Methuen, Paul Sanford Methuen, Baron, 1845-1932

British army officer and colonial administrator. While rising through the ranks, Methuen served in the West Africa during the Anglo-Ashanti War (1873-1874), and then held an administrative post in Ireland (1877) and a diplomatic one in Europe, where he served as military attaché in Berlin (1878-1881). He was commandant at headquarters in Egypt for three months in 1882. Thereafter, his active service was performed in southern Africa from 1884 to 1891), first in Bechuanaland (later the Republic of Botswana) and then in South Africa. Following high-ranking command posts in the Home District, Methuen returned to South Africa as a commander at the outbreak of the Second Boer War (1899-1902), garnering him further advancements in rank. He was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief in South Africa in 1908 (a post that he held until 1912) as well as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Natal in 1910. Methuen served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Malta from February 1915 to May 1919. His final posts were as Constable of the Tower (1919), and Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire (1921). He married Evelyn Hervey-Bathurst (died 1879), daughter of Sir Frederick Hutchinson Hervey-Bathurst, 3rd Baronet, of Clarendon Park (Wiltshire), in 1878, and then Mary Ethel Sanford, daughter of William Ayshford Sanford of Nynehead Court (Somerset), in 1884. He died at Corsham Court, near Chippenham (Wiltshire), on October 30, 1932.