Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, 2nd Countess of Dysart (née Murray; 28 September 1626 – 5 June 1698) was a Scottish noblewoman. In her own right she was the Countess of Dysart and from the date of her remarriage in 1672 the Duchess of Lauderdale. She was famous for the political influence she held, which was unusual for women of the period, and for her support for Charles II during his exile, as a member of the secret organisation known as the Sealed Knot. Early life Murray was the eldest of the four daughters of William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart, a close friend and Gentleman of the Bedchamber of Charles I; and his wife Catherine Bruce. Her birth was recorded in the baptismal register at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 1626. During that same year, her parents moved to Ham House, where she spent her childhood. Her father ensured that she received a full education, which was unusual for women of the period, while her mother ensured she was prepared to run a household efficiently. English Civil War and first marriage During the English Civil War, Elizabeth's father was often away from the family in service to the king. Her mother took the opportunity to travel along the Thames to the court at Oxford, including the winter of 1643-44. She developed a reputation for charisma and beauty, being described by Thomas Knyvett as "...a pretty witty Lass." After some years of searching for a suitable match, she married Sir Lionel Tollemachein 1648, a prudent choice given his lack of political involvement, but one that created a stable marriage. The following year, Ham House was placed in the hands of trustees administered by Lionel, to help secure the estate from the threat of sequestration. At the start of their marriage, Sir Lionel and Lady Dysart lived at Fakenham Magna in Suffolk, a wooded countryside near his family estate at Helmingham Hall and removed from much of the upheaval of war. They had eleven children, five of whom survived to adulthood: Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart, his eldest son, inherited the Earldom of Dysart on his mother's death in 1698. Thomas Tollemache, Lieutenant-General, abandoned the family's devotion to the House of Stuart and became a key supporter of William of Orange (later King William III of England). Elizabeth Tollemache (1659–1735) married Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll. William Tollemache (1661–1694) was a