Dunwich (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dunwich Borough constituency |
|
|---|---|
| Created: | 1298 |
| Abolished: | 1832 |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| Members: | two |
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.
Contents |
[edit] 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 MPs 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 only half the voting power and could never gain total influence over elections.
Earlier, in the 1760s, Sir Jacob Downing had been the sole patron, but he also was considered to have only influence, rather than the absolute power to dictate the choice of MPs. Nevertheless, 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; possibly he had to share some of this largesse with the co-operative voters.
Dunwich was abolished as a constituency in 1832, what remained of the village being placed in the new Eastern Suffolk county division.
[edit] Members of Parliament
[edit] Before 1660
[edit] 1660-1832
| Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1660 | Sir John Rous | Henry Bedingfield | ||||
| 1661 | Richard Coke | |||||
| 1670 | Sir John Pettus | |||||
| 1671 | William Wood | |||||
| 1678 | Thomas Allin | |||||
| Fenruary 1679 | Sir Philip Skippon | |||||
| September 1679 | Sir Robert Kemp | |||||
| 1685 | Roger North | Tory | Thomas Knyvett | Tory | ||
| 1689 | Sir Philip Skippon | Sir Robert Rich | Whig | |||
| 1691 | John Bence | |||||
| 1695 | Henry Heveningham | |||||
| 1700 | Sir Charles Blois | |||||
| 1701 | Robert Kemp | |||||
| 1705 | John Rous | |||||
| 1708 | Robert Kemp | |||||
| 1709 | Sir Richard Allin | Daniel Harvey | ||||
| 1710 | Sir George Downing | Richard Richardson | ||||
| 1713 | Sir Robert Kemp | |||||
| 1715 | Sir Robert Rich | Charles Long | ||||
| March 1722 | Sir George Downing | Edward Vernon | ||||
| December 1722 | Sir John Ward | |||||
| 1726 | John Sambrooke | |||||
| 1727 | Thomas Wyndham | |||||
| 1734 | Sir Orlando Bridgeman | |||||
| 1738 | William Morden | |||||
| 1741 | Jacob Garrard Downing | |||||
| 1747 | Miles Barne | |||||
| 1749 | Sir Jacob Garrard Downing | |||||
| 1754 | Soame Jenyns | |||||
| 1758 | Alexander Forrester | |||||
| 1761 | Henry Fox | Eliab Harvey | ||||
| 1763 | Sir Jacob Garrard Downing | |||||
| 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 | |||||
| 1832 | Viscount Lowther | Tory | ||||
| 1832 | Constituency abolished | |||||
[edit] 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 Peerage Page
