Sir Henry Meux, 2nd Baronet

[2] On the death of his father on 7 April 1841, he succeeded to the baronetcy[3][self-published source] and took over the running of Meux's brewery off the Tottenham Court Road (later the Horse Shoe Brewery),[4] which was at the time one of the largest producers of porter in London.

[7] By 1855 Meux began showing signs of mental decline and from 1858 he was bedbound with general paresis of the insane, now known to have been caused by tertiary syphilis.

[8] He refused to stand down at the March 1857 election and, despite his condition, the Conservatives decided to nominate him rather than risk a contest.

[8] His disinherited sisters contested this change and in June 1858 the Commissioners in Lunacy considered whether he had been of sound mind at the time.

Evidence of his occasional work and social activity later in 1857 caused the will to be upheld.