Sir Charles Lemon, 2nd Baronet (3 September 1784 – 13 February 1868) was a British Member of Parliament for several constituencies and a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Early life

He inherited his baronetcy in 1824 upon the death of his father Sir

William Lemon Sir William Lemon, 1st Baronet (11 October 1748 – 11 December 1824) was a Member of Parliament for Parliamentary representation from Cornwall, Cornish constituencies from 1770 to 1824, a total of 54 years. Background He was the son of William ...

, 1st Baronet and

Carclew House Carclew House, one of Britain's lost houses, was a large Palladian country house near Mylor in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was situated at approximately three miles north of Falmouth. Carclew House was for some generations owne ...

. His mother was Lady Lemon, who had been the eldest daughter of James Buller MP for

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and Jane, in turn eldest daughter of

Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, (16 November 168416 September 1775), of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, known as The Lord Bathurst from 1712 to 1772, was a British Tory politician. Bathurst sat in the English and British House of Commons ...

. He attended

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

Career

Lemon served as Member of Parliament for Penryn in Cornwall from 1807 to 1812 and again from 1830 to 1831. In 1831, he became a Whig Member for

serving until the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

, whereafter he was Whig Member for West Cornwall until 1841. In 1842 he was again returned for West Cornwall, serving until 1857. In 1827 he was appointed

Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriff ...

. In 1836, he headed the petitioners from the town of

Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Falmouth was founded in 1613 by the Killigrew family on a site near the existing Pendennis Castle. It developed as a po ...

to the Admiralty, seeking to prevent the removal of the Packet Service. In 1837, he was appointed to serve on the

Transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

Committee of the House of Commons In 1852 he became deputy

Warden of the Stannaries The Lord Warden of the Stannaries (from for Tin, Sn) used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, England, UK, and is still the official who, upon the commission of the monarch or Duke of Cornwall for the time being, has the fu ...

and funded the establishment of what is now the

Camborne School of Mines Camborne School of Mines (), commonly abbreviated to CSM, was founded in 1888. Its research and teaching is related to the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment. It has undergraduate, postg ...

. The name "Lemon" lives on in

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

as "Lemon Street" and "Lemon Quay", and a

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

''Sir Charles Lemon'' was bred by him from seeds collected by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...

. He was elected as a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

on 23 May 1822. He was the second president (1836-8) of what is now the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

. He spoke at the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Meeting of the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...

in 1838, during a meeting of the Statistical Section. From 1840-1856 served as president of the

Royal Geological Society of Cornwall The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society originally based in Penzance, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in ...

. He was president of the

Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society (commonly known as The Poly) is an educational, cultural and scientific Charitable organization#United Kingdom, charity, as well as a local arts and cinema venue, based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, Unite ...

from its foundation until his death. He was president of the Falmouth

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...

from its foundation in 1837 until his death. He was on the committee of management of the

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

in 1836. He was a notable

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

in Cornwall, having been initiated into the Lodge of Love and Honour No. 75 in Falmouth in 1840, becoming its Worshipful Master in 1843, he was appointed the fifth Provincial Grand Master of the Province of Cornwall in 1844, after an interregnum of five years, following the death of his predecessor,

Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet (17 May 1758 – 10 August 1839), was a British Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament, High Sheriff of Cornwall and Grand Master of the Freemasons. Born in London, he succeeded to the baronetcy ...

, in 1839. He held this position until he resigned in 1863.

Marriage

He married on 5 December 1810 to Lady Charlotte Ann Fox-Strangways, 4th daughter of Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester. They had two sons, both of whom died young and were named Charles William. The first son died at the age of 13 months. The second was drowned at the age of twelve, at

. Their daughter, Charlotte Augusta Caroline died at the age of 10, in

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie.Arthur Tremayne Arthur Tremayne (15 May 1827 – 14 November 1905) was a Crimean War soldier and Cornish MP, who survived the charge of the Light Brigade, during which his horse was shot from under him. Personal life Arthur Tremayne, born on 15 May 1827, was ...

, Sir Charles Lemon's nephew,''The Times'' 17 February 1868, page 9, Column F "The Late Charles Lemon". the son of his sister, Caroline and her husband

John Hearle Tremayne John Hearle Tremayne (17 March 1780 – 27 August 1851) was a member of a landed family in the English county of Cornwall, and owner of the Heligan estate near Mevagissey. He was a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament fo ...

, of Heligan. Tremayne was a hero of the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

and a survivor of the

Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a military action undertaken by British light cavalry against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, resulting in many casualties to the cavalry. On 25 October 1854, the Light Br ...

References

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemon, Charles 1784 births 1868 deaths People educated at Harrow School Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society High sheriffs of Cornwall Politicians from Cornwall UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 Presidents of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Penryn Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cornwall Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge