My research has always focused on Georgiana Molloy and John Molloy but no-one lives in isolation; the wider circle of their family, friends and others who influenced their lives has turned out to be huge. After all, we’re looking at several generations and a time when it was usual for a couple to have many children, and marry perhaps several times if they were widowed.
It would be impossible to include details here about all the interesting individuals whose lives touched the world of the Molloys but there are several people that I often get asked about. If you’ve read the book and wondered, ‘”Whatever happened to…?” then I hope you’ll find some answers here as I add information over the coming months, perhaps with the help of readers who can fill some of the gaps and add to this archive of genealogical data. So, here’s a bit more about…
It’s late spring in Western Australia and that makes it difficult to post anything that isn’t botanical! So many WA native plants are flowering profusely and I can’t look through the window without seeing new blooms appearing nearly every day: this morning, blue sun orchids. Among the most vivid colours are the boldly-coloured ‘red and […]
The Reverend John Besley DCL From Tiverton in Devon, the son of the local mayor, Besley was a talented and charismatic man, educated at Balliol College (Oxford University) and always destined for a successful career in the church. After working in a prestigious but rather poorly paid role as librarian at the world […]
Minutiae… Small pieces of information can fascinate. They don’t usually answer the big questions but they work together in magical ways to bring the past to life. An individual is placed in a more detailed setting and their world is populated with real objects, against a background of colours and sounds. Even now, for most […]
Another great review this week. Thank you to the National Trust (Australia) and to reviewer Dr Robyn Taylor (NT quarterly magazine, ‘Trust News’ August 2015). ‘This beautifully illustrated book is a joy to read’. It ‘has a different approach’ that ‘brings psychological depth to the main characters and greater poignancy’. And thank you to the […]
Dr Green’s name appears often in the settlers’ letters, journals and diaries, not least because as their physician and surgeon he was an important part of daily life. Their comments about his work and their observations about his personal life paint a sketchy picture of the man but, viewed in isolation, the collection of anecdotes […]
Two hundred years ago today, 18 June 1815, John Molloy survived the Battle of Waterloo. As dusk fell, and after a day of fierce fighting near a country crossroads in Belgium, the men still left alive in his battalion were desperately trying to defend the now famous farmhouse ‘La Haye Sainte’. Lieutenant Molloy was seriously […]
A bit more about… Mary. Georgiana Molloy wasn’t the only one of the three Kennedy sisters to have a difficult relationship with their mother. Mary’s letters to Mrs Kennedy usually describe her difficult financial circumstances. She often sounds petulant but the letters she received back from Mrs Kennedy deal with financial matters in the same […]
It’s important not to judge people when all the facts aren’t available but Dalton’s behaviour often caused his mother and sisters some concern. After nearly two years in the notorious Fleet prison for bankruptcy (and yes, it was in all the newspapers, a public humiliation for his mother) Dalton was discharged on 7 June 1836. […]