Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart (30 January 1649 – 23 February 1727), styled Lord Huntingtower from 1651 to 1698, was a British

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician and peer. A Member of Parliament at Westminster, he inherited Scottish peerages and was briefly Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk from 1703 to 1705.

Biography

Dysart was born on 30 January 1649 at

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 ...

in Suffolk, the eldest son of

Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet (1624–1669) of Helmingham Hall in Suffolk, was the head of a prominent East Anglian family. He was the son of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet and Elizabeth Stanhope, daughter and heiress of John Stanhop ...

(died 1669), and Elizabeth, 2nd Countess of Dysart (died 1698). Educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, Lionel succeeded to his father's baronetcy on his death, and to some property in Suffolk, but also a raft of debts which bred in him a habit of frugality which was not shed in later years.

Political career

In 1673, Huntingtower contested

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 ...

as a Tory; defeated by Sir Samuel Barnardiston, 1st Baronet, he had the return falsified by the sheriff, Sir William Soame, and took his seat in Parliament. An election committee declared Barnardiston elected, who initially obtained £1,000 damages from him in a suit before the King's Bench, but the decision was overturned by the

Court of Exchequer Chamber The Court of Exchequer Chamber was an English appellate court for common law civil actions before the reforms of the Judicature Acts of 1873–1875. It originated in the fourteenth century, established in its final form by the Error From Queen ...

. Tollemache was made a freeman of

Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

in 1675. He briefly served as Member of Parliament for Orford in 1679 as a member of the

Habeas Corpus Parliament The Habeas Corpus Parliament, also known as the First Exclusion Parliament, was a short-lived English Parliament which assembled on 6 March 1679 (or 1678, Old Style) during the reign of Charles II of England, the third parliament of the King's r ...

. In 1685, he was again returned for that borough and was made portman of Orford, an office he held until about 1709. Huntingtower went out of Parliament again upon the fall of James II in 1688. However, he was returned for Suffolk in 1698 and generally supported Tory principles. In that year, he succeeded his mother to become Earl of Dysart, making him a member of the

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, but did not take his seat there. In 1702, he was appointed Vice-Admiral of Suffolk and became (until 1716) a freeman of

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

, and in 1703 was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk. He was also named High Steward of Ipswich that year, an office he held until his death. As Lord Lieutenant, he purged moderate Churchmen from lieutenancy offices. He was Mayor of Orford during the summer of 1704. His support for the "Tack" of the Occasional Conformity Bill led to his removal from his county offices in April 1705. Campaigning on the basis of his support for the Tack, he was returned for Suffolk again in 1705. As a Scottish peer, he was forced to leave the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

by the

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agree ...

. He was offered a barony in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...

by Queen Anne upon her accession, but declined. First impressions count - geograph

Predeceased by his only son in 1712, Dysart remained a Tory and was considered a possible Jacobite, until his death. He died on 23 February 1727 and was buried at St Mary's, Helmingham. His male-line grandson Lionel inherited his titles.

Marriage and issue

On 30 September 1680, he married Grace Wilbraham, the daughter and coheir of Sir Thomas Wilbraham, 3rd Baronet. They had five children: * Lionel Tollemache, Lord Huntingtower (1682– 26 July 1712), married, on 6 December 1706, Henrietta (d. 1718), illegitimate daughter of

William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire (1672 – 4 June 1729) was a British nobleman and politician. He was the eldest son of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire and Lady Mary Butler. A prominent Whig, he was sworn of the Privy Cou ...

, and had issue: :* Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart :* Henrietta Tollemache * Lady Elizabeth Tollemache (d. 6 August 1746), married Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, 3rd Baronet * Lady Catherine Tollemache (d. 17 January 1754), married John Brydges, Marquess of Carnarvon (15 Jan 1703 – 8 Apr 1727) on 1 September 1724 * Lady Mary Tollemache (d. 2 December 1715) * Lady Grace Tollemache (d. 27 May 1719)

References

External links

Dysart, Earl of (S, 1643)
Cracroft's Peerage
Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart with his wife, Grace Wilbraham
Monument at St Mary's, Helmingham {{DEFAULTSORT:Dysart, Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl 1649 births 1727 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Earls of Dysart Lord-lieutenants of Suffolk Tory MPs (pre-1834) Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl Dysart English MPs 1679 English MPs 1685–1687