This Sir Richard Edgcumbe built the present family mansion, on a part of the estate which his father had acquired by marriage with the heiress of the Durnfords (who had inherited it from the ancient family of Stonehouse or Stenhouse), and gave to it the name of “Mount Edgcumbe.” He was Sheriff of Devon 35th Henry VIII. and 1st Queen Mary. He married first a daughter of Sir John Arundel, by whom he had no issue; and, second, Winifred Essex, and by her had, besides other issue, a son, Piers, or Peter, who succeeded him. Sir Richard Edgcumbe, who kept up a fine establishment, and at one time entertained at Mount Edgcumbe the English, Spanish, and Netherlands admirals, died in 1561. Piers (or Peter) Edgcumbe, who was member of Parliament, and was also Sheriff of Devon 9th Elizabeth, married Margaret, daughter of Sir Andrew Lutterell, by whom he had five sons and four daughters, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard.
Piers Edgcumbe died in 1607, and on his tomb his honours are thus set forth:—
“Lief Tenant to my Queen long Time
And often for my Shire and Knighte;
My merit did to Creddit clime,
Still bidinge in my Callinge righte;
By Loyalty my faith was tryede,
Peacefull I liv’d, hopeful I diede.”
His son, Sir Richard Edgcumbe, knighted by James I., was member of Parliament for Totnes, for Grampound, and for Bossiney; he married Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Coteele, or Cottle, of London, and by her, who died eighteen years before him, had issue, two sons, Piers and Richard, by the eldest of whom, Piers Edgcumbe, he was succeeded. This gentleman distinguished himself by his devotion to the royal cause; he “was a master of languages and sciences, a lover of the king and church, which he endeavoured to support in the time of the civil wars to the utmost of his power and fortune.” Sir Alexander Carew and Major Scawen, for holding connection with Piers Edgcumbe, who held a colonel’s commission in the king’s army, were beheaded. He married Mary, daughter of Sir John Glanvil, and died in 1660, being succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Richard Edgcumbe, who had been knighted during his father’s lifetime. He was also a member of Parliament. He married Anne Montague, daughter of Edward, Earl of Sandwich, by whom he had issue two sons, Piers, who died young and unmarried, and Richard; and six daughters. He died in 1688.
To this time, for several generations, it will have been noticed, the inheritors of the estate alternated, in name, between Piers (or Peter) and Richard. This succession of name was now broken by the death of Piers, the eldest son.
Richard Edgcumbe, soon after coming of age, was chosen M.P. for Cornwall, and continued to sit for various places until 1742. In 1716 and 1720 he was one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and in 1724 was Vice-Treasurer, and Paymaster of the Taxes, &c. In 1742 he was created Baron Edgcumbe of Mount Edgcumbe, and was afterwards made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, one of the Privy Council, and Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall. His lordship, by his wife Matilda, daughter of Sir Henry Furnese, had issue, three sons, Richard, Henry (who died an infant), and George; he died in 1758, and was succeeded in his title and estates by his eldest son, Richard, second Baron Edgcumbe, member of Parliament for various places, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and afterwards appointed Comptroller of his Majesty’s Household. He was a man of great talent, and is thus spoken of by Horace Walpole in his “Royal and Noble Authors:”—“His lordship’s skill as a draughtsman is said to have been such as might entitle him to a place in the ‘Anecdotes of English Painting,’ ‘while the ease and harmony of his poetic compositions give him an authorised introduction here.’ ... ‘a man of fine parts, great knowledge, and original wit, who possessed a light and easy vein of poetry; who was calculated by nature to serve the public, and to charm society; but who unhappily was a man of pleasure, and left his gay associates a most affecting example how health, fame, ambition, and everything that may be laudable in principle or practice, are drawn into and absorbed by that most destructive of all whirlpools—gaming.’”
The Ruin, the Sound, Drake’s Island, &c.
His lordship, dying unmarried in 1761, was succeeded by his brother George as third baron. This nobleman, who had sat in several parliaments, and held various public offices (among them the Lord-Lieutenancy of Cornwall), and was Vice-Admiral of the Blue, married Emma, only daughter and heiress of John Gilbert, Archbishop of York, by whom he had issue an only son, who succeeded him. His lordship was, on the 17th February, 1781, created in addition to his title of Baron Edgcumbe, Viscount Mount Edgcumbe and Valletort; and in 1789 he was further advanced to the dignity of an earl, by the title of Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. Dying in 1795, he was succeeded by his only son, Richard, as second earl.