Sir Lyonel Felix Carteret Eugene Tollemache, 4th Baronet (15 January 1854 – 4 March 1952) was an English landowner.

Early life and family

Born in

South Witham South Witham is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,533. It is situated south of Grantham, 10 miles east of Melton Mowbray and 10 miles ...

near

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, he was the eldest son of the Reverend

Ralph Tollemache Ralph William Lyonel Tollemache-Tollemache, Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin), MA, Justice of the Peace, JP (19 October 1826 – 5 October 1895) was an United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, English clergyman in the Church of England. H ...

and his first wife and cousin, Caroline Tollemache. Ralph was noted for the increasingly eccentric names given to his numerous offspring. Tollemache graduated from

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. (citing ) He married Hersilia Henrietta Diana Oliphant (or Collingwood) in 1881 and they had three daughters and three sons, all born in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

: * Cecil Lyonel Newcomen Tollemache, 5th Baronet (4 March 1886 – 31 March 1969) * Beryl Hersilia Tollemache (1887–8 June 1944) * Cynthia Joan Caroline Tollemache (1890–31 January 1988) * Lieutenant John Eadred Tollemache (28 July 1892 – 21 August 1916) B.A.

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. Joined the 6th Battalion

The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Ar ...

and died whilst attached to the 8th Battalion in the Somme. * Sibell Agnes Tollemache (1895–7 June 1954) * Maj.-Gen.

Sir Humphrey Thomas Tollemache, 6th Baronet Major General Sir Humphry Thomas Tollemache, 6th Baronet, (10 August 1897 – 30 March 1990) was a senior Royal Marines officer and a baronet. Early life and career Tollemache was the son of Sir Lyonel Tollemache, 4th Baronet and Hersilia Henr ...

(10 August 1897 – 1990)

Baronetage

On the death of his second cousin, William Tollemache, 9th Earl of Dysart, 3rd Baronet, he succeeded to the

baronetage 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 14t ...

in 1935 at the age of 81. He inherited Dysart's holding in

Buckminster Buckminster is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the Melton (borough), Melton district of Leicestershire, England, which includes the two villages of Buckminster and Sewstern. The total population of the civil parish ...

estate and the entirety of

Ham House Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan cou ...

with the surrounding land and property in Petersham,

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut of pork, cut that has been food preservation, preserved by wet or dry Curing (food preservation), curing, with or without smoking (cooking), smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. Lo ...

and

Canbury Canbury is a district of the northern part of Kingston upon Thames that takes its name from the historic manor that covered the area. Modern Canbury comprises two electoral wards in the constituency of Richmond Park; Canbury Ward to the south ...

and the gravel works at Ham. Tollemache and his middle-aged bachelor son, Cecil, moved into Ham House. The Dysart title and other estates were passed to Dysart's niece, Wenefryde Scott.

World War II

The father and son duo increasingly struggled to maintain Ham House, especially as the outbreak of war reduced the availability of labour. The nearby Leyland military vehicle and munitions factory was a local target and bombs fell near the house. Tollemache moved most of the valuable furniture and artworks from the house to the country for safekeeping. The family deeds and papers, some dating back to the 14th century, were placed in deep vaults in

Chancery Lane Chancery Lane is a one-way street situated in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. It has formed the western boundary of the City since 1994, having previously been divided between the City of Westminster and the London Boroug ...

. Although they survived

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, they were damaged by flooding from fire hoses and were thought to have been destroyed. Many were recovered from the Ham House Stables in 1953 and transferred to

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

Post-war

After the war, in 1948, Tollemache and his son donated Ham House and its gardens to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, a plan that had been under consideration since

James Lees-Milne (George) James Henry Lees-Milne (6 August 1908 – 28 December 1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses, who worked for the National Trust from 1936 to 1973. He was an architectural historian, novelist and biographer. His extensi ...

's visit in March 1943. Tollemache and his son moved to

Langham House Langham House may refer to: ;in the United Kingdom * Higher Langham House, a grade II listed building in Gillingham, Dorset * Langham House Close, a grade II* 1950's Brutalist architectural-style development in Ham, London * Langham House, Ham, ...

on Ham Common, one of the many Tollemache properties in the area. In 1949, ''Buckminster Estates Ltd'', the Tollemache's company established in 1936, sold the remaining Tollemache interests in the area by auction in 124 lots comprising land, 41 residences, 99 cottages, a farm, 4 shops, 2 licensed premises, freehold ground rents and building plots and the sand and gravel works. Lyonel remained in Langham House, Ham until his death in 1952. Hersilia died in 1953. The baronetage passed to Cecil, and, on his death, to the youngest son, Humphrey. He is buried at

St Peter's Church, Petersham St Peter's Church is the parish church of the village of Petersham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is part of the Diocese of Southwark in the Church of England. The main body of the church building dates from the 16th century, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tollemache, Lyonel Felix Carteret 1854 births 1952 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Burials at St Peter's, Petersham People from Grantham Lyonel Felix Carteret Tollemache, 4th Baronet