Count, later Prince, Alexander Otto Hugo Wladimir zu Münster (1 September 1858 – 12 October 1922) was a German aristocrat who was the owner of Maresfield Park estate,

Maresfield Maresfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village itself lies 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north from Uckfield; the nearby villages of Nutley and Fairwarp; and the smaller settlements of Du ...

, East Sussex.

Early life and family

Alexander Münster was born in

Derneburg Holle is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km southeast of Hildesheim, and 15 km west of Salzgitter. It was mentioned in Tom Clancy's bestseller ''Red S ...

, Hanover, on 1 September 1858, the son of Prince

Georg Herbert Münster Georg Herbert Fürst{{efn, {{German title Graf. His title was given as "The Count Munster" in the official British Government translations from the French of the treaties he signed at the Congress of Vienna (see for example Treaty between Prussia ...

(1820–1902), German ambassador in London 1873-1885 and subsequently Paris. His mother was his father's first wife, Princess Aleksandra Mikhailovna Golitsyna. In 1890 he married Lady Muriel Hay (1863–1927), daughter of

George Hay-Drummond, 12th Earl of Kinnoull George Hay-Drummond, 12th Earl of Kinnoull (16 July 1827 – 30 January 1897), styled as Viscount Dupplin until 1866, was a Scottish peer and cricketer. His titles were Earl of Kinnoull, Viscount Dupplin and Lord Hay of Kinfauns in the P ...

, at St Andrews church in

Wells Street Wells Street is a street in the City of Westminster. It runs from Riding House Street in the north to Oxford Street in the south. It is crossed by Mortimer Street and Eastcastle Street. It is joined on its western side by Marylebone Passage a ...

, London, an event depicted on the front page of ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...

''. The couple had sons Friedrich (1891) and Paul (1898). MaresfieldPark Sussex ByBenjaminDeanWyatt

Life in England

Münster inherited Maresfield Park estate in 1899 from his friend Hervey Charles Pechell. Münster was in fact living in Maresfield Park while Pechell and his wife, Blanche Henrietta Johnes Shelley, resided in Bellagio in Italy. He officiated at the planting of the oak on Maresfield Recreation Ground commemorating Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897 which was performed by her eldest daughter the Empress Frederick of Germany. The Pechells had donated the ground to the parish in 1897 but Münster legally transferred it in 1899. In 1915, during the First World War, it was seized from him by the British government under the

Trading With the Enemy Trading with the enemy is a legal term of English origin that is used with a number of related meanings. It refers to: #An offence at common law and under statute #A ground for condemnation of ships in prize proceedings #A ground for illegality a ...

laws as he was a German citizen.History.
Maresfield Parish Council. Retrieved 31 August 2017. Records relating to Maresfield Park are held by the East Sussex Record Office.

Death and legacy

Münster died on 12 October 1922.Alexander Otto Munster, Count.
''The Weald''. Retrieved 12 October 2017. Maresfield Park was sold in 1924 to William Henry Abbey, a brewer , industrialist and landowner. Count munster at maresfield park

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Münster, Alexander 1858 births 1922 deaths Nobility from Hanover German emigrants to the United Kingdom People from Maresfield