Lionel William John Tollemache, 8th Earl of Dysart (18 November 1794 – 23 September 1878), known as Lionel Manners until 1821, as Lionel Tollemache between 1821 and 1833, and styled Lord Huntingtower between 1833 and 1840, was a British peer and Torypolitician.

Background

Dysart was the son of William Manners (later William Tollemache, Lord Huntingtower) and Catherine Rebecca, daughter of Francis Grey. In 1821, when his grandmother Louisa Tollemache became 7th Countess of Dysart

Earl of Dysart

Earl of Dysart is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1643 for William Murray, who had earlier represented Fowey and East Looe in the English House of Commons. He was made Lord Huntingtower at the same time, also in the Peerage of Scotland. He was succeeded by his daughter, the...

, he assumed by Royal license the surname of Tollemache in lieu of Manners. Upon his father's death in 1833, he succeeded as second Baronet of Hanley Hall and as heir apparent

Heir apparent

An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

 to his grandmother, with the courtesy title

Courtesy title

A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...

 of Lord Huntingtower.

Political career

Dysart sat as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Ilchester

Ilchester (UK Parliament constituency)

Ilchester was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1832...

, alongside his younger brother the Hon. Felix Tollemache, from 1827 until they were defeated at the 1830 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1830

The 1830 United Kingdom general election, was triggered by the death of King George IV and produced the first parliament of the reign of his successor, William IV. Fought in the aftermath of the Swing Riots, it saw electoral reform become a major election issue...

. In 1836 he was appointed High Sheriff of Leicestershire

High Sheriff of Leicestershire

This is a list of High Sheriffs of Leicestershire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...

. In 1840 he succeeded his grandmother in the earldom of Dysart. However, as this was a Scottish peerage

Peerage of Scotland

The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...

 it did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

.

Family

Lord Dysart had a natural son Alfred Cox (born 28 March 1818) with Esther Cox, changing his name to Alfred Manners in 1850.
Lord Dysart married Maria Elizabeth, daughter of Sweeny Toone, in 1819. She died in March 1852. Lord Dysart died on 23 September 1878, aged 83, and was succeeded in the earldom by his grandson, William John Manners Tollemache, 9th Earl of Dysart, his son Lord Huntingtower, having predeceased him.