Caryll Molyneux, 3rd Viscount Molyneux
Caryll Molyneux, 3rd Viscount Molyneux (1624 – 2 February 1699) was an Irish peer. He was the younger son of Richard Molyneux, 1st Viscount Molyneux and inherited the title from his elder brother, Richard Molyneux, 2nd Viscount Molyneux, in 1654. He married Mary Barlow, daughter of Sir Alexander Barlow of Barlow.
He joined the Royalist army at the outbreak of the English Civil War, and served with his brother in the Lancashire Regiment, which was mostly Catholic, through almost all the fighting from Manchester (1642) to Worcester (1651). After the death of this brother in 1654, he succeeded to the viscounty and the constableship of Liverpool Castle. As a well-known Catholic Cavalier, he experienced very harsh treatment from the victors; and the family estates suffered severely.
It was not until the reign of James II that Molyneux's fortunes improved. He was then appointed Custos Rotulorum of Lancashire (1685–89), Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire (1687–1688) and Admiral of the Narrow Seas, and was one of the few who fought with any success on James's side against the Prince of Orange, for he seized and held the town of Chester, until all further resistance was in vain. After using the castle to store arms, he was arrested on a fictitious charge of treason for a suspected Jacobite rebellion called The Lancashire plot. Along with other Catholics, he was imprisoned in the Tower but was victoriously acquitted in 1694. He did not however recover the hereditary constableship and the castle was leased to the burgesses who in 1704 were authorised by the Crown to destroy it.
After his death at Croxteth in 1699 his title passed to his only surviving son, William Molyneux, 4th Viscount Molyneux.
References
- Victoria County History, Lancashire, III (London, 1907), 67-73
- Henry Foley, Records S.J., VII (London, 1882), 513-516
- Catholic Record Society, V (London, 1909), 109, 131, 218, etc.
- Thomas Phillipps, The family of Sir Thomas Molyneux (Middlehill. 1820)
- Gisborne Molineux, Memoir of the Molineux Family (London, 1882)
- Molyneux family history
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Earl of Derby |
Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire 1687–1688 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Derby |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by Richard Molyneux |
Viscount Molyneux 1654–1699 |
Succeeded by William Molyneux |
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Sir Caryll Molyneux". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.