Wilbraham Tollemache
6th Earl of Dysart
Tenure1799–1821
PredecessorLionel Tollemache, 5th Earl of Dysart (his brother)
SuccessorLouisa Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart (his sister)
Other titlesBaronet of Helmingham Hall
Born(1739-10-21)21 October 1739
Died9 March 1821(1821-03-09) (aged 81)
Ham House
Spouse(s)Anna Maria Lewis
FatherLionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart
MotherGrace Carteret
OccupationMP for Northampton & Liskeard
High Sheriff of Cheshire & High Steward of Ipswich

Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart FRS (21 October 1739 – 9 March 1821),[1] known from 1739 to 1799 as Hon. Wilbraham Tollemache, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1771 to 1784.[2]

Biography

Anna Maria Tollemache (by Joshua Reynolds, 1773–1774)

Tollemache was a younger son of Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart. He originally served in the Royal Navy, and then in the British Army, retiring in 1775 as a major in the 6th Regiment of Foot. He first entered the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Northampton in 1771.[2] 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 until 1784. He was High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1785, and later High Steward of Ipswich, like his elder brother.[3]

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 from George Hardinge, bringing the area back into the family. Wilbraham carried out a programme of improvements at Ham House, 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-has and the addition of the Coade stone statues. Wilbraham was a collector of art and was an early patron of John Constable.[4] Tollemache was also a patron of Reynolds and Gainsborough.[5] 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".[4]

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.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ The Third Register Book of the Parish of St James in the Liberty of Westminster For Births & Baptisms. 1723-1741. 2 December 1739.
  2. 1 2 Christie, I. R. (1964). "Tollemache, Hon. Wilbraham (1739-1821), of Calveley Hall, Cheshire". In Namier, L.; Brooke, J. (eds.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790. Historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 Harwood, H. W. Forsyth; Murray, Keith W. (1906). Paul, James Balfour (ed.). Murray, Earl of Dysart. Vol. III. Edinburgh: David Douglas. pp. 411–412. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. 1 2 3 Pritchard, Evelyn (2007). Ham House and its owners through five centuries 1610-2006. Richmond Local History Society. pp. 43–46. ISBN 9781955071727.
  5. ↑ Tollemache, E. D. H. (1949). The Tollemaches of Helmingham and Ham. Ipswich: W. S. Cowell. pp. 118–121.

Sources

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