Biography of Henry Bruce Meux 3rd Baronet 1856-1900

On 19th January 1856 [his father] Henry Meux 2nd Baronet [aged 38] and [his mother] Louisa Caroline Brudenell-Bruce Lady Meux were married. She by marriage Lady Meux of Theobald's Park in Hertfordshire. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Ernest Brudenell-Bruce 3rd Marquess Ailesbury [aged 45] and [his grandmother] Louisa Elizabeth Horsley Beresford Marchioness Ailesbury [aged 41].

After 19th January 1856 Henry Bruce Meux 3rd Baronet was born to Henry Meux 2nd Baronet [aged 38] and Louisa Caroline Brudenell-Bruce Lady Meux.

On 27th October 1878 Henry Bruce Meux 3rd Baronet [aged 22] and Valerie Susan Langdon Lady Meux [aged 26] were married, possibly in secret. She by marriage Lady Meux of Theobald's Park in Hertfordshire. She was shunned by her husband's aristocratic family, in particular the Brudenell-Bruce clan on her mother-in-law's side. They had met at the Casino De Venise in Holborn where she was working as a banjo-playing waitress, or barmaid, or similar.

On 1st January 1883 [his father] Henry Meux 2nd Baronet [aged 65] died. His son Henry [aged 26] succeeded 3rd Baronet Meux of Theobald's Park in Hertfordshire.

In December 1894 [his mother] Louisa Caroline Brudenell-Bruce Lady Meux died.

On 11th January 1900 Henry Bruce Meux 3rd Baronet [aged 43] died without issue. Baronet Meux of Theobald's Park in Hertfordshire extinct.

On 20th December 1910 [his former wife] Valerie Susan Langdon Lady Meux [aged 58] died. She left her estate, including Theobalds House, Hertfordshire, and a substantial interest in the Meux Brewery to Hedworth Lambton aka Meux [aged 54] on condition that he change his surname to Meux, which he duly did. She excluded her [his mother] mother-in-law's family, the Brudenell-Bruces, from her will probably because they had shunned her socially.

Archaeologia Volume 84 1935 Section VI. From July 4th to 19th, 1894, excavations were made into the vallum and fosse on the SE. (pl. xxxi, fig. 2) at the expense of the then owner, Sir Henry B. Meux, Bart., under the general direction of his steward, the late Mr. E. C. Trepplin, and the immediate supervision of the late Mr. Thomas Leslie, also one of the officers of the estate. This excavation was 420 ft. from the nearest edge of the Marlborough Downs road, the measurement being made on the curve along the berm from the middle of the cutting. The cutting was 6 ft. wide according to the Wilts. Archaeol. Magazine; but it is shown as 8 ft. on the large plan (pl. XXIX), and 140 ft. in length. These dimensions were estimated from observation on the ground in 1908. At the close of the 1894 excavations a westerly extension in the digging was made (6 ft. wide) along the fosse.

Archaeologia Volume 84 1935 Section VI. It remains to be said that the buildings indicated on the plan are those which existed in 1912. All were measured on the spot and not taken from the 25-inch O. Sheet. There are no buildings of great age within the earthwork, and the ancient church and manor-house are outside and well to the north of the western entrance approached by the Beckhampton Avenue.

1 he position of all the excavations is shown, viz. Cuttings I, II, III, VIII, and IX across the fosse; Cuttings IV, V, VI, and VII on the entrance causeway; and Cutting X through the vallum.¹ Sir Henry Meux's excavation into the fosse and vallum is outlined on the SE. quadrant; and an arrow points to Silbury Hill, the centre of which is 4,750 ft. a little W. of S. from the centre of the Great Outer Circle of Avebury. Plate XXXIV, fig. 2, shows Silbury taken from a field near the SW. vallum of Avebury, the Kennet stream in the foreground.

Note 1. The extent of the excavation on the N. and E. sides of the largest prostrate stone of the southern inner group is also indicated. See pp. 131-3, and fig. 5 for details.