Background
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.
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. 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. In 1685, he was again returned for that borough and made portman of Orford, an office he held until about 1709.
They had five children:
Lionel Tollemache, Lord Huntingtower (1682–1712)
Lady Elizabeth Tollemache (d 6 August 1746), married Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, 3rd Baronet
Lady Catherine Tollemache (d 17 January 1754), married John Brydges, Marquess of Carnarvon (15 January 1703 – 08 April 1727) on 1 September 1724
Lady Mary Tollemache (d 2 December 1715)
Lady Grace Tollemache (d 27 May 1719)
Huntingtower went out of Parliament again upon the fall of James World War 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.
He was offered a barony in the Peerage of Great Britain by Queen Anne upon her accession, but declined.
Habeas Corpus Parliament]
He briefly served as Member of Parliament for Orford in 1679 as a member of the Habeas Corpus Parliament.