At one time this organization enjoyed the patronage of members of the British establishment including HRH Princess Alice of Athlone, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Dysart, Lord Gisborough, and William Massey, the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
The Dysart Mausoleum which stands near the church was built around 1800 by the trustees of the estate of Lionel Tollemache, 8th Earl of Dysart, who died in 1798.
Commissioned an ensign in the Coldstream Guards on 28 January 1791, he was killed at the siege of Valenciennes, without issue.
Lionel Richie | Lionel Barrymore | Lionel Hampton | Lionel Messi | Lionel Trilling | Lionel Monckton | Lionel Johnson | Lionel Conacher | Lionel Tollemache, 8th Earl of Dysart | Lionel Gossman | Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition | Lionel Shriver | Lionel Nathan de Rothschild | Lionel Lewis | Lionel Corporation | Lionel | Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson | Lionel Loueke | Lionel Jospin | Lionel Jeffries | Lionel Bart | Lionel Atwill | Lionel Terray | Lionel Stander | Lionel Ray | Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence | Lionel Blair | Lionel Abrahams | Lionel Tiger | Lionel Taylor |
On 12 March 1678, he married Elizabeth Tollemache (daughter of Elizabeth and Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet of Helmingham) at Edinburgh, Scotland.
He was the son of Admiral of the Fleet John Halliday (who in 1821 assumed by Royal license the surname and arms of Tollemache in lieu of Halliday), eldest son of Lady Jane Halliday, youngest daughter and co-heir of Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart.
Part of the former abbey precinct was donated to Leicester Town Council (the predecessor of the modern City Council) by the 8th Earl of Dysart.
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Lionel Tollemache, 8th Earl of Dysart, sold the land east of the River Soar (known as Abbey Meadows) in 1876; this was to allow Leicester Town Council to undertake flood prevention work.