Baron Methuen, of

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route, southwest of Swindon, southeast of Bristol, northeast of Bath and southwest o ...

in the County of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, is a title in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the ...

. It was created in 1838 for the former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

and Wiltshire North, Paul Methuen. His grandson, the third Baron (who succeeded his father), was a distinguished soldier who became

Field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

. His son, the fourth Baron, was a professional artist and Royal Academician. On his death, the title passed to his younger brother, the fifth Baron. The seventh Baron, who succeeded his elder brother in 1994, was one of the ninety

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

s elected to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

after the passage of the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

, and sat on the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

benches. , the title is held by his first cousin once removed, the eighth baron, who succeeded to the title in that year. The first Baron's grandfather, Paul Methuen, was the cousin and heir of the wealthy Sir Paul Methuen, a well-known politician, courtier, diplomat and patron of art and literature, who was the son of John Methuen (c. 1650 – 1706),

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

between 1697 and 1703 and ambassador to Portugal. It was the last-named who in 1703 negotiated the famous

Methuen Treaty The Methuen Treaty was a military and commercial treaty between England and Portugal that was signed in 1703 as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. The treaty stipulated that no tax higher than the tax charged for an equal amount of Frenc ...

, which, in return for the admission of English woollens into

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, granted differential duty favouring the importation of Portuguese wines into England to the disadvantage of French wines, and thus contributed to the replacement of the drinking of burgundy by that of

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

. The family seat is

Corsham Court Corsham Court is an English country house in a park designed by Capability Brown. It is in the town of Corsham, 3 miles (5 km) west of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and is notable for its fine art collection, based on the nucleus of paintin ...

, in

Barons Methuen (1838)

Paul Methuen, 1st Baron Methuen Paul Methuen, 1st Baron Methuen (21 June 1779 – 14 September 1849), was a British Whig politician who was raised to the peerage in 1838. Biography Methuen was the son of Paul Cobb Methuen of Corsham, Wiltshire, and his wife Matilda (née Goo ...

(1779–1849) * Frederick Henry Paul Methuen, 2nd Baron Methuen (1818–1891) * Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen (1845–1932) *

Paul Ayshford Methuen, 4th Baron Methuen Paul Ayshford Methuen, 4th Baron Methuen (29 September 1886 – 7 January 1974) was a painter, zoologist and landowner. Life From 1910 to 1914 he worked in the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria, where he published several scientific papers with ...

(1886–1974) * Anthony Paul Methuen, 5th Baron Methuen (1891–1975) * (Anthony) John Methuen, 6th Baron Methuen (1925–1994) * Robert Alexander Holt Methuen, 7th Baron Methuen (1931–2014) *James Paul Archibald Methuen-Campbell, 8th Baron Methuen (born 1952). The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

is the present holder's half-brother, Thomas Rice Mansel Methuen-Campbell (born 1977).

Male-line family tree

Arms

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Methuen Baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1838 Noble titles created for UK MPs 1838 establishments in the United Kingdom People from Corsham