Hender Molesworth
17th-century Governor of Jamaica
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Sir Hender Molesworth, 1st Baronet (ca. 1638 – 27 July 1689) was an English colonial administrator and plantation owner in the Colony of Jamaica.[2] He was a prominent factor for the Royal African Company in Jamaica, in which capacity he was heavily engaged in the purchasing and selling of enslaved African people.[3]
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Biography
Molesworth was the second son of Hender Molesworth of Pencarrow and Mary, née Sparke.[2] He became a merchant and plantation owner operating out of Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica, where he owned 2,480 acres of land.[4] Through his role as a factor for the Royal African Company, he became an influential figure on the island and served as President of the Council and later deputy governor of the colony.[3] As a factor, Molesworth managed the distribution of enslaved Africans imported to the English West Indies. He advocated vigorously for expanded shipments to address the chronic labor shortages that hindered plantation productivity.[3] He also promoted the re-export of slaves from Jamaica to Spain's American colonies, leveraging England's rights under the Asiento de Negros contracts to supply slaves to Spain's territories.[3]
In 1684, he became the acting governor, in which capacity he suppressed the July 1685 slave revolt at Grey’s estate; Molesworth informed James II of the rebellion via council letter and invoked martial law to restore order.[5] He was appointed Governor of Jamaica in 1688. Molesworth was a supporter of the Glorious Revolution and on 19 July 1689 he was created a baronet, of Pencarrow in the Baronetage of England.[2] He married twice, but had no surviving male heir; on his death soon after the creation of his baronetcy, he was succeeded by special remainder by his elder brother, John Molesworth.[2]