Viscount Molesworth, of Swords in the County of Dublin, is a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

. It was created in 1716 for Robert Molesworth. He was made Lord Molesworth, Baron of Philipstown, of King's County, at the same time, also in the Peerage of Ireland. Molesworth had been invested as member of the Irish Privy Council in 1697, represented

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East Retford East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and Mitchell in the British House of Commons and served as British Ambassador to Denmark. His elder son, the second Viscount, notably served as Ambassador to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the

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. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Viscount. He was a Field Marshal in the Army. On the death of his son, the fourth Viscount, this line of the family failed, and the titles passed to the latter's first cousin, the fifth Viscount. He was the eldest son of the Hon. William Molesworth, third son of the first Viscount. His son, the sixth Viscount, was a

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the Army, who was lost in the wreck of '' Arniston''. On his death, this line of the family also failed and the titles were inherited by his second cousin, the seventh Viscount. He was the eldest son of Richard, third son of the Hon. William Molesworth, third son of the first Viscount. He was succeeded by his nephew, the eighth Viscount. , the titles are held by the latter's great-grandson, the twelfth Viscount, who succeeded his father in 1997.

Viscounts Molesworth (1716)

* Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth (1656–1725) * John Molesworth, 2nd Viscount Molesworth (1679–1726) * Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth (1680–1758) * Richard Nassau Molesworth, 4th Viscount Molesworth (1748–1793) * Robert Molesworth, 5th Viscount Molesworth (1729–1813) * William John Molesworth, 6th Viscount Molesworth (1763–1815) * Richard Pigott Molesworth, 7th Viscount Molesworth (1786–1875) * Samuel Molesworth, 8th Viscount Molesworth (1829–1906) * George Bagot Molesworth, 9th Viscount Molesworth (1867–1947) * Charles Richard Molesworth, 10th Viscount Molesworth (1869–1961) * Richard Gosset Molesworth, 11th Viscount Molesworth (1907–1997) * Robert Bysse Kelham Molesworth, 12th Viscount Molesworth (born 1959) The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

is the present holder's brother, the Hon. William John Charles Molesworth (born 1960).

Male-line family tree

Notes

References

* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Molesworth Viscountcies in the Peerage of Ireland Noble titles created in 1716