Osbert Molyneux, 6th Earl of Sefton

Osbert Cecil Molyneux, 6th Earl of Sefton, GCVO, PC, DL (21 February 1871 – 16 June 1930), styled The Honourable Osbert Molyneux until 1901, was a British courtier and Liberal politician. He served as Master of the Horse under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman from 1905 to 1907.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Sefton GCVO PC DL
The Earl of Sefton, photograph from The Bystander, 1905
Master of the Horse
In office 18 December 1905 – 6 September 1907
Monarch	Edward VII
Prime Minister	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Preceded by	The Duke of Portland
Succeeded by	The Earl of Granard
Personal details
Born	21 February 1871
Died	16 June 1930 (aged 59)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Lady Helena Mary Bridgeman

Background

Molyneux was the second son of William Molyneux, 4th Earl of Sefton, by his wife the Honourable Cecil Emily Jolliffe (1838–1899), fifth daughter of William Jolliffe, 1st Baron Hylton. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the 2nd Life Guards. Resigning from the regular army, he was appointed a supernumerary captain in the Lancashire Hussars Imperial Yeomanry on 4 June 1902.[1]

Political career

Lord Sefton succeeded to the earldom in December 1901 on the early death of his elder brother, and took his seat in the House of Lords. In April 1902, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Lancashire.[2] When the Liberals came to power under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in December 1905, Sefton was appointed Master of the Horse[3] and sworn of the Privy Council in January 1906.[4] He continued as Master of the Horse until September 1907. In 1926 he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.[5]

Family

Lord Sefton married Lady Helena Mary Bridgeman, daughter of George Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford, on 8 January 1898. They had three children:

• Hugh William Osbert Molyneux, 7th Earl of Sefton (1898–1972).
• Midshipman Hon. Cecil Richard Molyneux (1899–1916), killed in action aboard HMS Lion (1910) at the Battle of Jutland during the First World War.
• Lady Evelyn Molyneux (1902–1917), died young.

Lady Helena Sefton was a favorite aunt of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. The wife of King George V's son Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester wrote of her aunt Helena: "Long before the First War, she shocked her relations by wearing trousers and going off big-game shooting with a boyfriend--needless to say, it was the trousers that caused the worst scandal. In the last War, she drove lorries, though by then she was well over seventy. She was terrifically given to good works and a very religious person. I was very impressed when she once took me down to the canteen in the docks where she often helped cook breakfast for the merchant seamen who had come in the night before or at break of dawn."[6]

Lord Sefton died in June 1930, aged 59, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest and only surviving son, Hugh.

References

1. "No. 27439". The London Gazette. 3 June 1902. p. 3611.
2. "No. 27426". The London Gazette. 18 April 1902. p. 2506.
3. "No. 27873". The London Gazette. 9 January 1906. p. 186.
4. "No. 27873". The London Gazette. 9 January 1906. p. 182.
5. The Edinburgh Gazette, January 1, 1926, p.8
6. Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alice (1983). The Memoirs of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (Hardcover ed.). London: Harper Collins. p. 63.