Richard Mason

Who was Richard Mason?

Sir Richard Mason was an English Member of Parliament.

He held the following offices:

Knight of the Green Cloth

Second Clerk Controller of Charles II's Household

One of the Commissioners for executing the office of Master of the Horse, 1679

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) Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, 2) ca. 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.

Sir Richard Mason died 8 March 1685 and is buried at the parish church at Sutton. His wife died in July 1717.