Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart

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Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart (30 January 1649 – 23 February 1727 n.s.), styled Lord Huntingtower from 1651 to 1698, was a British Tory Member of Parliament and nobleman.

Dysart was the son of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet, and Elizabeth, 2nd Countess of Dysart. Educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, Lionel succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1669. The encumbrance of his paternal estate by debt bred in him a habit of frugality which was not shed in later years.[1] In 1673, he contested Suffolk 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, and he obtained 1,000 pounds damages from Huntingtower in a suit before the King's Bench, but the verdict was overturned by the Court of Exchequer Chamber. Huntingtower was made a freeman of Eye in 1675. He briefly served as Member of Parliament for Orford in 1679 as a member of the Habeas Corpus Parliament. In 1685, he was again returned for that borough and made portman of Orford, an office he held until about 1709.[1]

On 30 September 1680, he married Grace Wilbraham, the daughter and coheir of Sir Thomas Wilbraham, 3rd Baronet.[2] They had five children:

Huntingtower went out of Parliament again upon the fall of James II. 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. In 1702, he was appointed Vice-Admiral of Suffolk and became (until 1716) a freeman of Dunwich, and in 1703, he 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 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 by the Acts of Union 1707.[1] He was offered a barony in the Peerage of Great Britain by Queen Anne upon her accession, but declined.[2]

Predeceased by his only son in 1712, Dysart remained a Tory, and was considered a possible Jacobite, until his death in 1727. He was succeeded by his grandson Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Wedgwood (2002). The House of Commons 1690-1715. Cambridge University Press, 648–649. ISBN 0521772214. Retrieved on 2008-01-12. 
  2. ^ a b Forster, Matthew. Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Men of Fife, 159. Retrieved on 2008-01-12. 
Parliament of England
Preceded by
Walter Devereux
Allen Brodrick		 Member of Parliament for Orford
with Sir John Duke, Bt 1679
1679		 Succeeded by
Sir John Duke, Bt
Henry Parker
Preceded by
Sir John Duke, Bt
Thomas Glemham		 Member of Parliament for Orford
with Thomas Glemham
1685–1689		 Succeeded by
Thomas Glemham
Sir John Duke, Bt
Preceded by
Sir Gervase Elwes, Bt
Sir Samuel Barnardiston, Bt		 Member of Parliament for Suffolk
with Sir Samuel Barnardiston, Bt 1698–1702
Sir Dudley Cullum, Bt 1702–1705
Sir Robert Davers, Bt 1705–1707
1698–1707		 Succeeded by
Sir Robert Davers, Bt
Leicester Martin
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Sir Charles Rich, Bt		 Vice-Admiral of Suffolk
1702–1705		 Succeeded by
The Duke of Grafton
Preceded by
The Lord Cornwallis		 Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk
1703–1705
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Elizabeth Maitland		 Earl of Dysart
1698–1727		 Succeeded by
Lionel Tollemache
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
Lionel Tollemache		 Baronet
(of Helmingham Hall)
1669–1727		 Succeeded by
Lionel Tollemache