William Tollemache, Lord Huntingtower (1766–1833)

William Tollemache
Lord Huntingtower
Baronet of Hanby Hall
Reign1793–1833
SuccessorLionel Tollemache, 8th Earl of Dysart
Born19 May 1766
Died11 March 1833
Noble familyTollemache
Spouse(s)Catherine Gray, Lady Manners
IssueHon. Louisa Tollemache
Lady Catherine Camilla Tollemache
Lady Emily Frances Tollemache
Lionel Tollemache, 8th Earl of Dysart
Felix Tollemache
Hon. Arthur Caesar Tollemache
Hon. Caroline Tollemache
Lady Catherine Octavia Tollemache
Hugh Tollemache
Frederick Tollemache
Algernon Tollemache
Lady Laura Maria Tollemache
FatherJohn Manners
MotherLouisa Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart

William Manners Tollemache, Lord Huntingtower (19 May 1766 – 11 March 1833), known as Sir William Manners, Bt, between 1793 and 1821, was a British nobleman and Tory politician.

Background

Born William Manners, he was the eldest son of John Manners and Louisa Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart. On 12 January 1793, at the age of 26, he was created a Baronet, of Hanby Hall in the County of Lincoln.[1] On his mother's succession to the earldom in 1821, he was styled Lord Huntingtower, and adopted the surname of Talmash or Tollemache.

Political career

Huntingtower was known for his high-handed manipulation of the Parliamentary vote in Ilchester in Somerset. He owned most of the borough, and represented it from 1803 to 1804 and 1806–1807. In 1818 his candidates, one of whom was his son, were not elected, and he had the workhouse pulled down. A petition to Parliament stated:

163 men, women, and children, from one month to upwards of 80 years, were all turned out into the street, without knowing of a place of shelter themselves at the most inclement season of the year. Some of them were able to get together some straw in the town-hall. Some of them betook themselves to the fields. Among the people so turned out, there were several pregnant women, and one daily expected the pangs of child birth.[2]

Parliament offered no amelioration. In the severe winter of 1828–1829, he engaged in a large public relief project, hiring 528 workers in the vicinity of his estates in Buckminster in Leicestershire.

He served as High Sheriff of Leicestershire in 1809.

Family

Portrait of Catherine Gray, Lady Manners, by Thomas Lawrence. Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.
The Graces in a High Wind by James Gillray, believed to be Louisa, Emily and Catherine Manners[3]

On 12 January 1790, he married Catherine Rebecca Gray (d. 1852), by whom he had six sons and six daughters:

Lionel's surviving siblings were granted precedence as the children of an earl on 6 November 1840.[4]

He suffered a stroke at Buckminster Park on 7 March 1833 and died on the 11th.[5]

References

  1. ^ "No. 13490". The London Gazette. 5 January 1793. p. 12.
  2. ^ Hansard, first series volume 39 (January–April 1819), column 1353. Text on Google Books
  3. ^ "The graces in a high wind - A scene taken from nature, in Kensington Gardens". University of Princeton. 1809. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  4. ^ "No. 19912". The London Gazette. 10 November 1840. p. 2480.
  5. ^ "Obituaries". The Gentleman's Magazine: 369–370. 1833. Retrieved 12 January 2008.

See also

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Ilchester
18031804
With: Charles Brooke
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Ilchester
18061807
With: Nathaniel Saxon
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by
John Finch Simpson
High Sheriff of Leicestershire
1809–1810
Succeeded by
Baronetage of Great Britain
New creation Baronet
(of Hanby Hall)
1793–1833
Succeeded by