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 1296 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
History In 1296, when Dunwich was first accorded representation in Parliament, it was a flourishing port and market town about 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 1690 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.Page 146, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957) 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.Page 202, Note 14, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
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
ParliamentFirst memberSecond member 1306 Robert Codoun 1332 Geoffrey Cuddon 1372 Peter Cuddon I 1373 Peter Cuddon I 1383 Peter Cuddon I 1386Peter Cuddon I Hugh Thorpe 1388 (Feb) Augustine Knight William Woodward 1388 (Sep) Peter Cuddon I John Bagge 1390 (Jan) Peter Cuddon I Robert Runton 1390 (Nov) 1391Robert Runton William Havene 1393Robert Cook Augustine Knight 1394 1395Robert Cuddon I William Chock 1397 (Jan) Peter Helmeth Nicholas Goodber 1397 (Sep) 1399Peter Cuddon II Peter Helmeth 1401 1402 1404 (Jan) 1404 (Oct) 1406 1407 1410Peter Cuddon II William Barber 1411Richard Griston Thomas Clerk 1413 (Feb) 1413 (May) Thomas Clerk Thomas Brantham 1414 (Apr) Nicholas Barber Philip Canon 1414 (Nov) Thomas James Philip Canon 1415 1416 (Mar) 1416 (Oct) John Luke Philip Canon 1417 1419 Nicholas Barber Philip Canon 1420John Luke Richard Russell 1421 (May) William Barber Robert Cuddon II 1421 (Dec) John Luke Nicholas Barber 1467William Rabett 1472William Rabett (Rabbes) 1478Robert Brewes Edmund Jenny 1510–1523 No names known 1529Sir William Rous Christopher Jenney 1536? 1539? 1542Robert Browne George Coppyn 1545Robert Browne Robert Coppyn 1547Robert Coppyn John Harrison alias Hall died and was repl. Nov 1548 by Thomas Heydon 1553 (Mar) Francis Yaxley Robert Coppyn 1553 (Oct) Robert Coppyn Nicholas Hasborough 1554 (Apr) Robert Browne George Jerningham 1554 (Nov) Sir Edmund Rous Robert Coppyn 1555George Saxmundham Andrew Green 1558Thomas Pycto John Browne 1558–9 Sir Edmund Rous Gregory Coppyn 1562–3 Robert Hare Robert Coppyn 1571William Humberstone Arthur Hopton 1572Robert Coppyn, died and repl.1576 by Godfrey Foljambe Richard Sone 1584Walter Dunch Anthony Wingfield 1586Anthony Wingfield Arthur Melles 1588Edward Honing Walter Dunch 1593Henry Savile Thomas Corbet 1597 Arthur Atye Clipsby Gawdy 1601John Suckling Francis Myngate 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 1624Sir John Rous Sir Robert Brooke 1625 Sir Robert Brooke 1626 Thomas Bedingfield 1628 Sir Robert Brooke Francis Winterton 1629–1640No Parliaments summoned
1640–1832 YearFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond 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 Tory Henry Bedingfield Tory 1661 Richard Coke Tory 1670 Sir John Pettus Tory 1671 William Wood Whig 1678 Thomas Allin ToryFebruary 1679 Sir Philip Skippon WhigSeptember 1679 Sir Robert Kemp, Bt Country Party 1685 Roger North Tory Thomas Knyvett Tory 1689 Sir Philip Skippon Whig Sir Robert Rich, Bt Whig 1691 John Bence Tory 1695 Henry Heveningham Whig 1700 Sir Charles Blois, Bt Tory 1701 Robert Kemp, Bt Tory 1705 John Rous 1708 Robert Kemp Tory 1709 Sir Richard Allin, Bt Whig Daniel Harvey Whig 1710 Sir George Downing, Bt Richard Richardson Tory 1713 Sir Robert Kemp, Bt Tory 1715 Sir Robert Rich, Bt Whig Charles Long March 1722 Sir George Downing, Bt Edward Vernon ToryDecember 1722 Sir John Ward Whig 1726 John Sambrooke 1727 Thomas Wyndham 1734 Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Bt Whig 1738 William Morden Whig 1741 Jacob Downing 1747 Miles Barne 1749 Sir Jacob Downing, Bt 1754 Soame Jenyns 1758 Alexander Forrester 1761 Henry Fox Whig Eliab Harvey 1763 Sir Jacob Downing, Bt 1764 Miles Barne Pittite 1768 Gerard Vanneck 1777 Barne Barne Pittite 1790 The Lord Huntingfield Pittite 1791 Miles Barne Pittite 1796 Snowdon Barne Pittite 1812 Michael Barne 1816 The Lord Huntingfield Tory 1819 William Alexander Mackinnon Whig 1820 George Henry Cherry 1826 Andrew Arcedeckne 1830 Frederick Barne 1831 Earl of Brecknock Tory 1832 Viscount Lowther Tory1832 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, 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 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)
Evelyn Wright, Forgotten families of Suffolk (The Book Castle, Dunstable, 2008)
Notes