DYSART. DYSART. Earldom [S.] l, "William Murray, s. of the Rov. William M., I 1643 Minister of Dysart, co. Fife, aud nephew of Thomas Murray, Provost of Eton (1621-23), Tutor aud Secretary to Charles, Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles L, became, in 1626, Gent, of the Bedchamber^) and was in great favour with that King, receiving from him, in 1637, the lease (extended iu 1672 to the fee) of the manors of Ham and Petersham, co. Surrey, and was by him cr. by pat. dat. at Oxford, 3 Aug. 1643, EARL OF DYSART, co. Fife, .and LORD HUNTINGTOWER, co. Perth [S.]( b ) He was sent over with instruc- tions to the Scottish Commissioners at Breda in 1650 to treat with Charles II. for his return to Scotland. He m., before June 1636, Catharine Bruce, of the family of Clackmannan, and d. s.p.m.( c ) before 22 May 1651, when his widow was living.( (1 ) II. 1651. 2. Elizabeth, sua jure Countess of Dysart, [S.], 1st da. and coheir, the heir of line.(°) She resigned her peerage and obtained B new grant thereof (with the precedency of her father by patent dat. at Whitehall 5 Dec. 1670, with power of nominationO to any of her descendants, failing which irfth rem. to her heirs, the eldest, if a female, to take without division. She m. oefore 22 May 1651,( d ) Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3d Bart., of Helmingham, Suffolk, who sue. his father 6 Sep. 1610, and was bur. 25 March 1669, at Helmingham. She to. secondly (as his 2d wife) 17 March 1671/2, at Petersham, John (Maitlakd), 1st Duke of Lauderdale [S.], the well known statesman, who d. s.p.m. 24 Aug. 16S2, aged 66, leaving no issue by her. See that dignity. Her Grace, who had eleven children by her first husband, was bur. 16 June 1698, at Petersham. Will pr. 1698. III. I$9S. S. Lionel (Tollemache), Earl op Dysart, &c. [S.], 1st surv. s. and h. b. 30 Jan. 1648/9, at Helmingham ; stijhd Loud Hunt- iNGTOwen, 1651-98 ; sue. his father as a Baronet 1669 ; was M.P. for' Suffolk 1673-78; for Oxford 1678-87 ; and for Suffolk (again) till 1707, when, by the act of Union [S.], he was no longer eligible ; Lord Lieut, and Vice- Admiral, co. Suffolk ; High Steward (■) He was generally considered the Prince's " Whipping-boy," receiving vicariously the floggings due to his Royal Highness. (•>) " Burnet says that his warrant for this purpose was signed at Newcastle while the King was in the hands of the Scots, tho' he prevailed on him to antedate it, as if it had been signed at Oxford, in order to get the precedency of some whom he hated. The same author adds that he did not pass this warrant under the Great Seal until after the King's death when iu reality it was no longer in force, and, accordingly, tho' he was commonly called Earl of Dysart aa long as he lived, I do not find that ho ever took the title upon himself or that it was recognised by authority on any occasion whatsoever; in the court rolls at least of this [Ham] aud of his manor of Petersham he ia certainly never spoken of but by the name of William Murray, Big," See Manning and Bray's "Surrey," vol. i, p. 364. ( c ) Bishop Burnet Bpeaks but ill o£ him, stating that " it was generally believed that he betrayed the most important of the King's secrets to his enemies." He seems to have had the peculiarity that when he was drunk, " which was pretty often," he was more reserved than at other times. He is, however, called " that vile person" by a Committee of the House of Commons, when requesting the King to remove him from his Council, which appellation, probably, shows that he was deserving of some merit. ( d ) On 22 May 1651, thiB lady (under the name of Katharine, not Elizabeth as in " Douglas ") surrenders the capital mess, of Ham to her da., Eliz. Tollemaclie. See Manning and Bray's " Surrey vol. i, p. 365, note " z." (°) " A woman of great beauty but of far greater parts," says Bishop Burnet ; " violent in everything she set about ; a violent friend, but a much more violent enemy ; ravenously covetous, and would have stuck at nothing by which she might compass her ends." O See " Douglas," vol. ii, p. 685, the version in vol. i thereof, p. 490, not being correctly printed. No nomination appears to have been made. See list of Peerages [S.] in which the Grantees were authorised to nominate their successors in voL ii, p. 14, note "a," sub " Breadalbane."
