{{short description|16th-century English politician}} {{For|the London school|Sir George Monoux College}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = George Monoux | image = | alt = | caption = | office = Lord Mayor of London | term_start = 1514 | term_end = 1515 | predecessor = John Tate | successor = William Butler | constituency_MP2 = City of London | parliament2 = English | term_start2 = 1523 | term_end2 = 1529 | predecessor2 = {{unbulleted list| William Capel | Richard Broke | William Calley | John Kyme}} | successor2 = {{unbulleted list| Thomas Seymour | John Baker | John Petyt | Paul Withypoll}} | birth_date = by 1465 | birth_place = | death_date = February 1544 | death_place = Walthamstow, Essex, Kingdom of England }} '''Sir George Monoux''' (born in or before 1465; died 1544), born in Walthamstow, Essex, England, was an English merchant in Bristol and London. Six times Master of the Worshipful Company of Drapers, he served as Lord Mayor of London and was an important benefactor in Walthamstow. He was a descendant of John Monoux of Stanford, Worcestershire.
==Career== A member of the Drapers Company, Monoux as a merchant traded out of Bristol to France, Spain and Portugal during the late 15th century, and was Mayor of that city in 1501.<ref>B. Morgan, 'Monoux, George (b. in or before 1465, d. 1544), merchant and local politician', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.</ref> In 1507 he became alderman for Bassishaw ward in the City of London, and held that ward for 34 years until his death.<ref>A.B. Beavan, ''The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III to 1912'' (Corporation of the City of London, 1913), II, [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092684731#page/n99/mode/2up p. 22]. Some relationships described in this work are unreliable.</ref> Serving as Master of the Drapers first in 1508–09, he became Sheriff of London in 1509 and, after two years as auditor, was Lord Mayor of London in 1514. He was again master of his company in 1516–17, 1520–21, 1526–27, 1532–33 and 1539–40. In 1523 he was elected Member of Parliament for the City of London<ref>H. Miller, 'Monoux, George (by 1465-1544), of Bristol, Glos.; London and Walthamstow, Essex', in S.T. Bindoff (ed.), ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558'' (Boydell & Brewer 1982). [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/monoux-george-1465-1544 History of Parliament online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414103601/http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/monoux-george-1465-1544 |date=14 April 2016 }}.</ref>
==Legacy== On 15 June 1527 Monoux purchased land for almshouses as well as a school in Walthamstow.<ref>British Library Add. MS 18783, fol. 5.</ref> He left property worth £50 a year to pay the salaries of a schoolmaster and parish clerk, who were to pray for the souls of Monoux and his wives and to teach up to thirty children.<ref>Will of George Monoux of Walthamstow, Essex (P.C.C. 1544).</ref> This chantry endowment lasted until 1548 when it was suppressed in the Reformation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42782 |title=Walthamstow: Churches |editor=W.R.Powell |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1973 |work=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6}}</ref>
He died in February 1544 and was buried in the Monoux Chapel at St. Mary's Church, Walthamstow.<ref>{{cite web |title=Walthamstow Pages 204-230 The Environs of London: Volume 4, Counties of Herts, Essex and Kent. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-environs/vol4/pp204-230 |website=British History Online |publisher=T Cadell and W Davies, London, 1796 |access-date=23 January 2024}}</ref> He had married twice: firstly Joan, with whom he had a son and 2 daughters; and secondly Anne, the daughter and coheiress of John Wood of Southwark, Surrey, and the widow of Robert Wattes of London. He left no children. (Strange, as he had three children with his first wife - did they all die young?).
It is commonly assumed that the pronunciation of his name excludes the 'x'. However, a letter sent to him spells his name 'Monneks', indicating that the 'x' was pronounced. In the 1796 ''Environs of London'', his name is recorded as 'Monox'.
The Monoux School, now Sir George Monoux College, traces its history back to that 1527 endowment<ref>{{cite web|title=Our History|url=http://www.george-monoux.ac.uk/about/history.asp?expandable=7|publisher=Sir George Monoux College|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210130903/http://www.george-monoux.ac.uk/about/history.asp?expandable=7|archivedate=10 December 2012}}</ref> as do the Monoux Hall almshouses in Church End, Walthamstow.
==See also== * List of Sheriffs of the City of London * List of Lord Mayors of London * City of London (elections to the Parliament of England)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web | url = http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1509-1558/member/monoux-george-1465-1544|title= MONOUX, George (by 1465-1544), of Bristol, Glos.; London and Walthamstow, Essex.|publisher= History of Parliament Online|accessdate = 6 September 2013}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Monoux, George}} Category:15th-century births Category:1544 deaths Category:People from Walthamstow Category:15th-century English politicians Category:English MPs 1523 Category:Sheriffs of the City of London Category:16th-century lord mayors of London Category:Founders of English schools and colleges Category:Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for the City of London Category:Year of birth uncertain