Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Molines, James
MOLINES, MOLEYNS, or MULLINS, JAMES (d. 1639), surgeon, was born in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and appears at least as early as 1607 a member of the Barber-Surgeons' Company, of which he became a warden in 1625, and master in 1632. He was elected, 20 Jan. 1622-3, surgeon 'for the cutting of the stone' to St. Bartholomew's and St. Thomas's Hospitals, and held this office till his death in 1639. He was a noted surgeon in his day.
His son, Edward Molines (d. 1663), was appointed surgeon to St. Thomas's Hospital in his father's lifetime, and surgeon for the cutting of the stone to St. Bartholomew's, 6 July 1639, in succession to his father. He appears to have been a man of violent temper, as on one occasion he defied the authority of the Barber-Surgeons' Company, to which he belonged, being fined in consequence, and never holding any office in the company. On the breaking out of the war between Charles I and the parliament he joined the royal army, and was taken in arms at Arundel Castle when it was surrendered to the parliamentary forces in 1643. In consequence, the House of Commons ordered the governors of St. Thomas's Hospital to dismiss Molines from his office, which was done 25 Jan. 1643-4. He is mentioned as having compounded for his estate, the matter being finally settled in 1653 (Green, Cal. State Papers, Dom. Ser.; Proceedings of Committee for Compounding, 1643-60, p. 2554). He was replaced in his hospital office after the Restoration, 20 July 1660, in compliance with a letter from Charles II, and died in 1663.
James Molines (1628–1686), the eldest son of Edward Molines, was elected, 8 Nov. 1663, in compliance with a recommendation—equivalent to a command—from Charles II, surgeon to St. Thomas's Hospital 'as to ordinary avocations,' and joint surgeon with Mr. Hollyer' for the cutting of the stone.' He was afterwards appointed surgeon in ordinary to Charles II and James II, and received the degree of M.D. from the university of Oxford 28 Sept. 1681. He died 8 Feb. 1686, and was buried in St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street, where his memorial tablet still exists. His name appears as giving an imprimatur to certain surgical works, but he does not seem to have contributed to the literature of the profession.
William Molines (fl. 1680), who was possibly a younger son of Edward, is mentioned in the 'Records of the Barber-Surgeons 'as engaged in the anatomical dissections at their hall in 1648. He was the author or editor of a modest little work on anatomy, entitled 'Myotomia, or the Anatomical Administration of all the Muscles of an Humane Body' (London, 1680, sm. 8vo), and intended as a manual of dissection.
A third James Molines (fl. 1675) appears as the author of a manuscript volume in the British Museum Library (Sloane, 3293), containing, among other things, interesting notes of the surgical practice at St. Thomas's Hospital in 1675. He speaks of James Molines (the second) as his cousin, and of his father as being also a surgeon, so that he may possibly have been a son of William Molines. He was a student when he wrote these notes, and nothing further is known of him.
[Archives of St. Thomas's and St. Bartholomew's Hospitals ; Sidney Young's Annals of the Barber-Surgeons, London, 1890; Paget's Records of Harvey, 1846, p. 30.]