Martin Dunsford (1744–1807) of Tiverton in Devon, was an English merchant and

Dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

, known as an antiquarian and radical politician. His work ''Memoirs of the Town and Parish of Tiverton'' is noted as an attempt to write of the town as a whole community.

Life

He was the son of Martin Dunsford (1711–1763) who manufactured

serge Serge may refer to: *Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric *Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme *Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name) *Serge (post), a hitchi ...

in Tiverton,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, having a large workshop created from a row of houses, and a workforce of over 50. His mother was Anne Stone. Educated at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the tim ...

in Tiverton, he went into his father's business at age 13. He lived at Villa Franca, Park Road, now a listed building. Dunsford is described in

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ameri ...

's ''

The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' was a book written by Lewis Namier. At the time of its first publication in 1929 it caused a historiographical revolution in understanding the 18th century by challenging the Whig view ...

'' as the leader of a movement in Tiverton for extending the local franchise, at the end of the 18th century. Holding local political office as a Churchwarden, he opposed the Ryder family who controlled the parliamentary elections in the town. In 1781 he set up a petition to Parliament, presented through James Townsend, for greater electoral rights. The political interests of

Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby (3 July 1735 – 20 June 1803) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1776 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Harrowby. Ryder was the son of Sir Dudley Ryder, Lord Chief ...

, and his ally

Sir John Duntze, 1st Baronet Sir John Duntze, 1st Baronet ( – 5 February 1795) was an English merchant, banker and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1795. Duntze was the son of John Duntze merchant of Exeter and his wife Elizabeth Hawker, daughter of ...

, were not in fact threatened in any practical sense by the Dissenter faction led by Dunsford. The Town Clerk Beavis Wood monitored those activities and Dunsford and his supporters were branded by Wood as Jacobins and 'Crabs' in the 1790s.

''Memoirs of the Town and Parish of Tiverton''

Dunsford wrote his major work, published 1790 by subscription, during the 1780s, a period when he acted as a churchwarden in Tiverton. His motivations were described in an unpublished autobiography, where he revealed his intention to promote civil liberties and religious freedom. It contains also information about early

combinations In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are t ...

in Devon. The sources Dunsford used, besides his own research, included earlier work and collation by the antiquarians John Blundell, William Hewett and Thomas Westcott. A further edition appeared in 1836, edited by George Boyce.

Published editions

*Dunsford, Martin, Merchant, ''Historical Memoirs of the Town and Parish of Tiverton in the County of Devon'', first published 1790; 1836 Edition, Boyce, George (Ed

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunsford, Martin 1744 births Businesspeople from Tiverton, Devon English antiquarians Writers from Tiverton, Devon 1807 deaths