Henry Bruce Meux Explained

Sir Henry Bruce Meux, 3rd Baronet (pronounced "Mews") (21 November 1856 – 11 January 1900) was an English baronet, the son of Sir Henry Meux, 2nd Baronet (1817–1883), a brewer and politician.[1]

Biography

Meux was born in London, educated at Eton College and, from 1875 on, at Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] He became captain of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1883[3] and was High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1886. From 1898 on, he was major.[4]

Meux was joint-manager, with Dudley Marjoribanks, of the Westminster brewer Meux's Brewery Company Ltd which they registered as a public company in 1888.[5] His share of the company capital was worth £224,000 in 1894 (which would be over £22 million in 2022).[6]

Meux had a considerable estate, including on the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire.[7] He restored Vasterne Manor and, in 1889, Wooton Bassett Town Hall, both in Wiltshire.[8] He was a lifetime member of the Wiltshire Archaeological Society, and was elected president of that society in 1893.[9]

He commissioned James Whistler to paint three portraits of his wife, Valerie, Lady Meux. At Lady Meux's request, Henry purchased from the City of London the Temple Bar Gate, which they preserved at their Theobalds Park estate at Cheshunt in Hertfordshire.

Meux died childless in 1900, and his wife inherited his share of the brewery and his estate.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Whistler Etchings :: Biography. etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk.
  2. Web site: Henry Bruce Meux . 2023-11-08 . oxforddnb.com.
  3. Book: Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List . 1897 . J. Murray. . en.
  4. Book: Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List . 1901 . J. Murray. . en.
  5. Web site: Meux's Brewery Company Ltd . The National Archives . 13 August 2020.
  6. News: Great Breweries and their Owners . 28 December 1894 . The Cambrian . 2023-11-23 . en.
  7. Web site: The auction sale of the Meux Estate . 22 December 2016 . 13 August 2020 . Upper Kennet News.
  8. Web site: 1889 . Kelly's Directory of Wiltshire . specialcollections.le.ac.uk . 1057 . en.
  9. 1894 . Annual General Meeting, July 1893 . . 27 . 81 . 196 . .
  10. Meux, Valerie Susie, Lady Meux. 2007. 10.1093/ref:odnb/97881. 13 August 2020.