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Sir Thomas Molyneux (1531–1597) was an English-born statesman in Ireland during the Elizabethan era. He founded a dynasty which produced several men of distinction, and his descendants acquired the title Molyneux baronets of Castle Dillon, County Armagh. ==Life== Molyneux was born in Calais, which was then the last English possession in France. His parents died when he was very young and he was raised by John Bishin, an alderman of the town. When the French seized Calais in January 1558, he was taken prisoner, but freed after he paid a ransom of 500 crowns (the size of the ransom suggests that his family were wealthy). He moved to Bruges and there married Catherine Stabeort (or Salaboethe), daughter of Lodowick Stabeort, a wealthy burgomaster of the town. In 1568, after the outbreak of the Dutch Revolt made their life in Bruges increasingly hazardous, Molyneux moved to England, and gained the favour of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1576 he moved to Ireland. He received a grant of land at Swords, County Dublin. He was appointed Chief Victualler to the Irish Army and Receiver of customs on the import of wine. In 1590 he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. He contributed £40 (then a very substantial sum) towards the foundation of Trinity College, Dublin. In 1594 his qualifications to hold office were questioned: it seems that his French birth and his years in Bruges had raised suspicions that he was a Roman Catholic, and as such ineligible for public office. At a hearing before the Court of Exchequer (Ireland), where he was examined by Attorney General for Ireland, Sir Charles Calthorpe, he pleaded successfully that as an Englishman and a true Christian (i.e Protestant), he was fit to hold any office to which the Crown appointed him. He died just after New Year 1597, and was buried in Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin; his widow died the following year. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Molyneux」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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