The last piece in a John Molloy jigsaw

Researching the early life of Georgiana’s husband, John Molloy, turned out to be a huge project in its own right. I originally intended to write two complementary biographies because I’ve collected so much interesting material about Molloy’s life but that proved to be an unrealistic ambition if I wanted to complete the project within the original time frame for writing. It’s long been common knowledge that Molloy was in the Rifle Brigade. Family anecdotes claimed he was also in the Royal Navy but there was no evidence to substantiate that. The full story is thrilling. In April 2012, after 4 years of preparatory research, I tracked his long military career from its very beginning, including his naval career, through original documents in several UK archives. Finding evidence in first-hand sources and touching dried-ink words on old pages is one of the biggest thrills of research.