Methuen

The title of this article is ambiguous. For more meanings, see Methuen (disambiguation) .

Methuen is an English family name of Scottish origin derived from the old barony of Methven in Perthshire , Scotland .

A member of the Protestant family named John de Methven fled to England at the time of the Reformation in Scotland and changed the spelling of his name to Methuen . The family can then be traced in Somerset and Wiltshire . John Methuen (1650–1706) from Bishops Cannings , Wiltshire, was a Member of Parliament for Devizes , from 1697 to 1703 Lord Chancellor of Ireland and a member of the Privy Council and until his death Ambassador to Portugal , where he negotiated the Methuen Treaty . His son Paul Methuen (1672–1757) was also ambassador to Portugal as well as to Savoy and Spain . The city of Methuen , Massachusetts is named after him. In 1745 it came into the possession of Corsham Court in Corsham , Wiltshire, which has been the seat of the main branch of the family ever since. The Whig MP Paul Methuen (1779-1849) was raised in 1838 as Baron Methuen of Corsham, in the county of Wiltshire in the peerage . The grandfather of the first baron, Paul Methuen, was the cousin and heir of Sir Paul Methuen , a well-known politician, courtier, diplomat and promoter of art and literature at the time. This in turn was the son of John Methuen (1650-1706), Lord Chancellor of Ireland between 1697 and 1703 and ambassador to Portugal. The latter negotiated the Methuen Treaty. It stipulated that England could export textiles to Portugal (and its colonies) without any obstacles , while Portugal exported port wine to England. This contract ultimately led to French Burgundy being replaced by port wine on the English market . The 3rd Baron, Paul Methuen (1845–1932), was a prominent soldier, u. a. in the Second Boer War , since 1911 field marshal and during the First World War Governor of Malta .

Algernon Methuen (1856-1924), founder of the publishing house Methuen Publishing , is not related to the family, but took this surname in 1889.

See also

• Methven

literature

• John Burke: A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, enjoying territorial possessions or high official rank, but uninvested with heritable honors . tape 1 . London 1833, p. 392-395 (English).