Voltaire Molesworth (29 December 1889 – 5 November 1934) was an Australian politician. Born in Balmain to seaman James Molesworth and Elizabeth Ellen Vibert, his family travelled to the

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

New Australia New Australia was a utopian socialist settlement in Paraguay created by the New Australian Movement. The colony was officially founded on 28 September 1893 as Colonia Nueva Australia and comprised 238 people. History The New Australia ...

settlement in

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

when he was an infant. He was a commercial traveller in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

before working with the ''Cumberland Times'' around 1911. He continued in journalism and married Ivy Vick in 1916, with whom he had three children. A member of the Labor Party, he was secretary of the

Homebush Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Municipali ...

branch, the Granville state electorate council and the Nepean federal electorate council. In 1915 he was elected to the district committee of the Australian Journalists Association, of which he was treasurer (1917–19) and president (1919–21). Molesworth was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

in 1920 as a Labor member for

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, serving until 1925, when he became chief of staff of the ''Times'', later becoming editor from 1927 to 1929. In 1925 he left the Labor Party and later joined the Nationalist Party. He was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

in 1932 as a member of the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

and served until 1934. Molesworth died in Sydney.

References

1890 births 1934 deaths United Australia Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Politicians from Sydney Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian journalists {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub