Richard was born about 1633 He held the following offices:
Clerk of the Green Cloth[1] Second Clerk Controller of Charles II's Household[2] One of the Commissioners for executing the office of Master of the Horse, 1679[3] MP for Yarmouth 1673 MP for Bishop's Castle, Shropshire 1680-1. He had a seat at King's Clere in Hampshire but resided principally at Sutton in Surrey. He married c. 1662, Anna Margaretta Long, daughter of Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet. They had two daughters:
Dorothy, married Sir William Brownlow, 4th Baronet of Humby Anna, married 1) (div 1698) Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, 2) c. 1700 Colonel Henry Brett. Sir Richard Mason was one of those present at the death of Charles II. His wife, Lady Anna Mason wrote a detailed account of the King's last illness and subsequent death, in a letter to her mother Lady Dorothy Long at Draycot House in Wiltshire. This letter came to light in 1850 when it was found amongst papers at Draycot House, and was published soon afterwards by Charles Dickens in his weekly magazine Household Words.[4]
He left a will dated 10 Mar 1684/5 describing himself as Sir Richard Mason, of Worcester Park in the county of Surrey, Knt; Clerke Controller of His Majesty's Household. [1]He made bequests to and mentioned:
Sir Richard died in 1685 and was buried on 18 March 1685 in Sutton, Surrey, England.[2]
His wife died in July 1717.
Mason, Anne Margaret, Lady. Account of the death of Charles II 'by a wife of a person about the Court at Whitehall.' Household Words 9 (1854).
Court Satires of the Restoration By John Harold Wilson 'The stables: Master of the Horse 1660-1837', Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (revised): Court Officers, 1660-1837 (2006), pp. 603-604. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43902. Date accessed: 11 January 2008.
Archaeologia Cambrensis - Cambrian Archaeological Association - W Pickering 1879
Court Satires of the Restoration - John Harold Wilson 1976
Collins's Peerage of England - Egerton Brydges 1812
Mason, Lady Anne. “Account of the Death of Charles II by a Wife of a Person about the Court at Whitehall”. Household Words, London. 1954, Vol 9, pp 277-8.
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Featured Foodie Connections: Richard is 23 degrees from Emeril Lagasse, 19 degrees from Nigella Lawson, 20 degrees from Maggie Beer, 39 degrees from Mary Hunnings, 30 degrees from Joop Braakhekke, 28 degrees from Michael Chow, 22 degrees from Ree Drummond, 25 degrees from Paul Hollywood, 25 degrees from Matty Matheson, 23 degrees from Martha Stewart, 33 degrees from Danny Trejo and 29 degrees from Molly Yeh on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.