Lieutenant Montague Treby Molesworth, Royal Navy

IN MEMORY OF
MONTAGUE TREBY MOLESWORTH
LIEUTENANT IN THE ROYAL NAVY
WHO DIED ON BOARD HMS CLEOPATRA
MARCH 25th 1844
OF SPEAR-WOUNDS, RECEIVED ON THE 23RD IN AN UNFORESEEN
AND GENERAL ATTACK, MADE BY THE NATIVES OF THE WEST COAST
OF MADAGASCAR ON THE UNARMED CREW OF THE PINNACE
UNDER HIS COMMAND WHILE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN WEIGHING
THE ANCHOR OF THEIR SHIP, THEN WITHIN HAIL AND HAPPILY
GOT OFF THE CORAL REEF, LAT. 22° 50' S LONG. 43° 11' E
IN THIS BARBAROUS OUTRAGE, THE WORK OF TWO MINUTES
AND THE RESULT OF A DEFEATED ATTEMPT AT THEFT SEVEN OUT OF
THIRTEEN BRAVE MEN LOST THEIR LIVES WITH THEIR GALLANT OFFICER
THUS WAS HIS BRIGHT CAREER ARRESTED, ERE 24 SUMMERS HAD
DAWNED UPON HIM: YET IN THAT BRIEF SPACE, HE HAD PROVED
HIMSELF BY HIS PROWESS AND PRESENCE OF MIND IN THE
MOMENT OF DANGER, ALL A BRITISH SAILOR SHOULD BE.
HE DIED, BELOVED AND LAMENTED, AN HONOUR TO HIS
FAMILY AND PROFESSION, A CHRISTIAN IN FAITH AND HOPE
HE WAS THE SECOND SON OF THE REVD WILLIAM MOLESWORTH
OF ST BREOCKE IN CORNWALL, AND KATHARINE, ELDEST
DAUGHTER OF PAUL TREBY TREBY, ESQRE OF PLYMPTON, DEVON