of the war Winfield Manor House was garrisoned for the Parliament, and taken by the Earl of Newcastle towards the close of the year 1643. It was then made a royal garrison and the command given to Colonel Roger Molineux.

For his delinquency to the Commonwealth, Roger Molineux had to compound for his estate in the sum of £200.

Elizabeth, younger daughter of Sir John Molineux, Bart., by his first wife, Isabell Markham, married Gilbert Gregory, of Barnby, Yorkshire. She was buried, 29^th March, 1638, in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Barnby.

Anne, second daughter of Sir John Molineux by his first wife, died unmarried in 1633, and was likewise buried in the church at Barnby, where, against the south wall of the chancel, near the door, is an altar tomb of freestone, having on the sides the arms of Molyneux, a cross moline, and another shield, a lion rampant, with the inscription: ”Here lyeth interred the corps of Anne Molyneux, II daughter to Sr John Molyneux, of Teversal, in the county of Notts, Knight and Baronet. Which Anne departed this life the III day of Novembr. 1633, aetatis sua xxvii.”

”Whom God doth love, of them he makes his choice

To wait on him, and here hath stilled her voice,

That with him it might be raised hyer

To sing Halleluihs in his holy quyer.”

Gilbert Holles, Earl of Clare, and Sir John Molineux were joint lords of the manor of Blackwell, in the hundred of Scarsdale, Derbyshire, in 1610. Sir John's estate eventually became the property of his descendant, Henry Howard Molyneux, M.P.

Owing to his splendid way of living, Sir John Molineux was oblidged to sell a good part of his large estate, and to mortgage the manor of Hawton to Sir Francis Leake, whose descendant, the Earl of Scarsdale, ultimately inherited the property.

Francis, eldest son of Sir John Molineux, succeeded his father as second Baronet, and married Theodosia, daughter of Sir Edward Heron, of Cressy Hall, Lincolnshire, K.B., by whom he had three sons, John, Francis, and William, and three daughters, Elizabeth, married to Hugh Cartwright, of Hengrave, Co. Notts, Theodosia, married to Edward Bunney, of Newland, Co. York, and Anne. He died 12^th October, 1674, and was succeeded, as third Baronet, by his eldest son, Sir John Molineux, Bart., of Teversal, born 1623, who, by his wife Lucy, daughter of Alexander Rigby, of Middleton, Co. Lancaster, a Baron of the Exchequer, had three sons, Francis, fourth Baronet, John, a student at Gray's Inn, ob. 1684, unmarried, and Thomas; besides four daughters, of whom Mary was wife of the Hon. Richard Leke, son of the third Earl of Scarsdale, and Elizabeth, married to Edmund Jodrell, of Erdesley, Cheshire.

On the 4^th March, 1642, 16 Charles I., was issued ”an ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, for the speedy raising and levying of money for the maintenance of the army raised by the Parliament, and other great affairs of the commonwealth, by a weekly assessment upon the cities of London and Westminster, and every county and city of the kingdom of England and the dominion of Wales.” The weekly assessment of the county and borough of Nottingham being fixed at £187 10s. The committee appointed to carry this ordinance into effect, so far as related to the county of Nottingham, consisted of Sir Francis Thornhagh and Sir Francis Molineux, John Hutchinson, Charles White, Henry Ireton, Francis Pierrepont, Joseph Widmerpool, Robert Rayns, Gilbert Millington, and Francis Thornhagh, jun., esquires.

Francis Molyneux, of Mansfield, Co. Notts, second son of Sir Francis Molyneux, second Baronet, married Grace, daughter of Conyers, Lord Darcy, of Hornby Castle, Yorkshire, and sister to Conyers, Earl of Holderness, by whom he had issue two sons, Darcy and Francis, and three daughters, of whom Dorothy, the youngest, was married 15^th April, 1680, at All Saints' Church, York, to Tobit Hodgson, of Bishops Burton, Co. York, He was High Sheriff for Notts 1662, and died 6^th February, 1666, and was buried in the church at Mansfield.

William, third son of Sir Francis Molyneux, an East India Merchant, died at sea, about 1663, unmarried.

Darcy Molineux, the eldest son of Francis Molineux, of Mansfield, was babtized 3^rd August, 1652, at Mansfield Church, and married, February, 1674, Elizabeth, daughter of —— Bassett, of Doncaster, by whom he had a family of five sons, Francis, who died in 1677, Darcy, who died in 1680, William, John (of who hereafter—vide Chapter III, page 63), and Thomas; and seven daughters, Lucy, Elizabeth, Mary, Dorothy, Grace, Theodosia, and Isabell. He filled the office of High Sheriff for Nottinghamshire 1687, and died in 1716, and was buried in Mansfield Church.

William, the third son, settled in Doncaster, of which town he was Mayor in 1721 and 1754. He died in 1756. His surviving son, Darcy, a merchant in Leeds, died in 1789, leaving two sons, Darcy, who upon the death in 1812 of Sir Francis Molyneux, Bart., of Wellow, Co. Notts, assumed the title, and died without issue, at Sheepscar, near Leeds, in 1816, and William, who died in 1813, and two daughters, Elizabeth, wife of Edward Gray, and Isabella, wife of John Holgate.

Sir Francis Molyneux, fourth Baronet, married Diana, daughter of John Howe, of Langar Castle, Nottinghamshire, sister to Scroop, Viscount Howe. He was M.P. for the county of Notts in 1701, 13 William III., and again in 1702, 1 Anne, and died in 1741, aetat. eighty-six. Of his seven sons, John and Scroop died without issue. Francis died anno 1733, leaving, by his wife Mary, daughter and co-heir of —— Brewer, of Bristol, two daughters, Diana and Mary. He was one of the Verderers of Sherwood Forest. Charles, the fifth son, succeeded his father as fifth Baronet, filled the office of High Sheriff of Notts in 1748, and died unmarried in 1764.

William Molyneux, the youngest son, married Anne, daughter and co-heir of William Chelland, of Wellow, Co. Notts, High Sheriff for the county in 1737, and succeeded his brother Charles as sixth Baronet. He died in 1781, leaving a son and heir, Francis, and a daughter, Juliana, married 11^th October, 1764, to Henry Howard, of Sheffield, and Heath Hall, Yorkshire, whose eldest son, Bernard Edward, succeeded in 1815 his cousin as 12^th Duke of Norfolk, and was created a Knight of the Garter in 1835.

Thomas, youngest brother of Sir Francis Molyneux, fourth Baronet, a Turkey merchant in London, afterwards of Preston, Co. Lancaster, married Mary, daughter of Gilbert Munday, of Allestree, Derbyshire, by whom he had an only son, Rigby, High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1749, who married, 8^th January, 1739, a daughter of Oliver Marton, of Lancaster, with whom he had a dowry of £4,000. Their only child, Mary, became first the wife of John Bushell, M.D., and secondly of Captain Griffiths.

Dorothy, daughter of Francis, second son of Francis Molineux, of Mansfield, by his wife, Mary, daughter of Charles Tancred, of Whixley, Co. York, was married 5^th October, 1704, at Chiswick Church, Middlesex, to Lucius Henry, sixth Viscount Falkland. Francis Molineux, who styles himself in his will, proved 1719, ”Citizen and Tallowchandler,” carried on the business of a woollen-draper in St. Paul's Churchyard, in the City of London, and his name frequently appears in the Calendar of State Papers in connection with contracts for army clothing. He left to his brother Darcy and his friend Mr. Gibson, attorney in the Lord Mayor's Court, his executors, each five yards of black cloth for mourning.

Sir Francis Molyneux, of Wellow, Co. Notts, seventh Baronet, son and heir of Sir William Molyneux, sixth Baronet, was appointed gentleman usher daily waiter to the Queen in 1761, and was knighted on being made Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in 1765. He died unmarried in 1812, when the family estates passed to his nephew, Lord Henry Thomas Howard, second son, by Juliana, sister to Sir Francis, of Henry Howard, of Sheffield, Derbyshire, and Heath Hall, Yorkshire, brother to Bernard Edward, twelfth Duke of Norfolk, K.G., and who thereupon assumed the name of Molyneux.

Sir Francis Molyneux, with the Duke of Portland, the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Lincoln, Lord J. Clinton, Sr. R. Sutton, Bart., John Musters, Esq., and a large number of noblemen and gentlemen, attended the obsequies of the Duke of Kingston, K.G., on the 19^th April, 1774, at Holme Pierrepont, Nottinghamshire.

At the election for the County of Notts, 9^th September, 1780, a large body of freeholders met the candidates at the race-stand on the forest, and forming into a procession marched to the County Hall, Nottingham. Lord Edward Bentinck was nominated by F. Montagu, Esq., of Papplewick, and C. Medows, Esq., by J. Sherwin, Esq., of Nottingham. They were then declared duly elected, and Sir Francis Molyneux—who attended for Lord Edward Bentinck, detained by illness in London—and Mr. Medows were chaired round the town in the customary manner.

Percy Fitzgerald, in his Life of George IV., relates the following story of a freak perpetrated by the notorious Lord Barrymore one night at Vauxhall, when Sir Francis Molineux formed one of the party at supper:—”Lord Barrymore had, unknown to us, contrived to dress Tom Hooper, the tinman (one of the first pugilists of his time, and who was permanently retained by his Lordship as a sort of bodyguard), as a clergyman, to be in waiting at Vauxhall, in case we should get into any dispute. His black clothes, formal hat, hair powdered and curled round, so far disguised him that he was unknown to us all at first, though Hooper's queer dialect must have soon discovered him to the waiters. About three o'clock, whilst at supper, Lord Falkland, Henry Barry, Sir Francis Molineux, &c., were of our party; there was a continued noise and rioting, and the arrack punch was beginning to operate. On a sudden, all were seen running towards the orchestra, the whole garden seemed to be in confusion, and our party, all impatience, sallied out, those at the further end of the box walking over the table, kicking down the dishes. It seems that Hooper was now for fighting with everybody. A large ring was made, and, advancing in a boxing attitude, he threatened to fight anyone, but all retired before him.”

Teversalt, Tevershalt, Tevershall, or Tersall, was the freehold of Leuric the Saxon before the Conquest, when it became the fee of Ralph Fitzhubert, under whom one Godefried held it, whose posterity took the name of Barré, or Barry. They inhabited this place for some generations, and were benefactors to the Abbey of Beauchief, in Derbyshire, giving it common of pasture for four hundred sheep, and other things, which William their descendant confirmed. From the family of Barry the manor passed to Roger Greenhalgh, who was put into possession of it by a contract of marriage, made May 6th^, 23 Henry VII. This Roger made a will, whereby he gave this estate to his granddaughter, Elizabeth, wife of Francis Molineux, Esq., whose great-grandson, Sir Francis, made Teversal his principal seat for some years, till his son, John, was married to Lucy, daughter of Alexander Rigby, when he gave up his house here to him, and settled himself at Kneveton, and estate purchased by his father, Sir John Molineux, Bart., in 1678, of John Thornhagh, of Fenton.

Walpoole, in the British Traveller, describes Kneveton as “a very handsome structure, built on an eminence from whence there is a prospect both extensive and delightful."

The ancient family mansion at Kneveton was taken down in 1781, the estates having passed with their sole heiress, Juliana, daughter of Sir William Molyneux, Bart., of Teversal, to Lord Howard, whose eldest daughter, the Hon. Henrietta Anne Howard Molyneux, niece of Bernard Edward, twelfth Duke of Norfolk, was married in August, 1830, to Lord Porchester, afterwards third Earl of Carnarvon.

The parish of Teversal is situated about four miles west of Mansfield.

The patrons of the living in 1770 were Thomas Berry and wife, and Diana Molyneux, spinster. Sir Francis Molyneux, Bart., was the patron in 1716, Sir Charles Molyneux, Bart., in 1753, and Sir Francis Molyneux, Knt. And Bart., LL.D., in 1812.

The monuments which claim the greatest antiquity in the church are two slabs of flat marble in the south part of the church in memory of Roger Greenhalghe, who died in 1562, and Ann, his wife, deceased in 1538. Engraven round the figures on the slabs are these inscriptions:—

“Orate pro anima Rogeri Greenhalghe, armigeri, domini quondam istius ville, qui quidem Rgerus obiit vicessimo tertio die mensis Januarii, anno Domini millesimo quingen-tesimo sexagesimo secundo; cujus anime propicietur Deus. Amen.”

“Orate pro animabus Rogeri Greenhalghe, armigeri, et Anna uxoris sue unius filiarum Thome Babington, de Dethik; quequidem Anna obiit nonagesimo die Junii, anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo tricesimo octavo; quorum animabus propicietur Deus. Amen.”

Over which on the wall on a scroll are the words—

“Memor esto, quoniam
mors non tardat
quid superbie
terra et cinis.”

Near it are some armorial bearings of the family cut in white marble.

In the chancel are three mural monuments to the Baronets of the Molyneux family. The first is of the second Baronet, who died in 1674; it is of white alabaster, having an elegant cornice, surmounted by his crest, and in various parts emblazoned with his own and five other coats of arms. His bust is in the centre between two black marble pillars of the Corinthian order, and under, on a white marble tablet, is the following memorial:—

“Corpus hic requiescit
Dni. Francisci Molyneux a Baronetto
Baronetti
qui patrimonus familiam
familiae patrimonium,
reliquit et adauxit
quem Theodosia, Edwardi Heron de
Cressy Hall in agro Lincoln.
Balnei militis filia in uxorem ducta,
numerosa prole ditavit,
quatuor nempe filiis sexque filiabus.
Ipse in maneris suo de Kneveton
corpus deposuit,
et in Domino obdormivit,
12 Octob. Anno Dni 1674 aetatis suae 72;
Matrimonii vero cum praecharissima
dicta conjuge 54.
In cujus memorium Johannes Molyneux,
Baronettus filius haeresque hoc merito
lugens posuit.”

The second monument, somewhat similar to the first, is to the memory of Sir John Molyneux, Bart., and Lucy, his wife, and is surmounted by a flaming urn and his crest. Two busts of Sir John and his lady, in white alabaster, appear between black columns of the Ionic order. Beneath is inscribed:—

“Here lyes interred the body of Sir John Molyneux, son and heir of Sir Francis Molyneux, Baronett; and also the body of Dame Lucy, his wife, by whom he had three sons and four daughters. Sir John departed this life in October, 1691, and Dame Lucy in August, 1688. Sir Francis, son and heire of Sir John Molyneux, erected this.”

The third monument, which is built of white and black marble, displays the busts of Sir Francis and his lady in white marble, and their joint arms emblazoned underneath with this eulogium:—

“M.S.
In a vault in this church are deposited the remains of Sir Francis Molyneux, Bart., of this place, and of Dame Diana, his wife, the daughter of John Howe, Esq., of Langar, in this county. She had by him seven sons and three daughters, and departed this life the 8^th day of January, in the year of our Lord 1718, in the 60^th year of her age. Sir Francis died the 12^th day of March, 1741, aged 86 years.
Happy in the conjugal,
not unhappy in the parental state,
they ended their days in peace
and in full assurance of a blessed
Resurrection.

Sir Charles Molyneux, Bart., fifth son and heir, put up this monument to the memory of the best of parents.”

On the south side of the nave are hung the achievements of several of the Baronets and their ladies. In the church is a large and elegant seat of oak belonging to the Molyneux family, having double doors ornamented at each corner with twisted corinthian columns, which support a large canopy, in the center of which the Molyneux arms are carved, and beneath is a spacious vault where are deposited the remains of the family; the door of the chancel has on it the initials J.M. (for John Molyneux), 1617.

The communion plate is of silver, and very handsome, consisting of a large flagon, the gift of Sir Charles Molyneux, Bart., 1749, with two salvers and a cup, presented by Mrs. Diana Molyneux; the whole adorned with their arms.

In the churchyard, on a plain headstone, is this inscription:—

“Here lyeth the body of Richard Marriot of Rowthorn, who departed this life Sept. 9, 1743, aged 84. He lived in the service of the Molyneux family, of this place, upwards of 70 years. Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

The ancient Hall of Teversal was of stone, and erected apparently at different periods, the centre portion being the most ancient, built probably by Roger Greenhalgh, in the reign of Henry VIII. The grand entrance was through a porch (over which in 1811 were still remaining the arms of the Greenhalgh family, impaling Babington), having at the farther end a massy oak door, bearing date 1612, that once opened into a spacious hall, at the north end of which was the gallery. The suite of rooms, though not on an extensive scale, were stately and handsome in their day. The rooms most deserving of observation were the dining-parlour and the drawing-room; the former had its walls embellished to the last with white embossed stucco, representing a variety of rural scenery, the sport of hawking, and the story of Actaeon. The Hall stood on high ground, overlooking to the south extensive gardens descending to terraces by flights of steps, and ornamented at intervals with some venerable yews. The Hall was pulled down at the beginning of the present century.