She died in a tragic house fire that killed several other family members. An account of the tragedy is given in The Ussher Memoirs; or, Genealogical Memoirs of the Ussher Families in Ireland (published 1889), pages 160-161, quoting a letter dated London, 7th May, 1763, published in Faulkner's Dublin Journal for that week. It is now in the public domain and is transcribed below.
"It is with the utmost horror that I relate to you the dismal catastrophe which befel poor Lady Molesworth and her family yesterday morning about 5 o'clock, when a fire suddenly broke forth in her house by the carelessness of a servt. in the nursery, in which she herself, two of her daughters, her brother, who was Capt. of a Man-of-War, the children's governess, and two other maid servants perished. The other three daughters are indeed not consumed, but scarce in a condition preferable, the eldest jumping out of a 2nd floor window was caught upon the iron palisades, which tore her thigh so miserably that the surgeons were obliged to cut it off directly four inches above the knee; another has her thigh bone broken close to the hip; a third bruised from head to foot, and both much scorched. . . . List of saved: Lord Molesworth, fortunately at school; Miss Harriet, thigh cut off and the other leg much torn with spikes; Miss Louisa, thigh broken near the hip, but set and hopes of cure without amputation, head cut but not fractured; Mr. and Mrs. Molesworth; Miss Betty much bruised and scorched. Perished: Lady Molesworth, Miss Melesina, Miss Molly, Capt. Ussher, Mrs. Morelle, governess to the children; Mrs. Patterson, Lady Molesworth's woman."
"It is with the utmost horror that I relate to you the dismal catastrophe which befel poor Lady Molesworth and her family yesterday morning about 5 o'clock, when a fire suddenly broke forth in her house by the carelessness of a servt. in the nursery, in which she herself, two of her daughters, her brother, who was Capt. of a Man-of-War, the children's governess, and two other maid servants perished. The other three daughters are indeed not consumed, but scarce in a condition preferable, the eldest jumping out of a 2nd floor window was caught upon the iron palisades, which tore her thigh so miserably that the surgeons were obliged to cut it off directly four inches above the knee; another has her thigh bone broken close to the hip; a third bruised from head to foot, and both much scorched. . . . List of saved: Lord Molesworth, fortunately at school; Miss Harriet, thigh cut off and the other leg much torn with spikes; Miss Louisa, thigh broken near the hip, but set and hopes of cure without amputation, head cut but not fractured; Mr. and Mrs. Molesworth; Miss Betty much bruised and scorched. Perished: Lady Molesworth, Miss Melesina, Miss Molly, Capt. Ussher, Mrs. Morelle, governess to the children; Mrs. Patterson, Lady Molesworth's woman."
She died in a tragic house fire that killed several other family members. An account of the tragedy is given in The Ussher Memoirs; or, Genealogical Memoirs of the Ussher Families in Ireland (published 1889), pages 160-161, quoting a letter dated London, 7th May, 1763, published in Faulkner's Dublin Journal for that week. It is now in the public domain and is transcribed below.
"It is with the utmost horror that I relate to you the dismal catastrophe which befel poor Lady Molesworth and her family yesterday morning about 5 o'clock, when a fire suddenly broke forth in her house by the carelessness of a servt. in the nursery, in which she herself, two of her daughters, her brother, who was Capt. of a Man-of-War, the children's governess, and two other maid servants perished. The other three daughters are indeed not consumed, but scarce in a condition preferable, the eldest jumping out of a 2nd floor window was caught upon the iron palisades, which tore her thigh so miserably that the surgeons were obliged to cut it off directly four inches above the knee; another has her thigh bone broken close to the hip; a third bruised from head to foot, and both much scorched. . . . List of saved: Lord Molesworth, fortunately at school; Miss Harriet, thigh cut off and the other leg much torn with spikes; Miss Louisa, thigh broken near the hip, but set and hopes of cure without amputation, head cut but not fractured; Mr. and Mrs. Molesworth; Miss Betty much bruised and scorched. Perished: Lady Molesworth, Miss Melesina, Miss Molly, Capt. Ussher, Mrs. Morelle, governess to the children; Mrs. Patterson, Lady Molesworth's woman."
"It is with the utmost horror that I relate to you the dismal catastrophe which befel poor Lady Molesworth and her family yesterday morning about 5 o'clock, when a fire suddenly broke forth in her house by the carelessness of a servt. in the nursery, in which she herself, two of her daughters, her brother, who was Capt. of a Man-of-War, the children's governess, and two other maid servants perished. The other three daughters are indeed not consumed, but scarce in a condition preferable, the eldest jumping out of a 2nd floor window was caught upon the iron palisades, which tore her thigh so miserably that the surgeons were obliged to cut it off directly four inches above the knee; another has her thigh bone broken close to the hip; a third bruised from head to foot, and both much scorched. . . . List of saved: Lord Molesworth, fortunately at school; Miss Harriet, thigh cut off and the other leg much torn with spikes; Miss Louisa, thigh broken near the hip, but set and hopes of cure without amputation, head cut but not fractured; Mr. and Mrs. Molesworth; Miss Betty much bruised and scorched. Perished: Lady Molesworth, Miss Melesina, Miss Molly, Capt. Ussher, Mrs. Morelle, governess to the children; Mrs. Patterson, Lady Molesworth's woman."
Family Members
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- Kensington Molesworth or Ussher
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Molesworth or Ussher
- Greater London Molesworth or Ussher
- England Molesworth or Ussher
- Find a Grave Molesworth or Ussher
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