2IO THE OLD BERKS HUNT 



liaments between 1784 and 1802. Mr. 

 Thomas Duffield was the second son : his 

 elder brother, George, of Sunninghill Park, 

 took the surname and arms of Crutchley only, 

 by royal licence in 1806, and became the 

 grandfather of the present Mr. Percy Crutchley, 

 of Sunninghill Park. 



Mr. Thomas Duffield had been for a short 

 time, just before his marriage with Miss 

 Elwes, Joint Master with Mr. Robert Symonds, 

 and since his residence at Marcham he had 

 been a most liberal supporter of the Hunt, and 

 had kept harriers himself. He represented 

 Abingdon in the Parliaments elected in 1832, 

 1835, 1837 and 1841. He then resigned his 

 seat, which was regarded as a perfectly safe 

 one, to make way for the Solicitor-General, 

 Sir Frederick Thesiger, who had failed to 

 secure re-election. The " Free and Indepen- 

 dent Electors " of the borough rather resented 

 their seat being dealt with in this fashion, and 

 it became evident that the contest between 

 Sir Frederick and his opponent would be a 

 very close one. Indeed, towards the close of 

 the poll it seemed that the votes were equal, 

 when a certain Mr. Copeland, who resided at 

 Windsor, and who was a member of a very 

 old Radical family in Abingdon, came down 

 to vote, his vote being the last one recorded. 



