Valerie Susan, Lady Meux, (1847 – 1910) was a Victorian socialite and the wife of Sir Henry Meux, 3rd Baronet (1856 - 1900), a London brewer.

Valerie Langdon married Henry Meux in secret and in haste on 27 August 1878. He was the son of Sir Henry Meux, 2nd Baronet, and succeeded his father in the title in 1883. She claimed to have worked as an actress before her marriage but many believed she had worked under the name Val Reece at the Casino de Venise in Holborn

Holborn

Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...

. There was some suggestion that she had been a prostitute.

Whistler

James Abbott McNeill Whistler painted three portraits of Lady Meux in 1881. The portraits were the first full-scale commissions to be given to Whistler following the notorious Ruskin trial which had left him financially bankrupt. Harmony in Pink and Grey: Portrait of Lady Meux currently belongs to the Frick Collection

Frick Collection

The Frick Collection is an art museum located in Manhattan, New York City, United States.- History :It is housed in the former Henry Clay Frick House, which was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913-1914. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux belongs to the Honolulu Academy of Arts

Honolulu Academy of Arts

The Honolulu Academy of Arts is an art museum in Honolulu in the state of Hawaii. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art.-Description:...

 while the third portrait, Portrait of Lady Meux in Furs, is believed to have been destroyed by Whistler after he became outraged over a comment made to him by Lady Meux during a sitting.

Married life

Never accepted by her husband's family or by polite society, she was a flamboyant and controversial figure, who was given to driving herself around London in a high phaeton

Phaeton (carriage)

Phaeton is the early 19th-century term for a sporty open carriage drawn by a single horse or a pair, typically with four extravagantly large wheels, very lightly sprung, with a minimal body, fast and dangerous. It usually had no sidepieces in front of the seats...

, drawn by a pair of zebra

Zebra

Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...

. With Sir Henry, their house at Theobalds

Theobalds House

Theobalds House , located in Theobalds Park, just outside Cheshunt in the English county of Hertfordshire, was a prominent stately home and royal palace of the 16th and early 17th centuries.- Early history :...

 in Hertfordshire was lavishly improved and enlarged; additions included a swimming pool and an indoor roller skating

Roller skating

Roller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in two basic varieties: quad roller skates and inline skates or blades, though some have experimented with a...

 rink. In 1887, at Lady Meux's request, the dismantled Temple Bar

Temple Bar

Temple Bar may refer to:* The Temple Bar, a spot in London* Temple Bar, Dublin, a cultural quarter in Dublin city* Temple Bar, Ceredigion, a village in Wales* Temple Bar Magazine, British literary magazine published 1860 to 1906...

 was purchased from the City of London Corporation, transported to Hertfordshire and carefully rebuilt as a new gateway to the estate. She often entertained in the gateway's upper chamber; guests included the Prince of Wales

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

 and Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

. Sir Henry died in 1900, without issue.

Interests

Lady Meux owned a string of race horses, racing them under the assumed name of Mr Theobolds. As an owner she was not greatly successful, but she won the Sussex Stakes

Sussex Stakes

The Sussex Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August.-History:...

 with Ardeshir in 1897. She was also a noted collector of ancient Egyptian

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 artifacts; the legendary Egyptologist Wallis Budge, published a catalogue of more than 1,700 of her items including 800 scarabs and amulet

Amulet

An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...

s; he dedicated his The Book of Paradise to her. She tried to leave the collection to the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 but the trustees declined the bequest and it was sold. She also acquired five illustrated Ethiopic manuscripts, and Budge published a colored facsimile of them. On finding that they were revered by the Ethiopians, she left them in her will to the Emperor Menelik

Ménélik

Ménélik, now MNLK , is a French rapper.-Biography:He went to France at the age of nine. Then he met MC Solaar and started to write songs for artists such as No Sé, DJ Jimmy Jay and RPM. In 1995, he released his first album entitled Phenomenelik and participated in Solaar's concerts...

; the courts set aside this provision to keep them in Britain - and they were sold to William Randolph Hearst

William Randolph Hearst

William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...

, of California.

The Boer War

During the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

, the early British reverses had made headline news, and the defence of Ladysmith had made a particular impression on Lady Meux. On hearing of the landing of naval guns for the Battle of Ladysmith

Battle of Ladysmith

The Battle of Ladysmith was one of the early engagements of the Second Boer War. A large British force which had concentrated at the garrison town of Ladysmith launched a sortie on 30 October 1899, against Boer armies which were slowly surrounding the town. The result was a disaster for the British...

, she had ordered, at her own expense, six naval 12-pounders on special field carriages made by Armstrong

Armstrong Whitworth

Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...

s of Elswick. The guns were sent direct to Lord Roberts

Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts

Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...

 in South Africa, because they had been refused by the War Office

War Office

The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...

. They were known as the "Elswick Battery", and were manned by the 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers)

101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers)

101st Regiment Royal Artillery are a M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System and Surveillance and Target Acquisition regiment of the Territorial Army with sub units throughout Northumbria. It is the only unit of the Territorial Army equipped with MLRS.The Regiment's role is to provide...

. The battery was in action several times, including the Second Battle of Silkaatsnek.

Sir Hedworth Lambton

When Sir Hedworth Lambton

Hedworth Meux

Admiral of the Fleet The Hon Sir Hedworth Meux GCB KCVO , formerly The Hon Hedworth Lambton was an English naval officer famous for bringing help to the British forces in the Siege of Ladysmith....

, (the commander of the Naval Brigade at Ladymith) returned to England, he called on Lady Meux at Theobalds to thank her for her gift and recount his adventures. She was so taken with him that she made him the chief beneficiary of her will, on condition that he change his surname to Meux (she was without direct heirs). When she died on 20 December 1910, he willingly changed his name by Royal Warrant

Royal Warrant

Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, so lending prestige to the supplier...

 and inherited the Hertfordshire estate and a substantial interest in the Meux Brewery.