On 27th February 1852 Valerie Susan Langdon Lady Meux was born at Crockernwell, Devon.
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.
1881. James Abbott McNeill Whistler [aged 46]. Arrangement in Black, No. 5: Portrait of Valerie Susan Langdon Lady Meux [aged 28].
1881. James Abbott McNeill Whistler [aged 46]. Harmony in Pink and Grey". Portrait of Valerie Susan Langdon Lady Meux [aged 28].
On 1st January 1883 [her father-in-law] Henry Meux 2nd Baronet [aged 65] died. His son [her husband] Henry [aged 26] succeeded 3rd Baronet Meux of Theobald's Park in Hertfordshire.
In 1887 Valerie Susan Langdon Lady Meux [aged 34] purchased the remains of Temple Bar - it had been demolished nine years earlier - and had it erected at Theobalds House, Hertfordshire.
Letters of James McNeill Whistler 1863. Upton & Britton, Solicitors. 51, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W. C.
5th July 1889.
Sir,
As you have taken no notice of our last letter to you of the 31st May last we beg to inform you that unless we hear from you by Wednesday next that you are prepared to come to some amicable arrangement with our Client Sir [her husband] Henry Meux [aged 33] regarding the unfinished Portrait of Lady Meux [aged 37] [Probably Portrait of Lady Meux in Furs] for which you have been paid our instructions are to commence legal proceedings against you without further Notice.
Yours faithfully.
Upton & Britton
Mr. J. Mc. Whistler [aged 54]
13. Tite Street, Chelsea.
Around 1900. Valerie Susan Langdon Lady Meux [aged 47] in her high phaeton drawn by two Zebras.
Around 1900 Valerie Susan Langdon Lady Meux [aged 47] ordered, at her own expense, six naval 12-pounders on special field carriages made by Armstrong of Elswick. The guns were sent directly to Lord Roberts in South Africa, because they had been refused by the War Office. The unit which manned these guns were known as the "Elswick Battery". The battery was in action several times, including the Second Battle of Silkaatsnek. Hedworth Lambton aka Meux [aged 43] subsequently visited Lady Meux to thank her for her gift; she subsequently made him chief benficiary of her will.
This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.
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On 11th January 1900 [her husband] Henry Bruce Meux 3rd Baronet [aged 43] died without issue. Baronet Meux of Theobald's Park in Hertfordshire extinct.
On 20th December 1910 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 [her former mother-in-law] mother-in-law's family, the Brudenell-Bruces, from her will probably because they had shunned her socially.
New York Times 29 Jul 1922. 29th July 1922. Obituary. New York Times.
Former Adele Grant of New York Stricken With Heart Attack After Dinner Party.
TRIED TO SUMMON HELP
Dowager, Once Famous Beauty, Was Model for Herkomer's "A Lady in White." [Note. This appears to be a mistake - A Lady in White]
1922 by The New York Times Company. By Wireless to The New York Times.
London, July 28. Dowager Countess Essex [deceased], who was the daughter of the late Beach Grant of New York and the second wife of the Seventh Earl of Essex, was found dead in her bath today at her home, 72 Brook Street, by one of her maids.
Lady Essex attended last night a dinner party given by the Hon. Mrs. Rupert Beckett and appeared in the best of spirits. She was driven home by Mrs. Asquith, with whom she was to have lunched today.
Apparently she took her bath before going to bed and had the seizure. She seemed to have endeavored to get help as the hanging electric bell push had been pulled into the bath. The tragedy was not discovered until this morning when Lady Essex's maid found her bed had not been slept in.
The bath room door was locked and the electric lights were full on. When the door was forced Lady Essex was found dead. She had suffered for years from a weak heart and it is presumed that she had the seizure when she could not help herself.
In her prime Lady Essex was famed for her beauty, being tall and graceful, with soft eyes and dark hair. Indeed she belonged to the group that was playfully christened "Lovely Five" and included Lady Warwick [aged 60], Lady Lytton [aged 80], Lady Westmoreland and the Duchess of Sutherland [aged 54]. She was the model for Herkomer's famous picture "A Lady in White."
A coroner's inquest into Lady Essex's death will be held on Monday.
Adele Grant. daughter of the late Beach Grant of this city, was married to the seventh Earl of Essex in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map], Dec. 14 1893. Archdeacon Farrar performed the ceremony, the occasion being one of the brilliant social events of that Winter in London. There have been two children, Lady Iris Mary [aged 27] and Lady Joan Rachel [aged 23], respectively 26 and 22 years old. Presumably they will share their mother's fortune, which is not inconsiderable since her inheritance in 1915 of some $600,000 from her uncle, R. Suydam Grant, of the New York Stock Exchange.
Her husband was a widower when she married him. The present Earl [aged 38], son of his father's first marriage, did not have sufficient income to keep up the magnificent ancestral estate of Cassiobury Park, and last Fall it was offered for sale. On previous occasions it had been rented to Americans, among others to Otto H. Kahn.
An anecdote of the family that reveals the firmness of the Countess is that of her refusal of the tempting offers repeatedly made to her by Lady Meux, widow of Sir Henry Meux, the wealthy brewer. The story has it that Lady Meux, originally a "queen of burlesque" and aunt by marriage of the Earl of Essex, offered to make the Earl her heir if only the Countess would introduce her to society. But the Countess did not allow her thorough disapproval of the brewer's widow to be overcome by the bribe.
Before her marriage Adele Grant had been engaged to the late Earl Cairns, the unfortunate man who acquired the nickname of "Gumboil," thanks to his courtesy title of Lord Garmoyle. She broke off the match on the eve of the wedding owing to the prospective bridegrooms extortionate demands for a settlement. And, in 1920, after the death of her husband, she was reported, not on the highest authority, however, to be engaged to the Duke of Connaught [aged 72], brother of Edward Vll. The affair progressed no further than the circulation of the report.
During the World War the Countess did much relief work, serving with Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, on the Urban Executive Committee of the Urban Council for War Relief, and also as President of the Soldiers and Sailors Families' Association.
