OBITUARY.

A MEMOIR OF THE LATE RIGHT HON. WILBRAHAM, Earl of Dysart; WITH BIOGRAPHICAL Notices of THE ANTIENT FAMILY OF TOLLEMACHE, OF

HELMINGHAM, IN THE

March 9. At Ham House, Surrey, in the 82d year of his age, the Right Hon. Wilbraham Tollemache, Earl of Dysart, and Baron Huntingtour, of the kingdom of Scotland, a Baronet, and High Steward of the Borough of Ipswich.

His Lordship was born Oct. 21, 1739, and inherited the estates of his maternal ancestors the Wilbrahams of Woodbey in Cheshire. At an early age he was appointed an officer in the Royal Navy, which service he soon relinquished, and entered into the Army. In 1760 he was promoted to a company in the 106th regiment of Foot, which he retained until the reduction of that regiment in 1763. In 1765 he exchanged his half-pay for a company in the 6th regiment of Foot, and was Major of that regiment when he quitted the Army, in 1775. In 1768 he stood a severe confest for the representation of the Borough of Ipswich, in which, however, he was unsuccessful. On a vacancy, in 1771, he was chosen a burgess of the town of Northampton; and re-chosen at the general election in 1774. In 1780, he was elected a burgess of the Borough of Leckrard; and served the office of High Sheriff for the County Palatine of Chester, in 1785. On the death of his brother Lionel, the fourth Earl of Dysart, Feb. 22, 1799, he succeeded him in the Earldom, and, in 1806, the gallant Lord Viscount Nelson, in the High Stewardship of the Borough of Ipswich.

During the latter years of his Lordship's life, he withdrew from all political concerns; mingled seldom in promiscuous company; and was rarely or ever seen in public, and what is called fashionable life. He chiefly divided his time between the mansions of Ham, in Surrey, of Helmingham in Suffolk, and of the beautiful marine villa of Steephill in the Isle of Wight. At each of these places he resided in a retired, yet dignified manner, exercising all the bounty of old English hospitality, and indulging himself in extensive acts and distributions of charity. In these retreats, he passed his time in what the world calls solitude; but the calm and sequestered shades of Helmingham; the mild beauties of the gardens at Ham; and the grand and romantie scenery of Steep

COUNTY OF SUFFOLK.

hill, had charms sufficiently attractive to rivet his attention, and to recreate his hours. Here also he had not only his books and his paintings about bim, but an hospitable and a noble table, at which all who were honoured with his acquaintance or friendship, were received with attention, and entertained with the beartiest welcome. His proficiency in drawing, painting, and the fine arts, was considerable; and to the advancement and interests of Science, which formed, indeed, the chief solace of bis leisure hours, he paid no inconsiderable attention. His Lordship's manners were highly polished, and of the old school: his conversation instructive; his mind well-informed; his judgment sound; and his principles inflexible and honourable. To the late Countess he was conspicuous in his attachment; and to the close of his life cherished the memory of her many great and amiable virtues with a singular and unalterable affection. To his servants and dependents he was a humane and generous,-nay, a noble master; and to his tenants the best and most liberal of landlords. His loss, therefore, will be severely felt by these, as well as by the poor of his immediate neighbourhood, in relieving the wants of whom he was a most assiduous yet unostentatious benefactor.

His Lordship married, Feb. 4, 1778, Anna Maria, the eldest daughter of David Lewis, of Malvern Hall, in the county of Warwick, esq. (the sister of his brother's wife, the present Countess Dowager of Dysart), who died at Ham House, Sept. 14, 1804, in the 59th year of her age, and was buried with great pomp in the vault of his Lordship's ancestors at Helmingham. Her character is thus elegantly delineated on her Monument in the Church of that parish

"Her death was lamented and regretted by all, and particularly by her afflicted and disconsolate husband, who erected this Monument as a mark, faint as it is, of his grief and affection; and to perpetuate the memory of the most excellent of women. Religion, virtue, worth, benevolence, charity, beauty, and innocence, all these she possessed in an eminent degree; and her loss was irreparable to her husband, to her relations, and to her friends."

Come,

276

Right Hon. the Earl of Dysart.

Come, Virgins! ere in equal bands ye
join,
[shrine;
Come first, and offer at her sacred
Pray that your vows, like her's, may be
return'd,
[mourn'd."
So lov'd when living, and when dead so

By the decease of his Lordship, the very antient and highly respectable family of Tollemache has become extinct in the male line,-a family which has flourished in the greatest repute, and in an uninterrupted male succession in the county of Suffolk, from the arrival of the Saxons in this kingdom to the present time; a period of more than 1300 years.

Of a family of such high antiquity and distinction, and which has borne so conspicuous a part in the annals and history of the County, the Reader of this Memoir will surely pardon me, if I indulge myself in giving a slight account. With the native of Suffolk, indeed, so long familiarized with the race, it cannot fail of interest; for who is there, I will ask, sincerely attached to his county, who does not, whilst he peruses these "records of Ancestry," regret the extinction of the name of TOLLEMACHE? "His saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani

Munere."

Hugh Talmache, who subscribed the Charter sans date (about the reign of King Stephen) of John de St. John, made to Eve, the first abbess of Godstow, in Oxfordshire, is perhaps the first of the family now on record. He took, in his old age, the habits of a monk at Gloucester, and gave to that monastery a moiety of his town of Hampton, which Peter, his son, confirmed in the time of Hamlin, the abbot. William Talmache gave lands in Bentley and Dodness to the Priory of Ipswich, which were con

[March,

firmed in the reign of King John, In the 25th of Edward I. Sir Hugh de Talmache held of the Crown the manor of Bentley, and the fourth part of the village of Aketon, in the hundred of Baberg, by Knight's service. In the 29th of the same Monarch, William and John Tallemache had summons to attend the

King at Berwick-upon-Tweed, previously to his expedition into Scotland. This John took the Black Cross; and his arms are now remaining in the Minster of York. Sir Lionel Tallemache, of Henry VI: and Edward IV. He mar Bentley, flourished in the reign of ried the heiress of Helmingham, of Helmingham, in this county, by which alliance he acquired that inheritance, which is still the capital mansion of the family. His son, John, was the father of Lionel, who was High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, the 4th of Henry VIII. 1512. In the 38th of that Monarch, 1546, the King granted him the manor of Wansden, with the Rectory thereof; the manor and Rectory of Le hall, Wyllows, and Overball, to hold of Church Hey; and the manors of Burythe Crown by knight's service. son, Lionel, was knighted, and was High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1567. In 1561, Queen Elizabeth honoured Helmingham with her presence, and remained there five days, Aug. 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. Here she was entertained with great splendour and sumptuous hospitality; and during her visit stood godmother to Sir Lionel's son, and presented his mother with a lute, which is still preserved in the family. He married Dorothy, the daughtleshead, and was the father of Sir Lioter of Richard Lord Wentworth, of Netand Suffolk in 1593. He was knighted nel, who was High Sheriff of Norfolk also, and married Susanna, the daughter of Sir Ambrose Jermyn, of Rushbrook, knt. His son, Sir Lionel, was High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1609, and was advanced to the dignity of a Baronet at the first institution of that order, in 1611, being the twelfth in order of precedency, In 1617, he was again High Sheriff of Suffolk; and married Catherine, the daughter of Thomas Lord Cromwell, by Mary his wife, the daughter of John, Marquis of Winchester. He was succeeded in title and estate by his son Sir Lionel*, knt. and bart. who

*Betham, in his " Baronetage," vol. V. App. p. 76, makes a most unaccountable mistake in his Life of this Sir Lionel. He states, that he "was found dead in bis tent at Tilbury Camp, Sept. 16, 1640, æt. 49, where he went with the Suffolk Knights to oppose the Armada." Now the Camp at Tilbury was formed in 1588, Jong before Sir Lionel was born. Neither will this historical anecdote apply to the

grandfather

grandfather of this Sir Lionel, as he was living in 1691 unless the Camp at Tilbury was kept up long after the defeat of the Armada. In pointing out this error,this lapsus calami, I cannot refrain from acknowledging my obligations, and paying my tribute of praise to the merits of that excellent work, a work which displays an uncommon industry, and a general correctness, as well as the most indefatigable labour, in the dry, difficult, and toilsome science of Genealogy;-a work which was compiled, not in a place where immediate access could be had to books of reference, in order to settle a doubtful date, or correct an erroneous transcript; but in a retired and sequestered village, remote both from public libraries and from oral communication; amid the vexatious toil of a village school, and the intervals of ministerial avocations. And what has been the reward?-Proh pudor! a country curacy!

*This election was sharply contested. Lord Dysart was the second on the poll, and had 2877 votes; Sir Robert Davers, bart. 2883; Sir Dudley Cullum, bart. 2386; and Sir Samuel Barnardistou, bart. 2310.

278

Right Hon. the Earl of Dysart.

the liberty of his country; so as to speak and vote for keeping up an equal poise between both, according to our happy established Constitution; which vigi lant attention, and steady attachment to the real welfare and true interest of it, as well in time of peace as when at war with the common enemy of his nation, gained him the public acknowledg ment, as well as the just approbation of his constituents." He was succeeded by his grandson Lionel, the third Earl, who was created a Knight Companion of the most antient and most noble Order of the Thistle, in 1743. He married in 1731, Lady Grace Carteret, the eldest daughter of John, the first Earl of Granville, by whom he had fourteen children. In 1729, he was elected High Steward of the Borough of Ipswich. His Lordship died in 1770, and was succeeded by his son Lionel, the fourth Earl, who married, first, Oct. 2, 1760, Charlotte, one of the daughters of the Hon. Sir Robert Walpole, K. B. a son of Robert, the first Earl of Orford, and sister of her R. H. the Duchess of Gloucester; she died without issue at Ham House, Sept. 5, 1789 and secondly, April 29, 1791, Magdalene, the daughter of David Lewis, of Malvern Hall, in the county of Warwick, esq. who is now living, and universally respected; but by whom he had no issue. It was reported of this Lord that he returned the following answer to his Majesty's most gracious intimation of his intention to take a breakfast at Petersham: "Whenever my house becomes a public spectacle, his Majesty shall certainly have the first view."

His Lordship dying at Ham House, Feb. 22, 1799, in the 63d year of his age, was buried with great funeral pomp at Helmingham, and was succeeded in the honours and estates by his brother Wilbraham, the late and fifth Earl of Dy

sart.

The premature fate of the late Lord's three brothers was most melancholy and unfortunate; and is pathetically alluded to in the elegant inscription which commemorates the decease of Lionel Robert Tollemache, the only son of one of them, (viz. the Hon. John Tollemache), an Ensign in the 1st regiment of Guards; who, accompanying his regiment to Flanders, on the breaking out of the late war with

[March,

France, was killed by the bursting of a shell before Valenciennes, July 14, 1793, in an assault made previously to the surrender of that town.

"His death was the more unfortunate, as he was the only British officer killed on that occasion. He was a youth of uncommon promise; but to his family his loss was irreparable! for, by that fatal event, it became extinct in the male line. BUT THE NAME OF TOLLEMACHE HAS BEEN UNFORTUNATE! The father and two uncles of this valiant youth, like himself, lost their lives prematurely, in the service of their country. His uncle, the Hon. George Tollemache, was killed by falling from the mast-head of the Modeste man-of-war, at sea; his father, the Hon. John Tollemache*, was killed in a duel at New York; and another of his uncles, the Hon. William Tollemache, was lost in the Repulse frigate in a hurricane, in the Atlantic Ocean. So many instances of disaster are rarely to be met with in the same family."

By the laws of Scotland, Lady Louisa Manners, his Lordship's surviving sister, succeeds, as the elder branch, to the titles. She was born in 1745, and mar ried, in August 1765, John Manners of Grantham Grange, in the county of Lincoln, esq. a natural son of Lord William Manners, the second son of the second Duke of Rutland, and who died Sept. 22, 1792. By him she has issue three sons and four daughters; the eldest of whom, Sir William Manners, of Buckminster, in the county of Leicester, was created a Baronet, Jan, 5, 1793; and in 1790, married Catherine, the third and youngest daughter of Francis Grey, of Lehena, in the county of Cork, the authoress of a Volume of Poems; and by her has issue four sons and five daugh

ters.

The younger branch of the family are the issue of his Lordship's youngest sister Lady Jane, who married, first, the 23d of Oct. 1771, John Delap Halliday, of Castlemains, in the Stewartry of Kircudbright, and of the Leasowes (Shenstone's) in Shropshire, and who by him had issue John Halliday, esq. Admiral of the Royal Navy, who married July 28, 1797, Lady Elizabeth Stratford, the eldest daughter of John, Earl of Aldborough, by whom he has a numerous is

*The quarrel originated in a Sonnet, written by Capt. Pennington, of the Guards, which Captain Tollemache considered as reflecting on the supposed wit of his Lady. After firing a brace of pistols each, without effect, they drew their swords. Capt. Tollemache was run through the heart, and Capt. Pennington received seven wounds so severe, that his life was despaired of for some time after. Capt. Tollemache's Lady was Lady Bridget Henley, the daughter of Robert, the first Earl of Northington, and relict of the Hon. George Fox Lane.

sue;

Whitehall, Dec. 5, 1670, to Elizabeth, rounded with an open gallery. The bal