Richard Mason (abt. 1633 - 1685)

Descendants

Died 8 Mar 1685 at about age 52 in Sutton, Surrey, England

Biography

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:

• my daughter Dorothy
• my dearly beloved wife (not named).

Sir Richard died in 1685 and was buried on 18 March 1685 in Sutton, Surrey, England.^[2]

His wife died in July 1717.

Sources

1. ↑ Will: "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858"
   The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 379
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 5111 #758253 (accessed 24 March 2022)
   Will of Richardi Mason of Worcester Parke, Surrey, England, granted probate on 11 Mar 1684. Died Abt 1684.
2. ↑ Burial: "National Burial Index For England & Wales"
   FindMyPast Transcription (accessed 24 March 2022)
   Richard Mason burial (died in 1685) on 18 Mar 1685 in Sutton, Surrey, England.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Mason_%28politician%29

• http://stnicholashistory.blogspot.com/2008/05/mason-family.html

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.