John Jervis Tollemache, 1st Baron Tollemache (5 December 1805 – 9 December 1890), was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and a major landowner and estate manager in Cheshire.
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Born John Jervis Halliday, he was the son of Admiral John Richard Delap Halliday (who in 1821 assumed by Royal license the surname and arms of Tollemache in lieu of Halliday), eldest son of Lady Jane Halliday, youngest daughter and co-heir of Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart. His mother was Lady Elizabeth Stratford, daughter of John Stratford, 3rd Earl of Aldborough.
Tollemache served as High Sheriff of Cheshire for 1840 and was then elected to the House of Commons as MP for Cheshire South from 1841 to 1868, and Cheshire West from 1868 to 1872. In 1876 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Tollemache, of Helmingham Hall in the county of Suffolk.[1]
Lord Tollemache married Georgina Louisa Best, daughter of Thomas Best, in 1826. After her death 1846 he married Eliza Georgiana Duff, daughter of Sir James Duff, in 1850. Lord Tollemache died in December 1890, aged 85, and was succeeded in the barony by his son from his first marriage, Wilbraham Frederic Tollemache. Another son, the Hon. J. R. D. Tollemache, married Eleanor Starnes, the daughter of Hon. Henry Starnes and and his wife, Eleanor Stuart.[2]
Lady Tollemache, who was 24 years younger than her husband, died in 1918.[1]
Little is known of his education and it is thought that he received a private education which did not lead to university. He inherited considerable wealth, including Helmingham Hall in Suffolk and estates in Northamptonshire, Cheshire and Ireland.[3]
Tollemache was the largest landowner in Cheshire, owning 28,651 acres (115.95 km2). His estate exceeded those of the Duke of Westminster who owned 15,138 acres (61.26 km2), Lord Crewe with 10,148 acres (41.07 km2) and Lord Cholmondeley with 16,992 acres (68.76 km2). He was considered to be a good estate manager; William Ewart Gladstone described him as "the greatest estate manager of his day". He was generous to his tenants and advocated improvement of their social conditions. He believed in a self-reliant labouring class and made popular the idea of his tenants having a cottage with sufficient land to keep a few animals. His catch-phrase for this was "three acres and a cow". In addition to building many cottages with land attached, built over 50 farmhouses. On this project he spent £280,000.[3]
Tollemache's major building project was a family home in the form of a Norman-style castle, Peckforton Castle, on a massive scale on Peckforton Hills in his Cheshire estate. It cost around £60,000[4] and is described as the last serious fortified home built in England.[5]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Wilbraham Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton |
Member of Parliament for South Cheshire 1841–1868 With: Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton |
Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for West Cheshire 1868–1872 With: Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton |
Succeeded by Wilbraham Frederic Tollemache Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Thomas Hibbert |
High Sheriff of Cheshire 1840 |
Succeeded by John Ryle |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Tollemache 1876–1890 |
Succeeded by Wilbraham Frederic Tollemache |