Edmund Dunch
Encyclopedia
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
– 31 May 1719 Little Wittenham
Little Wittenham
Little Wittenham is a village and civil parish on the south bank of the River Thames, northeast of Didcot in South Oxfordshire. It has one of only 220 habitats across Europe which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation under the European Union's Habitats Directive , on the Conservation of...
) was Master of the Royal Household
Master of the Household
The Master of the Household is the operational head of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom...
to Queen Anne and a British Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP).
Biography
Dunch was born in Little Jermyn Street, London, 14 December 1657, and baptised 1 January 1658. He joined heartily in the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688, and seems to have been a Whig throughout life. From January 1701 to July 1702, and from May 1705 to August 1713, he represented in parliament the borough of Cricklade
Cricklade (UK Parliament constituency)
Cricklade was a parliamentary constituency named after the town of Cricklade in Wiltshire.From 1295 until 1885, Cricklade was a parliamentary borough, returning two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, previously to the House of Commons of...
.In the ensuing House of Commons (November 1713 to January 1715) he sat for Boroughbridge
Boroughbridge (UK Parliament constituency)
Boroughbridge was a parliamentary borough in Yorkshire from 1553 until 1832, when it was abolished under the Great Reform Act. Throughout its existence it was represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons....
in Yorkshire, and from the general election in January 1715 until his death he was member for Wallingford
Wallingford (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallingford was a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was a parliamentary borough created in 1295, centred on the market town Wallingford in Berkshire . It used to return two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons; this was cut to one in 1832, and...
, a constituency which several of his ancestors had served in parliament. The freedom of the borough Wallingford had been conferred on him on 17 October 1695, and he was at one time proposed as its high steward, but was defeated by Lord Abingdon, who polled fifteen votes to his six.
On 2 May 1702 Dunch married Elizabeth Godfrey, one of the maids of honour to the queen, and one of the two daughters and coheiresses of Colonel Charles Godfrey, by Arabella Churchill
Arabella Churchill (royal mistress)
Arabella Churchill was the mistress of King James II, and the mother of four of his children...
, sister to the Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
. Her elder sister Charlotte, married Hugh Boscawen
Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth
Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for Cornish constituencies from 1702 until 1720 when he was raised to the peerage.-Life:...
, afterwards Lord Falmouth. It was rumoured in June 1702 that he would be created a baron of England; gossip asserted in April 1704 that Colonel Godfrey would become cofferer of the household, and that Dunch would succeed his father-in-law as master of the jewel office; and a third rumour, in 1708, was that Dunch would be made comptroller of the household. The place of master of the household to Queen Anne was the reward of his services on 6 October 1708; when the comptrollership fell vacant on Sir Thomas Felton
Thomas Felton
Thomas Felton may refer to:*Thomas Felton , English martyr*Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet , English politician*Tom Felton , English actor and musician...
's death, in March 1709, Dunch tried for it in vain; he was deprived of the mastership in 1710, but was reappointed 9 October 1714.
Dench was a member of the Kit-Kat Club, a dining and gathering point for Whigs supporters and as was the custom of the club his portrait was duly painted and engraved. He also had a reputation as a gambler and bon-vivant and is said to have clipped his fortunes by his gambling. He died on 31 May 1719 and was buried in the family vault at Little Wittenham
Little Wittenham
Little Wittenham is a village and civil parish on the south bank of the River Thames, northeast of Didcot in South Oxfordshire. It has one of only 220 habitats across Europe which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation under the European Union's Habitats Directive , on the Conservation of...
Church on 4 June, near Wallingford, in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
(then Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
), in the village where the family had had their seat for over 170 years.
Family
Many of Edmund's forebears had been parliamentarians, particularly representing Wallingford. William Dunch, auditor to the MintRoyal Mint
The Royal Mint is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint, coins in the United Kingdom. The Mint originated over 1,100 years ago, but since 2009 it operates as Royal Mint Ltd, a company which has an exclusive contract with HM Treasury to supply all coinage for the UK...
for Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
, represented Wallingford (1563), and was High Sheriff of Berkshire
High Sheriff of Berkshire
The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'....
(1569–1570). It was William who bought the manor of Little Wittenham in 1552, which was the family seat. His son, Sir Edmund Dunch (1551–1623), represented Wallingford in 1571 and was High Sheriff of Berkshire (1586–1587). His son Sir William Dunch
Sir William Dunch
Sir William Dunch was an English politician during the reign of King James I.Dunch represented Wallingford in Berkshire as an MP in 1603....
(1578–1611) represented Wallingford in 1603. He married Mary Cromwell in 1599, the daughter of Sir Henry Cromwell and aunt to Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
. It is believed that Mother Dunch's Buttocks, the variant name for the two rounded local hills Wittenham Clumps
Wittenham Clumps
Wittenham Clumps is the commonly used name for a set of small hills in the flat Thames Valley, in the civil parish of Little Wittenham in the English county of Oxfordshire....
, is associated with her. William's brother Samuel (1592–1666) represented Wallingford in 1620. William's son, Edmund
Edmund Dunch, Baron Burnell of East Wittenham
Edmund Dunch was an English Member of Parliament who supported the Parliamentary cause before and during the English Civil War. During the Interregnum he sat as an Member of Parliament. In 1659, after the Protectorate and before the Restoration, regaining his seat in the Rump he also sat in...
(1603–1678), was Governor of Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
, and later became Baron Burnell of East Wittenham, though he lost this title at the Restoration (this being the only title conferred by the Protector
Lord Protector
Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...
and not confirmed by Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
). He too represented Wallingford in 1627 and 1640, and was High Sheriff of Berkshire
High Sheriff of Berkshire
The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'....
. Edmund’s son Hungerford Dunch
Hungerford Dunch
Hungerford Dunch was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660 and from 1679 to 1680.-Biography:In 1660, Dunch was elected MP for both Wallingford and Cricklade for the Convention Parliament...
(1639–1680) was returned for Wallingford in 1660 but elected to serve for Cricklade. Hungerford's son was this Edmund Dunch (1657–1719). Edmund, who had no sons, was the last Dunch to represent Wallingford. Edmund Dunch's daughter Arabella married Yorkshire politician Edward Thompson, Elizabeth married Sir George Oxenden, 5th Baronet
Oxenden Baronets
The Oxenden Baronetcy, of Dene in the County of Kent, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 6 May 1678 for Sir Henry Oxenden, previously Member of Parliament for Winchelsea, Kent and Sandwich. The second Baronet sat as Member of Parliament for Sandwich and Kent. His younger...
(1694–1775) (MP for Sandwich
Sandwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Sandwich was a parliamentary constituency in Kent, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1366 until 1885, when it was disfranchised for corruption.-History:...
1720-1754) and Harriet married Robert Montagu, 3rd Duke of Manchester
Robert Montagu, 3rd Duke of Manchester
Robert Montagu, 3rd Duke of Manchester was the son of Charles Montagu, 1st Duke of Manchester.He was MP for Huntingdonshire 1734–1739.He married Harriet Dunch, daughter of Edmund Dunch on 3 April 1735 and they had four children:...
.
With the death of Edmund Dunch, the male line of this branch then became extinct, but he had cut off the entail of the property and left it to his four daughters—Elizabeth, married in 1729 to Sir George Oxenden; Harriet, the wife (3 April 1735) of the third Duke of Manchester; Catherine, who died young and unmarried; and Arabella, the wife (6 Feb. 1725) of Edward Thompson, M.P. for York. The fate of the last lady is told by Lord Hervey, in his Memoirs of the Reign of George II, ii. 346. According to this chronicler she had two children by Sir George Oxenden, and on his account was separated from her husband, and died in childbirth. An elegy to Mrs. Thompson was written by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and is printed in her ‘Letters’ (1861 ed.), ii. 484–5. Dunch was a descendant of Oliver Cromwell, and his wife, who was one of the beauties commemorated in the Kit-Cat Club verses, was half-sister to the illegitimate children of James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
.