A radical aristocrat : the Rt. Hon. Sir William Molesworth, Bart., PC, MP of Pencarrow and his wife Andalusia

The Political Career and personal life of Sir William Molesworth - See ' 'Behind the streets of Adelaide, vol 3.

This new biography of Sir William Molesworth of Pencarrow expores his personal life as it interwove with his remarkable career as a Radical politician, cut off by his early death when Secretary of State for the Colonies at the time of the Crimean War. Landlord of great properties in Cornwall and Devon, he fought for the rights of the people - for the ballot, national education, abolition of transportation, repeal of the Corn Laws. Himself a declared agnositc, he defended all religions against political discrimination. A classical scholar, mathematician and student of philosophy, he was emotionally impulsive. His first love affair were thwarted and it was feared by friends and family that his impetuous marriage to Andalusia, a young widow of unknown background, would prove disastrous. Alison Adburgham has explored the intermingling of politics, fashion and literature in the first half of the 19th century, a world of social prejudice and elaborate unwritten codes. In this, her latest book, she writes of a rebel aristocrat in that fascinating period.