Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart

Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart (30 January 1649 – 23 February 1727), styled Lord Huntingtower from 1651 to 1698, was a British Tory 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 in Suffolk, the eldest son of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet (died 1669), and Elizabeth, 2nd Countess of Dysart (died 1698). Educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, 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 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. Tollemache 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 was made portman of Orford, an office he held until about 1709. 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, and had issue: Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart Henrietta Tollemache Lady Elizabeth Tollemache (1682 – 6 August 1746), married Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, 3rd Baronet Lady Catherine Tollemache (27 May 1685 – 17 January 1754), married John Brydges, Marquess of Carnarvon (15 Jan 1703 – 8 Apr 1727) on 1 September 1724 Lady Mary Tollemache (27 May 1685 – 2 December 1715) Lady Grace Tollemache (d. 27 May 1719)