Meaux

Meaux, which has been pronounced with the final consonant both voiced ('-z-') (IPA: /mjuz/and unvoiced '-s-' (/mjus/) (for some virtual homophones see Mew - mews - Muse) is a small village on the river Hull, some 5 or 6 miles north of the city of Kingston upon Hull. The Latin form of its name is melsa, and the origin the Old Norse Mel-sǽr, meaning 'Sandbank-pool' (Ekwall, 1985).

• Following the Norman Conquest, the large estate was acquired by one Gamel. It was later said, perhaps from a desire to romanticize history, that Gamel came from the lands of Meaux (pronounced in the orthodox French way as 'moh' (IPA: /mo/ on the river Marne, in France, but this seems improbable. In 1151, William le Gros, count of Aumale and earl of York (c. 1110–1179), founded the Cistercian abbey of Meaux, a daughter-house of Fountains Abbey, which, after some troubles, became prosperous and rich from the trade in the wool from its sheep. This enabled it to develop the port of Wyke, part of the village of Myton, at the confluence of the Hull with the Humber, which became an important entrepôt for Yorkshire wool. This flourished so much that when Edward I visited in 1293 - it is said for the purpose of hunting - he acquired it from the monks of Meaux. In 1299 he granted the settlement a charter, renaming it [the] King's Town upon Hull, which was clipped into its formal modern title of Kingston upon Hull.