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. A borough constituency (in Scotland, a burgh constituency) is a type of parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. ... Events July 2 - The Battle of Göllheim is fought between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg. ... Year 1832 (MDCCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... In the United Kingdom each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Parliamentary boroughs are boroughs that are entitled to representation in a Parliament. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... The term rotten borough referred to a parliamentary borough or constituency in Great Britain and Ireland which, due to size and population, was controlled and used by a patron to exercise undue and unrepresentative influence within parliament. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Events July 2 - The Battle of Göllheim is fought between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg. ... Year 1832 (MDCCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The British Reform Act of 1832 (2 & 3 Will. ...

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). Timber framed buildings in St Nicholas Street The Ancient House is decorated with a particularly fine example of pargeting Ipswich (pronounced ) is the county town of Suffolk and a non-metropolitan district in East Anglia, England on the estuary of the River Orwell. ... 1670 was a common year beginning on a Saturday in countries using the Julian calendar and a Wednesday in countries using the Gregorian calendar. ... Dunwich (IPA: ) is a town in the county of Suffolk in England, the remnant of what was once a prosperous seaport and centre of the wool trade during the early middle ages, with a natural harbour formed by the mouths of the River Blyth and the River Dunwich. ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

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. Freedom of the City is an award made by some municipalities in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, the United States and Italy to esteemed members of its community; such people may then be termed Freemen or Freewomen of the City. ... 1670 was a common year beginning on a Saturday in countries using the Julian calendar and a Wednesday in countries using the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. Arms of Thomas Pelham-Holles Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme (July 21, 1693 – November 17, 1768) was a British Whig statesman, whose official life extended throughout the Whig supremacy of the 18th century. ...

Dunwich was abolished as a constituency in 1832, what remained of the village being placed in the new Eastern Suffolk county division. Year 1832 (MDCCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Members of Parliament

Before 1660

1660-1832

// Events January 1 - Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. ... 1661 (MDCLXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1670 was a common year beginning on a Saturday in countries using the Julian calendar and a Wednesday in countries using the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 9 - Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. ... Events August 10 - Treaty of Nijmegen ends the Dutch War. ... Events January 24 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament August 7 - The brigantine Le Griffon, which was commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the southern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes. ... 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For the overture by Tchaikovsky, see 1812 Overture; For the wars, see War of 1812 (USA - United Kingdom) or Patriotic War of 1812 (France - Russia) For the Siberia Airlines plane crashed over the Black Sea on October 4, 2001, see Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 1812 was a leap year starting... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1819 common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 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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)
• This page incorporates information from Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page.