Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart, FRS (21 October 1739 – 9 March 1821) was a British military officer, politician and peer who sat in 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 ...

from 1771 to 1784.

Biography

Tollemache was a younger son of Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart. He originally served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, and then in the

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 ...

, retiring in 1775 as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the 6th Regiment of Foot. He first entered the

as Member of Parliament for

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

in 1771. On 4 February 1773, he married Anna Maria Lewis, but had no children. He continued to sit for Northampton until 1780, and then represented

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...

until 1784. He was

High Sheriff of Cheshire This is a list of Sheriffs (and after 1 April 1974, High Sheriffs) of Cheshire. The High Sheriff, Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the The Crown, Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law officer, law enforcement officer in th ...

in 1785, and later High Steward of Ipswich, like his elder brother. He inherited the earldom and the accompanying estates from his childless elder brother, Lionel, at the age of sixty in 1799. One of his first acts was to purchase the manor of

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. History There is evidence of prehistoric occupation from at least the Mesolithic along the river margins at ...

from George Hardinge, bringing the area back into the family. Wilbraham carried out a programme of improvements at

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

, including the creation of the Yellow Satin Bedroom, demolishing part of the northern wall and opening the view of the house to the river, relocating the busts of Roman Emperors to niches in the house wall, creating the

ha-ha A ha-ha ( or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view of the lan ...

s and the addition of the

Coade stone Coade stone or ''Lithodipyra'' or ''Lithodipra'' () is stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding neoclassical architecture, neoclassical statues, a ...

statues. Wilbraham was a collector of art and was an early patron of

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

. Tollemache was also a patron of Reynolds and

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Ca ...

. The historian Evelyn Pritctard describes him as "a different character from the three previous earls – cultivated, humane, generous, with polished manners, treating his dependents and servants extremely well". Dysart died without children. All five sons of the 4th Earl were dead, and there were no grandsons. The Tollemache baronetcy, therefore, became extinct, while the Earldom of Dysart passed to his sister Lady Louisa Manners. The estates were divided between Louisa and her younger sister, Lady Jane Halliday, with Jane receiving Helmingham, Suffolk, Cheshire and Northants, whilst Louisa inherited Ham House and the surrounding estates in Ham, Petersham and Canbury. Both families took the name of Tollemache.

References

Sources

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dysart, Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of 1739 births 1821 deaths Tollemache, Wilbraham Tollemache, Wilbraham Tollemache, Wilbraham Earls of Dysart Fellows of the Royal Society High sheriffs of Cheshire Tollemache, Wilbraham Tollemache, Wilbraham People from Ham, London Royal Navy officers Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl Dysart British art collectors 19th-century art collectors