He was the son of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet and Elizabeth Stanhope, an heiress of Lord Harrington. Around 1648, Tollemache married Elizabeth Murray, the daughter of William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart and "whipping boy" to King Charles I. He and his wife, who were both fervent royalists, moved to her house at Ham in Surrey, which in due course became a centre for the activities of the Sealed Knot.
Together they were in contact with Charles Stuart, later Charles II, then in exile on the continent. Tollemache appears to have been plagued with ill-health throughout much of his life. Tollemache travelled to France in search of cures for his debilitating sickness, but died in Paris.
Sir Lionel and Lady Dysart had eleven children, five of whom survived to adulthood:
Elizabeth Tollemache (1659–1735) married Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll.
Catherine Tollemache married James Stewart, Lord Doune and secondly John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland. Thomas Tollemache, Lieutenant-General, abandoned the family"s devotion to the House of Stuart and became a key supporter of William of Orange.
William Tollemache (1661–1694) was a captain in the Royal Navy.
