Agatha of Sefton

According to Dugdale's Visitation of Lancashire in 1664-65, Sir Richard de Molyneux, tenth Lord of Sefton, married Agatha, daughter and heir of Roger de Sefton. For the previous nine generations the descriptive "of Sefton" applied to the Molyneux family. Roger is not a common name in the Molyneux line, however, Richard's great-grandparents William Molyneux and Margaret de Thornton, may have named one son Roger. This Roger does not appear on Dugdale's Visitation, but does in some secondary sources.

According to all other sources found, Sir Richard de Molyneux married Agatha Kyrton, daughter of Sir Roger Kyrton (or Kyerton) and wife Alice (or Alicia) de Twenge. The de Twenge line is well-documented. Alice's father Marmaduke, from Kilton Castle in Yorkshire, was raised to the peerage and created a baron for his services to the King in battles in Scotland. The Kyrton line, on the other hand, is difficult to trace. Alternate spellings include Kyerton, Kyralon, Kryton and Krylon.

As a curator it is difficult for me to go against what is found in a Visitation text. Visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms (or more often by junior officers of arms, acting as the Kings' deputies) in England, Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to regulate and register the coats of arms of nobility and gentry and boroughs, and to record pedigrees. They staked their own families' reputations on the accuracy of their work. Their work determined who had the right to use a particular coat of arms and they were authorized by the king to "put down or otherwise deface at his discretion...those arms unlawfully used."

Bearing all this in mind, as curator for this profile, I have elected to include two wives for Sir Richard de Molyneux. One will be "Agatha of Sefton," with Dugdale as the source. The other will be Agatha Kyrton with a variety of sources. I will also place all the children under the more widely accepted Agatha Kyrton. I am also locking this profile to prevent merging with the second Agatha until there is proof that they are the same person.

Maria Edmonds-Zediker, Volunteer Curator, Aug. 31, 2013.