Sunderland is a town located in Bennington County, of the Manchester-Bennington region of Vermont. The town shares a valley where US Route 7 runs, with the adjoining town of Arlington.
It is said that Sunderland was probably named for George Spencer, the sixth Earl of Sunderland and the fourth Duke of Marlborough. George Spencer's great-great-grandson, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill, achieved fame which has almost eclipsed that of the earlier members of the family.
Some notable people from the area include: Jeremiah Evarts, an opponent of the 1830 Indian Removal Act; and Frances "Fanny" Allen (1784-1819), the first woman of New England birth to become a nun. During part of the Revolutionary War, the Allen brothers, Ethan and Ira, lived in Sunderland.