Hungerford Dunch (20 January 1639 – 9 November 1680) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1660 and from 1679 to 1680.

Early life

Dunch was born at Down Ampney in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, the son of Edmund Dunch (1602–1678) and his wife Bridget Hungerford, daughter of Anthony Hungerford of Down Ampney (nephew of Anthony Hungerford of Black Bourton in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

). In 1678, he inherited the title of ''de jure'' Baron Burnell of East Wittenham from his father, although he never used it as it had been created during the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Career

In 1660, Dunch was elected MP for both Wallingford and

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

for the Convention Parliament. He chose to sit for Cricklade for the duration of that parliament. He was an inactive member though he sat on a committee to bring in a bill for the abolition of Court of Wards, through which his family had suffered. He was made a Knight of the Royal Oak by Charles II. In 1679 Dunch was elected again as MP for Cricklade, and sat in the

Habeas Corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

and

Exclusion Bill The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion Bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, S ...

parliaments until his death. In the latter he was appointed to the committee of elections and privileges but was probably inactive and did not vote on the

. Dunch died at the age of 41 in London on 9 November 1680, and was buried four days later in Little Wittenham.

Family

Hungerford married Katherine daughter of William Oxton of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. She was buried next to her husband on 26 March 1684. They were the parents of Edmund Dunch (1678–1719), who was also MP for Wallingford.

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