Charles Molloy (died 16 July 1767) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and political activist on the Jacobite side, as well as a minor

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Life

The 18th century '' Biographia dramatica'' says that Molloy attended

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

before moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and writing plays. ''A Compendium of Irish Biography'' states he "was born in Dublin early in the 18th century". His three known plays were performed at

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...

. '' The Perplexed Couple'' (1715) and ''

The Coquet ''The Coquet, or the English Chevalier'' is a 1718 comedy play by the Irish writer Charles Molloy. Staged at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre the original cast included Lacy Ryan as Bellamy, Benjamin Griffin as Monsieur Caprice, John Leigh as ...

'' (1718) had three-night runs, but ''

The Half Pay Officers ''The Half-Pay Officers'' is a 1720 comedy play by the Irish writer Charles Molloy. The play included popular scenes from ''Henry V'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'' and '' Love and Honour''.Nicoll p.142 It proved popular with audiences and was reviv ...

'' (1720) was a success. It ran for seven nights on its initial run and was revived several times, all the way to the 19th century. On 23 May 1764, being then a resident of St. Anne,

Soho, London Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

, he became a student of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

. Molloy was a passionate Jacobite, and he became active in the Jacobite wing of the

Tory party The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed ...

from an early date. He contributed to and aided ''

Mist's Weekly Journal Nathaniel Mist (died 30 September 1737) was an 18th-century British people, British Printer (publisher), printer and journalist whose ''Mist's Weekly Journal'' was the central, most visible, and most explicit opposition newspaper to the British ...

'' (which ran from 1716 to 1728) and its successor, ''Fog's Weekly Journal.'' Mist recommended that, when he was sent into exile, Molloy take over the Weekly Journal, and Molloy was the editor for a time. In the 1730s, the "Old Pretender,"

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales from ...

, knew of Molloy and wanted to recruit him to start a new journal in England to lobby for the Jacobite cause. Daniel O'Brien, the Old Pretender's

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

liaison, told Molloy that the journal would be co-edited by

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

. There is no other evidence whatever that Pope had any knowledge of, much less involvement in, such an endeavor, and, in the event Pope not only did not edit the new journal, he never once even contributed to it. Molloy wrote to the Pretender agreeing to the task, and the new journal ''Common Sense, or, The Englishman's Journal'' (which ran from 1737 to 1743) appeared. It had contributions from the

Earl of Chesterfield Earl of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also i ...

Baron Lyttelton Baron Lyttelton is a title that has been created one in Peerage of England and twice in Peerage of Great Britain, both times for members of the Lyttelton family. Since 1889 the title has been a subsidiary title of the viscountcy of Cobham. Bar ...

, and William King, but none from Alexander Pope or the other

Scriblerians The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. They were prominent figures in the Augustan Age of English letters. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan ...

. Molloy was apparently a bachelor without issue, but he married in 1742. Molloy's friend, John Barber, died in 1741. He was immensely wealthy, and in his will he left money to Tory causes and Tory leaders, including to

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

and Henry St John, as well as Molloy. However, the bulk of his money went to his long-time housekeeper and

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

, whom Molloy married. Since she was forty-three years old at the time, it is not surprising that the couple produced no children, but Molloy received £20,000 in her inheritance. He was probably close to her in age. She died in 1758, and he died in 1767, around seventy-three years of age. After marriage, Molloy generally ceased journalism, although he remained active for a time in Jacobite causes. He died in

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered s ...

on 16 July 1767.

Notes

;Attribution

References

External links

Charles Molloy, Dramatist, From A Compendium of Irish Biography, 1878
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molloy, Charles Year of birth missing 1767 deaths Irish Jacobites Journalists from Dublin (city) 18th-century Irish writers Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish emigrants to Great Britain