Dunwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Dunwich was a parliamentary borough in Suffolk, one of the most notorious of all the rotten boroughs. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1298 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
| Dunwich | |
|---|---|
| Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
| 1298–1832 | |
| Number of members | Two |
| Replaced by | East Suffolk |
History
In medieval times, when Dunwich was first accorded representation in Parliament, it was a flourishing port and market town about thirty miles from Ipswich. However, by 1670 the sea had encroached upon the town, destroying the port and swallowing up all but a few houses so that nothing was left but a tiny village. The borough had once consisted of eight parishes, but all that was left was part of the parish of All Saints, Dunwich - which by 1831 had a population of 232, and only 44 houses ("and half a church", as Oldfield recorded in 1816).
In fact, this made Dunwich by no means the smallest of England's rotten boroughs, but the symbolism of two Members of Parliament representing a constituency that was essentially underwater captured the imagination and made Dunwich one of the most frequently-mentioned examples of the absurdities of the unreformed system.
The right to vote was exercised by the freemen of the borough. Originally, these freemen could vote even if they did not live in the borough, and at times this was abused as elsewhere, notably in 1670 when 500 non-resident freemen were created to swamp the resident voters. From 1709, however, by a resolution of the House of Commons, the franchise was restricted to resident freemen who were not receiving alms. By the 19th century, the maximum number of freemen had been set at 32, of whom the two "patrons", Lord Huntingfield and Snowdon Barne, could nominate eight each, so that between them they controlled half of the votes and needed only one other voter to gain control of elections.
Earlier, in the 1760s, Sir Jacob Downing had been the sole patron, but in theory he also was considered to have only influence, rather than the absolute power to dictate the choice of the Members. Unsurprisingly, in 1754 Downing was able to occupy one seat himself and sell the choice of the other member to the Duke of Newcastle (then Prime Minister) for £1,000; it is not recorded whether he needed to share some of this largesse with his co-operative voters.
Dunwich was abolished as a constituency in 1832, when what remained of the village became part of the new Eastern Suffolk county division.
Members of Parliament
Before 1660
| Parliament | First member | Second member |
|---|---|---|
| 1306 | Robert Codoun | |
| 1332 | Geoffrey Cuddon | |
| 1372 | Peter Cuddon I | |
| 1373 | Peter Cuddon I | |
| 1383 | Peter Cuddon I | |
| 1386 | Peter Cuddon I | Hugh Thorpe [1] |
| 1388 (Feb) | Augustine Knight | William Woodward [1] |
| 1388 (Sep) | Peter Cuddon I | John Bagge [1] |
| 1390 (Jan) | Peter Cuddon I | Robert Runton [1] |
| 1390 (Nov) | ||
| 1391 | Robert Runton | William Havene [1] |
| 1393 | Robert Cook | Augustine Knight [1] |
| 1394 | ||
| 1395 | Robert Cuddon I | William Chock [1] |
| 1397 (Jan) | Peter Helmeth | Nicholas Goodber [1] |
| 1397 (Sep) | ||
| 1399 | Peter Cuddon II | Peter Helmeth [1] |
| 1401 | ||
| 1402 | ||
| 1404 (Jan) | ||
| 1404 (Oct) | ||
| 1406 | ||
| 1407 | ||
| 1410 | Peter Cuddon II | William Barber [1] |
| 1411 | Richard Griston | Thomas Clerk [1] |
| 1413 (Feb) | ||
| 1413 (May) | Thomas Clerk | Thomas Brantham [1] |
| 1414 (Apr) | Nicholas Barber | Philip Canon [1] |
| 1414 (Nov) | Thomas James | Philip Canon [1] |
| 1415 | ||
| 1416 (Mar) | ||
| 1416 (Oct) | John Luke | Philip Canon [1] |
| 1417 | ||
| 1419 | Nicholas Barber | Philip Canon [1] |
| 1420 | John Luke | Richard Russell[1] |
| 1421 (May) | William Barber | Robert Cuddon II [1] |
| 1421 (Dec) | John Luke | Nicholas Barber [1] |
| 1467 | William Rabett [2] | |
| 1472 | William Rabett (Rabbes) | |
| 1478 | Robert Brewes | Edmund Jenny |
| 1510-1523 | No names known [1] | |
| 1529 | Sir William Rous | Christopher Jenney [1] |
| 1536 | ? | |
| 1539 | ? | |
| 1542 | Robert Browne | George Coppyn [1] |
| 1545 | Robert Browne | Robert Coppyn [1] |
| 1547 | Robert Coppyn | John Harrison alias Hall died and was repl. Nov 1548 by Thomas Heydon [1] |
| 1553 (Mar) | Francis Yaxley[3] | Robert Coppyn [1] |
| 1553 (Oct) | Robert Coppyn | Nicholas Hasborough [1] |
| 1554 (Apr) | Robert Browne | George Jerningham [1] |
| 1554 (Nov) | Sir Edmund Rous | Robert Coppyn [1] |
| 1555 | George Saxmundham | Andrew Green [1] |
| 1558 | Thomas Pycto | John Browne [1] |
| 1558/9 | Sir Edmund Rous | Gregory Coppyn [4] |
| 1562/3 | Robert Hare | Robert Coppyn [4] |
| 1571 | William Humberstone | Arthur Hopton [4] |
| 1572 | Robert Coppyn, died and repl.1576 by Godfrey Foljambe | Richard Sone [4] |
| 1584 | Walter Dunch | Anthony Wingfield [4] |
| 1586 | Anthony Wingfield | Arthur Melles [4] |
| 1588 | Edward Honing | Walter Dunch [4] |
| 1593 | Henry Savile | Thomas Corbet [4] |
| 1597 | Arthur Atye | Clipsby Gawdy [4] |
| 1601 | John Suckling | Francis Myngate [4] |
| 1604 | Sir Valentine Knightley elected to sit for Northamptonshire and replaced by Thomas Smythe | Philip Gawdy |
| 1614 | Philip Gawdy | Henry Dade |
| 1621 | Clement Coke | Thomas Bedingfield |
| 1624 | Sir John Rous | Sir Robert Brooke |
| 1625 | Sir Robert Brooke | |
| 1626 | Thomas Bedingfield | |
| 1628 | Sir Robert Brooke | Francis Winterton |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | |
1660-1832
| Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1640 (Apr) | Henry Coke | Anthony Bedingfield | |||||
| 1640 (Nov) | Henry Coke- disabled | Anthony Bedingfield | |||||
| 1645 | Anthony Bedingfield | Robert Brewster | |||||
| 1648 (Rump) | Robert Brewster | One seat only | |||||
| 1653 (Barebones) | Dunwich not represented in Barebones Parliament | ||||||
| 1654 (1st Protectorate) | Robert Brewster | One seat only | |||||
| 1656 (2nd Protectorate) | Francis Brewster | One seat only | |||||
| 1658 (3rd Protectorate) | Robert Brewster | John Barrington | |||||
| 1660 | Sir John Rous | Henry Bedingfield | |||||
| 1661 | Richard Coke | ||||||
| 1670 | Sir John Pettus | ||||||
| 1671 | William Wood | ||||||
| 1678 | Thomas Allin | ||||||
| February 1679 | Sir Philip Skippon | ||||||
| September 1679 | Sir Robert Kemp, Bt | ||||||
| 1685 | Roger North | Tory | Thomas Knyvett | Tory | |||
| 1689 | Sir Philip Skippon | Sir Robert Rich, Bt | Whig | ||||
| 1691 | John Bence | ||||||
| 1695 | Henry Heveningham | ||||||
| 1700 | Sir Charles Blois, Bt | ||||||
| 1701 | Robert Kemp, Bt | ||||||
| 1705 | John Rous | ||||||
| 1708 | Robert Kemp | ||||||
| 1709 | Sir Richard Allin, Bt | Daniel Harvey | |||||
| 1710 | Sir George Downing, Bt | Richard Richardson | |||||
| 1713 | Sir Robert Kemp, Bt | ||||||
| 1715 | Sir Robert Rich, Bt | Charles Long | |||||
| March 1722 | Sir George Downing, Bt | Edward Vernon | |||||
| December 1722 | Sir John Ward | ||||||
| 1726 | John Sambrooke | ||||||
| 1727 | Thomas Wyndham | ||||||
| 1734 | Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Bt | ||||||
| 1738 | William Morden | ||||||
| 1741 | Jacob Downing | ||||||
| 1747 | Miles Barne | ||||||
| 1749 | Sir Jacob Downing, Bt | ||||||
| 1754 | Soame Jenyns | ||||||
| 1758 | Alexander Forrester | ||||||
| 1761 | Henry Fox | Eliab Harvey | |||||
| 1763 | Sir Jacob Downing, Bt | ||||||
| 1764 | Miles Barne | ||||||
| 1768 | Gerard Vanneck | ||||||
| 1777 | Barne Barne | ||||||
| 1790 | The Lord Huntingfield | ||||||
| 1791 | Miles Barne | ||||||
| 1796 | Snowdon Barne | ||||||
| 1812 | Michael Barne | ||||||
| 1816 | The Lord Huntingfield | Tory | |||||
| 1819 | William Alexander Mackinnon | ||||||
| 1820 | George Henry Cherry | ||||||
| 1826 | Andrew Arcedeckne | ||||||
| 1830 | Frederick Barne | ||||||
| 1831 | Earl of Brecknock | Tory | |||||
| 1832 | Viscount Lowther | Tory | |||||
| 1832 | Constituency abolished | ||||||
In popular culture
Dunwich is satirised in an episode of the British television show Blackadder the Third titled "Dish and Dishonesty". Named Dunny-on-the-Wold, and like Dunwich, described as being located in Suffolk [5], it has a population of three cows, a dachshund called "Colin", and "a small hen in its late forties"; only one person lives there and he is the voter. After an obviously rigged election (in which it is revealed that Blackadder is both the constituency's returning officer and voter, after both his predecessors had died in highly suspicious "accidents"), Baldrick is made an MP having received all 16,472 of the votes cast.
References
- Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1961)
- T. H. B. Oldfield, The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland (London: Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1816)
- J Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
- Edward Porritt and Annie G Porritt, The Unreformed House of Commons (Cambridge University Press, 1903)
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
- Evelyn Wright, Forgotten families of Suffolk (The Book Castle, Dunstable, 2008)
Notes
- "History of Parliament". History of Parliament. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- The registers of the parish of Thorington in the county of Suffolk, with notes of the different acts of Parliament referring to them, and notices of the Bence family, with pedigree, and other families whose names appear therein. p. 28.
- . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- "Dunwich 1558–1603". History of Parliament. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- "Blackadder III, Episode 1 - Dish and Dishonesty". BlackAdder Scripts. Retrieved 27 December 2019.