Profile of John Molloy on Famous Like Me

Captain John Molloy (c. 1789–6 October 1867) was an early settler in Western Australia. He was one of the original settlers of Augusta.

Early life

Little is known about John Molloy's birth and early life, and published accounts vary greatly in their details. His year of birth has been variously claimed as 1760, 1780, 1786 and 1789, with the last of these now considered most reliable. As an adult, Molloy bore a striking resemblance to Prince Frederick Augustus, Duke of York, and in his lifetime it was generally thought that he was an illegitimate son of the Duke. The evidence for this is circumstantial and difficult to interpret; Hardwick (2000) suggests that if such a relationship did exist, then it would most likely have been as a result of the Duke's affair in 1787 with Susanna Hussey, Countess of Tyrconnel. Molloy would have been fostered out to avoid embarrassment.

John Molloy was raised in London by the Molloy family, an Irish family who owned a property in County Kildare. He was educated at Harrow and (by one account) Oxford, before entering the Royal Navy as a midshipman. He fought at Trafalgar in 1805, then transferred to the army in 1807 as a 2nd Lieutenant. He fought as a 1st Lieutenant during the Peninsular War of 1808–10. Then, during a two year break in military engagements, he attended Great Marlow. From 1812 to 1814, he fought in the Napoleonic Wars under Wellington, taking part in eight battles. In 1815 he fought at Waterloo where he was badly wounded and received the Waterloo Medal. After recovering his health, he returned to active duty, being posted to Glasgow in 1819–20, then Ireland until 1825. In 1824 he was promoted to Captain.

Emigration to Western Australia

In 1828, Molloy married Georgiana Kennedy, and began to consider emigrating to Western Australia. The Molloys eventually sailed for Western Australia on board the Warrior in October 1829. On arriving at the Swan River Colony in March 1830, Molloy was advised by Governor Stirling that the best land in the area had already been granted. Stirling suggested instead that the Molloys join with some other newly arrived settlers in forming a subcolony in the vicinity of Cape Leeuwin. Late in April, a group of prospective settlers including the Molloys and Bussells accompanied Stirling and his official party to the proposed site of the subcolony. After a four-day exploring expedition up the Blackwood River, Stirling confirmed his decision to establish a settlement at the location. The settlers' possessions were unloaded, and Molloy was appointed Government Resident and Resident magistrate for the settlement, to be called Augusta.

Settlement at Augusta

For the first few years of the settlement, Molloy's main tasks, other than establishment of his own farm, were the allocation of land, and laying out of the townsite. When Molloy named the streets and coastal features of Augusta in 1832, it is notable that he chose the names and titles of the Duke of York, who had died five years previously: Osnaburg Street, York Street, Albany Terrace, Duke's Head and Point Frederick.

Initial relationships with the Aborigines of the area (the Bibbulmun and Wardandi peoples) were friendly, but the relationship soured over the years, as the settlers further encroached on the natives' traditional lands and the natives increasingly stole from the settlers. By the mid-1830s, natives and settlers had become hostile to one another. In 1837 nine natives were shot in response to the killing of a settler's calf. Molloy, who valued protection of the settlers' property over protection of the natives' lives, took no action in this case. On the other hand, when a settler named George Layman was murdered by a native named Gaywal in February 1841, Molloy led a punitive party against him. Gaywal was ultimately shot dead while trying to escape. In March 1842, Charles Bussell shot a seven-year-old Aboriginal girl in the stomach while interrogating her about the location of some fugitives. Molloy reported the shooting as an accident. After charging Bussell and finding him guilty, Molloy is said to have fined him just one shilling.

Later life

Molloy's wife died in 1843, but Molloy decided to stay on at the settlement. In 1850, he visited England, returning to Western Australia in 1852. In 1859 he was informed of his promotion to Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, but sold the commission the same day. He resigned as Government Resident in March 1851 on grounds of old age. He died on 6 October 1867, and was buried alongside his wife.

John Molloy's eldest daughter Sabina married Matthew Blagden Hale, who became the first Anglican Bishop of Perth. Another daughter Flora married William Locke Brockman.

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