Lieutenant-Colonel John Walter Molyneux-Child, TD (1939 - 2 February 2015) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer,

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, and businessman in electronics. After he became the 33rd lord of the

Manor of Papworth The Manor of Papworth is located in the parish of Ripley, Surrey, Send with Ripley, Surrey, England. It has also been known historically as the Manor of Papeworth, Paperworth, Paperworth Court, and Papeworth Cross, among other names. Its history i ...

and the 27th lord of the Manor of Dedswell, both by inheritance, he began to research the history of the English manorial system, about which he became an expert and wrote a book.

Early life and family

John Walter Molyneux-Child was born in 1939 and educated at St Hugh's School, a preparatory school near

Faringdon Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. Its views extend to the River Thames in the north and the highest ground visib ...

, Oxfordshire, located in Carswell Manor and then continued his studies at Clifton College, in Bristol. He subsequently studied engineering at university, earning a B.Sc.(Eng).Molyneux-Child, J.W. (1987) ''The evolution of the English manorial system''. Lewes: The Book Guild. He married and had two sons Patrick and Rory. He later married his second wife Mij.

Career

Molyneux-Child was an officer in the British Army's territorial force. He was appointed 2nd lieutenant in 1959, and eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

. He was awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer O ...

. He was the chairman of several electronics firms and wrote a book on RFI/EMI shielding materials that was published in 1992 and in a revised edition with a new title of ''EMC shielding materials'' in 1997. Late in life he bought Le Manoir de Tachau, near Duras, in the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

, France, which he renovated and ran as a holiday business for the British. In 2011, he appeared in the television series '' Little England'' which profiled the experiences of British holiday-makers and expatriates in France in a lightly humorous way.

Lord of the manor

In 1984, Molyneux-Child became the 33rd lord of the Manor of Papworth and the 27th lord of the Manor of Dedswell, both by inheritance from the trustees of the 6th Earl of Onslow (died 1971), and in succession to the 7th Earl of Onslow (died 2011) who relinquished the titles in that year. Acquiring the manors kindled Molyneux-Child's interest in their history and in the history of the manorial system generally and he began to research the subject and wrote a book of his findings, ''The evolution of the English manorial system'', that was published in 1987. Molyneux-Child exercised his right as lord of the manor to appoint manorial officials such as

ale taster Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served wit ...

s and hangmen which he combined with fund-raising for charity.

Death

Molyneux-Child died at home in Ripley, Surrey, on 2 February 2015. He was survived by his wife and sons.Molyneux-Child.
telegraph.co.uk, 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2016.

Selected publications

*''The evolution of the English manorial system''. The Book Guild, Lewes, 1987. *''RFI/EMI shielding materials: A designer's guide''. Woodhead, 1992. *''EMC shielding materials''. Newnes, Oxford, 1997.

References

External links

J. W. Molyneux-Child in ''Little England''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molyneux-Child, J 2015 deaths Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers English mechanical engineers English non-fiction writers 1939 births Lords of the Manor 20th-century English businesspeople