Edmund Molyneux ( fl. 1587), was a

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

and

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

to the

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Lieutenant of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Family

He was the third son of Sir Edmund Molyneux, a justice of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

by Jane, daughter of John Cheney of Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire.

Career

Thomas Tanner, citin
'Cabala; mysteries of state, in letters of the great ministers of K. James and K. Charles'
ed. 1663, p. 140, identifies him as 'one Moleneux,' who, after being in the employ of

Sir William Cecil William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

and 'misusing' him, sought in August 1567 the post of secretary to Sir Henry Norris, the English ambassador to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. An Edmund Molyneux was admitted 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 W ...

in 1574. Edmund Molyneux became secretary to Sir

Henry Sidney Sir Henry Sidney (20 July 1529 – 5 May 1586), Lord Deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he receive ...

, and accompanied him to Ireland, where he acted as clerk of the council. Sidney did his best to advance Molyneux' interests at court. On 20 September 1576, he wrote a long letter in his favour to Burghley, and in November 1576 vainly asked the privy council to appoint Molyneux, along with another, supervisor of the attorneys, who had 'grown very crafty and corrupt'. In September 1578 Molyneux was sent by Sidney to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

to report upon the state of Ireland. On 31 December 1579 he petitioned the privy council for his 'despatch and payment after long suit'.Calendar of the State Papers relating to Ireland, of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, Volume 2, 1574-85, p
203
/ref> Molyneux furnished an account of Sir Henry, Sir Philip, Sir Robert, and Thomas Sidney to

Holinshed's Chronicles ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', also known as ''Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland'', is a collaborative work published in several volumes and two editions, the first edition in 1577, and the second in 1587. It was a large, co ...

(ed. 1587, iii
1548-56
, in which he complained that Sir Henry Sidney, however he might strive, never succeeded in obtaining for him a comfortable office or reward of any kind. The enmity of Burghley probably retarded his advancement.

References

;Attribution * Endnotes:
Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts Preserved in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth
Volume 1, 1515–74, pp. 401, 402; * Thomas Tanner
Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica
p. 530; *

, ed. 1587, iii
1590
; * Calendar of State Papers, Domestic. Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, and James I, Volume 1, 1547–80, p
195
* Arthur Collins
Letters and Memorials of State in the Reigns of Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth
i. 66, 210, 227, 239, 240, 296.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molyneux, Edmund Chief Secretaries for Ireland 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 16th-century biographers 16th-century Irish historians 16th-century Irish male writers English biographers English male non-fiction writers