The house from a 1913 postcard
The Pitt Diamond from an 1866 issue of "Harper's New Monthly Magazine." The diamond, today called Le Regent, is in the collection of the Louvre.
House & Family History: The 4th Lord Mohun was an infamous rake who was notoriously addicted to dueling. He was killed in 1712 in Hyde Park as one of the principal participants in the famous Hamilton–Mohun Duel (both participants, Lord Mohun and the 4th Duke of Hamilton, were killed in the duel). William Makepeace Thackeray fictionalized Mohun's duels in his 1852 novel, "The History of Henry Esmond." In 1717 Lord Mohun’s widow sold the Boconnoc Estate to Thomas "Diamond" Pitt, MP and grandfather of Prime Minister William Pitt (Pitt the Elder, later 1st Earl of Chatham). Diamond Pitt is famous, or infamous, today as the English merchant who served as president of Madras, and who, in 1701, purchased a 410-carat uncut diamond from an Indian merchant (the stone was reputed to have been stolen from Abul Hasan Qutb Shah). Pitt paid the enormous sum of £20,400 (approximately £45 million in 2019 values using the labour value commodity index) for the stone, which he then sent to England hidden inside his son Robert’s shoe. After its arrival in Britain Pitt engaged London jewelers, between 1704 and 1706, to cut the diamond into smaller, saleable pieces. The most famous stone to emerge was the Pitt Diamond, today Le Regent, a 141-carat cushion brilliant diamond (a number of the secondary stones were sold to Peter the Great). In 1717 Pitt sold the 141-carat stone to the French regent, Philippe II, Duke of Orleans, for £135,000. As such, it was part of the crown jewels of France until the French Revolution in 1789. Le Regent, aka the Pitt Diamond (see “Images” section), has been on view at the Louvre since 1887. With the enormous proceeds he received from the sale of the stone, Diamond Pitt went on a country house spending spree, buying many estates, especially in the West Country, among them Boconnoc House. Diamond Pitt’s great great grandson, Thomas Pitt, 2nd Lord Camelford, was a controversial man. Another rake known for his quick temper and frequent dueling, the family title became extinct on his killing, from dueling, in 1804. At his death Boconnoc passed into the ownership of his sister, Lady Grenville.
Garden & Outbuildings: The 1st Lord Camelford built an obelisk in the park in memory of his uncle, Sir Richard Lyttleton, who had died in 1770. Lady Grenville laid out the gardens and grounds in the 19th century.
Architect: John Moyle
Date: Circa 1721Architect: Thomas Pitt (Camelford)
Date: 1772Architect: Charles Rawlinson
Date: 1772Architect: John Soane
Date: 1786-88John Bernard (J.B.) Burke, published under the title of A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, among other titles: Vol. II, p. 11, 1853.
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - HARDBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 2008
Reference: pgs. 712, 807, 844, 967
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300125085
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Grade II*
Park Listed: Not Listed
Current Seat / Home of: Anthony Fortescue; Fortescue family here since 1835.
Past Seat / Home of: Charles Mohun, 3rd Baron Mohun of Okehampton, 1665-77; Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun of Okehampton, 1677-1712. Thomas "Diamond" Pitt, 1717-26; Robert Pitt, 1726-27; Thomas Pitt, 1727-61; Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford, 1761-93; Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford, 1793-1804. Anne Grenville, Baroness Grenville, 1804-34.
Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use: Wedding & Event Venue
House Open to Public: By Appointment
Phone: 01208-872-507
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.boconnoc.com
Historic Houses Member: No