Sir John Meux, 1st Baronet (died February 1657) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1640 to 1643. He supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

Early life

Meux was the son of Sir William Meux and his wife Winifred Barrington, daughter of

Sir Francis Barrington, 1st Baronet Sir Francis Barrington, 1st Baronet of Barrington Hall, Essex (c. 1560 – 3 July 1628) was a Puritan activist and politician, who was MP for Essex from 1601 to 1604, then 1620 to 1628. One of the wealthiest members of the Essex gentry, ...

of Barrington Hall, Essex. The Meux family was descended from Sir Walter Meux, of

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

, in France, who married Eleanor Strangways, daughter of Sir Henry Strangways and Margaret Manners (daughter of

George Manners, 11th Baron Ros George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros of Helmsley (c. 147027 October 1513) was an English peer. Family George Manners, born about 1470, was the son of Sir Robert Manners (d. 1495) of Etal, Northumberland, and Eleanor de Ros or Roos (d. 14 ...

, and Ann St Leger, herself a daughter of Sir Thomas St Leger and

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

, sister of Kings

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

and

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

and their siblings

Edmund, Earl of Rutland Edmund, Earl of Rutland (17 May 1443 – 30 December 1460) was the fourth child and second surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. He was a younger brother of Edward IV, Edward, Earl of March, the future King ...

;

Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk also known as Elizabeth Plantagenet (22 April 1444 – 1503) was the sixth child and third daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (a great-grandson of King Edward III) and Cecily Neville. Halste ...

;

Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503), also known as Margaret of Burgundy, was Duchess of Burgundy from 1468 to 1477 as the third wife of Charles the Bold, and after his death (1477) acted as a protector of the Burgundian State. S ...

; and

George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (21 October 144918 February 1478), was the sixth child and third surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He p ...

Career

In April 1640, Meux was elected member of parliament for Newtown in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks. After 11 years of per ...

. He was re-elected MP for Newtown in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

in November 1640 and sat until he was disabled for supporting the King in 1644. He was created

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Kingston on 11 December 1641. Meux was given a fine of £375 in October 1646 by the Committee for Compounding, but it was still unpaid in 1655. IN that year, he was called before the Commissioners for Hampshire to value his estates but did not appear and was ordered to pay £50 a year. In May 1656, he petitioned Parliament asking to be assessed only on an annuity of £100 since the rest of his property had been "conveyed away for debt and to provide for his children". He renewed the petition in November 1656 when it was referred to a committee and the outcome is unknown. He died the following February. Kingston', A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5 (1912), pp. 249-251. Date accessed: 2 March 2011
/ref>

Personal life

Meux married Elizabeth Worsley, daughter of

Sir Richard Worsley, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Worsley, 1st Baronet (c. 1589 – 27 June 1621), was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1621. Worsley was the son of Thomas Worsley, of Appuldurcombe, Isle of Wight, and his wife Barb ...

Appuldurcombe Appuldurcombe House (also spelt Appledorecombe or Appledore Combe) is the shell of a large 18th-century English Baroque country house of the Worsley family. The house is situated near to Wroxall on the Isle of Wight, England. It is now managed ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Sir William Meux, 2nd Baronet (d. ), who married Mabel Dillington, daughter of Sir Robert Dillington, Bt. of Knighton. After her death he married Elizabeth Browne, daughter of George Browne, of

Buckland, Surrey Buckland is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, between Dorking and Reigate, its nearest towns. The civil parish is bordered by the North Downs escarpment in the north. The area contains a number of sand p ...

. * Henry Meux (d. 1701), who died unmarried. * John Meux (d. 1649) * Anne Meux (d. 1728), who died unmarried. * Elizabeth Meux, who died unmarried before her sister, Anne. He was succeeded by his eldest son

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

. Upon the death of his grandson, Sir William Meux, 3rd Baronet, in 1706, the baronetcy became extinct. It was revived in 1831, however, for Henry Meux, the great-great-grandson of his younger brother.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Meux, John Year of birth missing 1657 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Members of Parliament for the Isle of Wight