Voltaire Molesworth was an Australian politician.

Born in Balmain

Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

 to seaman James Molesworth and Elizabeth Ellen Vibert, his family travelled to the socialist New Australia

New Australia

New Australia was a utopian socialist settlement in Paraguay founded by the Australian New Australian Movement. The colony was officially founded on 28 September 1893 as Colonia Nueva Australia and comprised 238 adults and children.-History:...

 settlement in Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 when he was an infant. He was a commercial traveller in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 before working with the Cumberland Times around 1911. He continued in journalism and married Ivy Vick in 1916, with whom he had three children. A member of the Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, he was secretary of the Homebush

Homebush, New South Wales

Homebush is an inner western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Homebush is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield. Homebush West and Homebush Bay are separate suburbs...

 branch, the Granville state electorate

Electoral district of Granville

Granville is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's West. It is currently represented by Tony Issa of the Liberal Party of Australia.-History:...

 council and the Nepean federal electorate

Division of Nepean

The Division of Nepean was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was located in the western suburbs of Sydney. It originally covered the suburbs of Granville, Lithgow and Penrith...

 council. In 1915 he was elected to the district committee of the Australian Journalists Association, of which he was treasurer (1917–19) and president (1919–21). Molesworth was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 in 1920 as a Labor member for Cumberland, serving until 1925, when he became chief of staff of the Times, later becoming editor from 1927 to 1929. In 1925 he left the Labor Party and later joined the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

. He was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 in 1932 as a member of the United Australia Party

United Australia Party

The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...

and served until 1934. Molesworth died in Sydney.