Bentley Lyonel John Tollemache, 3rd Baron Tollemache, DL, JP (7 March 1883 – 13 January 1955) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer, peer and writer on

croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Early life

Bentley Lyonel John Tollemache was born in 1883, the son of Hon. Lyonel Plantagenet Tollemache (1860–1902) and Lady Blanche Sybil King (1862–1923), only daughter and heiress of Robert King, 7th Earl of Kingston. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. Bentley's father died in August 1902 after collapsing while taking a swim, and Bentley therefore became heir to his grandfather,

Wilbraham Tollemache, 2nd Baron Tollemache Wilbraham Frederic Tollemache, 2nd Baron Tollemache (4 July 1832 – 17 December 1904), was a British Conservative politician and peer. Career Tollemache was the eldest son of John Jervis Tollemache, 1st Baron Tollemache, and his first wife ...

Helmingham Hall Helmingham Hall is a moated manor house in Helmingham, Suffolk, England. It was begun by John Tollemache in 1480 and has been owned by the Baron Tollemache, Tollemache family ever since. The house is built around a courtyard in typical late med ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, and

Peckforton Castle Peckforton Castle is a Victorian country house built in the style of a medieval castle. It stands in woodland at the north end of Peckforton Hills northwest of the village of Peckforton, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Her ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

.Shaw, Charles John; ''A History of Clan Shaw'', Phillimore & Co Ltd (1983), p.86. ''The Titled Nobility of Europe'', Burkes Peerage (1914), p.1448 He duly succeeded him to the barony in December 1904, becoming owner of of land in Suffolk and in Cheshire,

Denbigh Denbigh ( ; ) is a market town and a community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. It was the original county town of the Denbighshire (historic), historic county of Denbighshire created in 1536. Denbigh's Welsh name () translates to ...

and

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

. In 1924 he appealed to the tax commissioners against an assessment for supertax of £17,343 and £18,000 for the years 1921 and 1922. He was a Justice of the Peace and later became a Deputy Lieutenant. Before his marriage he was also a member of the Bachelors' Club.Phillips, Gregory D. ''The diehards: aristocratic society and politics in Edwardian England'',

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

(1979), p.173. Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.:

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

Ltd, 2003. p.3911"Bentley Lyonel John Tollemache, 3rd Baron Tollemache, JP DL"
Cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2012

Military service

;Boer War On 21 August 1901 Tollemache was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd (

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

) Battalion of the

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Royal Highland Fusiliers ...

. The Battalion had been embodied for active service in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and he too served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, returning in June 1902. By 1905–06, he had been promoted to captain. In 1906, he transferred to the 3rd Battalion

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence ...

, nearer to his ancestral home, and served for another two years. ;Great War During the First World War, he served briefly as a Lieutenant Commander in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

in 1915, before transferring back to the British Army as a captain and serving in the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Artillery, Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse ...

from 1916; he was wounded.

Family life

Tollemache first married in 1902 Wynford Rose Kemball (died 16 May 1926), daughter of army officer and diplomat

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Arnold Burrowes Kemball General Sir Arnold Burrowes Kemball, KCB, KCSI, (18 November 1820, Bombay – 21 September 1908, London), was a British Army officer who took part in the First Afghan War, the Persian War, the Serbian-Ottoman War and the Russo-Turkish War, an ...

, KCB, KCSI. They had two daughters: ''Hon.'' Dorothy Tollemache, Mrs. Verney (1907-1994); and ''Hon.'' Frances Tollemache, Mrs. Lloyd-Worth 949-1965 (1908-1992), briefly a wartime 2nd Officer in the ATA. Tollemache was widowed in 1926. His second marriage, in 1928, was to Lynette Pawson, MBE, of Nynehead Court,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. They had one daughter: ''Hon.'' Diana Tollemache, Mrs. Diehl (1930-2012). Lord Tollemache died in 1955 and is buried in the churchyard of St Mary's Church,

Helmingham Helmingham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, 12 miles (20 km) east of Stowmarket, and 12 miles north (20 km) of Ipswich. It has a population of 170, increasing to 186 at the 2011 Census. It ...

. As he had no son, he was succeeded in the Barony by his cousin John Edward Hamilton Tollemache, 4th Baron Tollemache, (1910–1975).

Publications

Over the years, Lord Tollemache was the author of several books on

and on

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...

: *1914: ''Croquet'' *1914: ''The Chronological Order System - the key to safe calling in contract bridge'' *1923: ''Croquet: hints on "practice," "tactics," and "stroke play"'' *1926: ''Croquet'' *1931: ''The Key to Safe Slam Calling in Contract Bridge'' *1947: ''Modern Croquet Tips and Practice''''Modern Croquet Tips and Practice''
WorldCat database. Retrieved 2 September 2014

Coat of arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tollemache, Bentley Lyonel John, 3rd Baron 1883 births 1955 deaths People educated at Eton College People from Cheshire People from Mid Suffolk District 3 Bentley Lyonel John King's Own Scottish Borderers officers Cheshire Regiment officers Royal Navy officers Royal Garrison Artillery officers English croquet players Royal Naval Reserve personnel British Militia officers English justices of the peace Royal Navy personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War I