Edmund Dunch, 1st Baron Burnell of East Wittenham (1602–1678) was an English Member of Parliament who supported the Parliamentary cause before and during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. During the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

he sat as a member of parliament. In 1659, after

the Protectorate The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, refers to the period from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659 during which England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and associated territories were joined together in the Com ...

and before the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, regaining his seat in the Rump he also sat in Committee of Safety. After the restoration of the monarchy he was not exempted under the

Act of Pardon and Oblivion The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 was an Act of the Parliament of England (12 Cha. II c. 11), the long title of which is "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". This act was a general pardon for everyone who had committe ...

but the titles granted to him under the Protectorate were not recognised under the restored monarchy of Charles II.

Biography

Edmund Dunch was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

in 1624 and was re-elected in 1625 and 1626. In 1628 he was elected MP for Wallingford (then

(now

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

)). and

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'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older ...

in 1633–1634. A Royal warrant was issued for his arrest in 1639 for failure to pay ship money in support of King Charles I.

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of th ...

represented him at his trial, and he escaped punishment. See document ACC/0447 at the London Metropolitan Archives. He was re-elected to serve for Wallingford in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

of 1640. He also represented Wallingford in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

that first sat in 1640. He supported the parliamentary cause in the Civil War, signing the Protestation in 1641. His manor and possessions at

Little Wittenham Little Wittenham is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south bank of the River Thames, northeast of Didcot in South Oxfordshire. In Local Government Act 1972, 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire to the county of Oxfo ...

were taken from him by the king and given to

Thomas Blagge Colonel Thomas Blagge (13 July 1613 – 4 November 1660) served as Groom of the Chamber to Charles I and his son Charles II. He fought for the Royalists during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and following the Execution of Charles I in January ...

, governor of Wallingford Castle. In 1644, Dunch directed a parliamentary committee to send military forces into areas around

and

, including Wallingford. He took the oath prescribed in the Act enforcing the

Solemn League and Covenant The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians in 1643 during the First English Civil War, a theatre of conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 17 August 1 ...

in 1647. He was on the Parliamentary

Committee for Compounding with Delinquents In 1643, near the start of the English Civil War, Parliament set up two committees the Sequestration Committee which confiscated the estates of the Royalists who fought against Parliament, and the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents which a ...

that levied fines on the estates of Royalists. In 1648, was a Protester against any agreement with the King Charles. After the capture of Charles I, Dunch survived Pride's Purge of MPs who did not want Charles tried and was part of the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" n ...

.The parliamentary or constitutional history of England;: being a faithful account of all the most remarkable transactions in Parliament, from the earliest times. Collected from the journals of both Houses, the records, ..., Volume 9
/ref> In 1654, he was elected MP for Berkshire in the First Protectorate Parliament) and in 1656 he was re-elected MP for Berkshire in the Second Protectorate Parliament. He was governor of Wallingford Castle. John Hedges states that Dunch was selected to be a member of Cromwell's Other House in 1658 as Baron Burnell of East Wittenham, however George Cokayne while detailing Cromwell's granting of the Barony to Dunch does not mention his membership of the Other House and he is not included in Cobbett's list of members of that house. After Oliver Cromwell's son

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

resigned from power as second

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') was a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometimes ...

, Dunch may have joined the Committee of Safety in 1659. A fine was levied against Dunch for non-attendance at Parliament in 1659 but later withdrawn. After the restoration Charles II did not recognise Dunch's baronage (the only one made by Cromwell not renewed by Charles II), but unlike the surviving Regicides, Dunch was not exempted from the general pardon granted under Indemnity and Oblivion Act. He was Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1667–68.

Family

Edmund Dunch was the son an heir of Sir William Dunch of Little Wittenham, Berkshire (d. 22 January 1611), by Mary, daughter of Sir Henry Williams (alias Cromwell) (grandfather of the Protector Oliver Cromwell). This made him a cousin of

and Oliver Cromwell. Edmund Dunch married Bridget daughter of Anthony Hungerford of Down Ampney in Gloucestershire, and inherited £60,000 on her father's death. states "Bridget, only da. and h. of Sir Anthony Hungerford, of Down Ampney, co. Gloucester (who d. 1637), by Elizabeth, da. of Sir Thomas Lucy. The fortune of this lady was above £60,000, and she was h. gen. and lineal descendant of Edmund Hungerford ounger son of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford">Walter_Hungerford,_1st_Baron_Hungerford.html" ;"title="ounger son of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford">ounger son of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford and Margaret (Burnell) his wife, granddaughter and coh. of Hugh, Lord Burnell, and was consequently h. to a moiety of that Barony, which accounts for her husband's creation by that title." His son Hungerford Dunch (1639–1680) was also an MP for Wallingford, as was his grandson Edmund Dunch (Whig), Edmund Dunch, the last of the male line of the Dunches.

Notes

References

*Annells, P. (2006)
The Berkshire Dunches
'. * * *

External links

Wallingford History Gateway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunch, Edmund 1602 births 1678 deaths People from Little Wittenham People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire High Sheriffs of Berkshire High Sheriffs of Oxfordshire Roundheads English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1648–1653 English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 Members of the Parliament of England for Berkshire