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 Cornwall serving until the Reform Act 1832, whereafter he was Whig Member for West Cornwall until 1841. In 1842 he was again returned for West Cornwall, serving until 1857.
He was a notable Freemason 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, in 1839. He held this position until he resigned in 1863.[12]
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 Harrow School.[13]
Their daughter, Charlotte Augusta Caroline died at the age of 10, in Aix-les-Bains in 1825.[14]
^The Times, Saturday, 7 Nov 1835; p. 3; Issue 15941; col B
Precis of the Remarkable Memoir of the Life of the Ref. Joseph Drury, D.D., Formerly Head-Master of Harrow; With Some Particulars in Addition To Those Given in The "Annual Obituary And Biography" For This Present Year. Ob. An. 1834; Aetat. Suae 84. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.); YORICK. (Lists alumni of the School who were MPs.)
^The Times, Thursday, 23 Aug 1838; p. 5; Issue 16815; col C: "British Association for the Advancement of Science."
^K. F. G. Hosking & G. J. Shrimpton, ed. (1964). "Patron and Presidents". Present Views of Some Aspects of the Geology of Cornwall and Devon. Penzance: Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. p. iii.
^ abcThe Times 17 February 1868, page 9, Column F "The Late Charles Lemon".
^The Times, Wednesday, 11 May 1836; page 2; Issue 16100; col A, Advertisement for prospectus for the South Western Railway.
^Province of Cornwall (2001) Thread of Gold: Celebrating the Unbroken History of 250 Years of Freemasonry in the Province of Cornwall 1752-2002ISBN0954085000
^Debrett's Baronetage 7th edn. 1839, page 201, on Google Books (accessed 6 March 2008).
^The Times, Wednesday, 1 Jun 1825; p. 4; Issue 12669; col F: Death Notices - Charlotte Lemon.