Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 05.djvu/369

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Bonney
361
Bonnor

the parishes of Ketton and Tixover with Duddington. He was collated by Bishop Tomline, 8 Jan. 1807, to the prebend of Nassington in Lincoln Cathedral. Bonney was presented by the Earl of Westmorland to the rectory of King's Cliffe, in succession to his father, who died of paralysis 20 March 1810; and published in 1815, with a dedication to the Earl of Westmorland, the 'Life of the Right Reverend Father in God, Jeremy Taylor, D.D., Chaplain in Ordinary to King Charles the First, and Lord Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore,' 8vo, London, 1815. In 1821 Bonney dedicated to Lady Cicely Georgiana Fane his 'Historic Notices in reference to Fotheringay. Illustrated by Engravings,' 8vo, Oundle, &c. In 1820 he was appointed examining chaplain to Dr. Pelham, the new bishop of Lincoln, and was collated by the same prelate, 10 Dec. 1821, to the archdeaconry of Bedford. An order in council, 19 April 1887, transferred it from the diocese of Lincoln to the diocese of Ely. Bonney published the 'Sermons and Charges by the Right Reverend Father in God, Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, D.D., late Lord Bishop of Calcutta. With Memoirs of his Life,' 8vo, London, 1824. On 15 May 1827 he married Charlotte, the fourth daughter of John Perry, who, after a childless union of nearly twenty-four years, died at King's Cliffe 26 Dec. 1850. In the year of his marriage, 1827, Bonney was appointed to the deanery of Stamford by his intimate friend Dr. Kaye, then recently translated from the see of Bristol to that of Lincoln, and was advanced by the same prelate, 22 Feb. 1845, from the archdeaconry of Bedford to that of Lincoln, of which, soon after his appointment, he made a parochial visitation, and committed to writing an accurate account of every church under his supervision. As an archdeacon Bonney was indefatigable. In the early part of 1858 he was seized with paralysis, and never entirely recovered. He died at the rectory-house. King's Cliife, 24 Dec. 1862, and was buried in his wife's grave in the churchyard of Cliffe, to the restoration of the church of which, then unfinished, he had shortly before contributed 500l.

He published his charges to the clergy of the archdeaconry of Bedford for the years 1823, 1843, and 1844, and the several charges delivered to the clergy and churchwardens of the archdeaconry of Lincoln at the visitations of 1860, 1854, and 1856. He also contributed a sermon, 'Sacred Music and Psalmody considered,' which had been first preached in Lincoln Cathedral, to the third volume of 'Practical Sermons by Dignitaries and other Clergymen of the United Church of England and Ireland,' 8vo, London, 1846.

[Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1860; Neve's Fasti; Gent. Mag. December 1862 et passim; Lincoln Gazette, 27 Dec. 1862; Morning Post, 29 Dec. 1862 ; Stamford Mercury, 26 Dec. 1862 and 2 Jan. 1863 ; Memoir appended to Kaye's Funeral Sermon.]

A. H. G.

BONNOR, CHARLES (fl. 1777–1829?), actor and dramatist, was the son of a distiller in Bristol. After commencing life as apprentice to a coachmaker, he appeared on the Bath stage on 4 Oct. 1777 as Belcour, in Cumberland's comedy 'The West Indian.' He remained at Bath until the close of the season 1782-3, playing such characters as Charles Surface, Ranger, Touchstone, &c. On 7 July 1783 he appeared for his farewell benefit as Mercutio, and Puff in the 'Critic,' and announced his forthcoming departure for London. On 19 Sept. 1783 lie made, as Brazen in the 'Recruiting Ofticer,' his first appearance at Covent Garden, speaking an address in which he introduced himsilf and Miss Scrace from Bath, and Mrs. Chalmers from York (Genest), or Norwich (Biographia Dramatica), who made their first appearance in the same piece. In London, as in Bath, his reception was favourable. At Covent Garden he produced for his benefit, on 6 May 1785, an interlude, called 'The Manager in Spite of Himself,' in which he played all the characters but one. This was followed at the same theatre, on 20 Dec. 1790, by a pantomime adapted from the French, and entitled 'Picture of Paris.' Neither of these pieces has been printed. Before the production of the first, Bonnor's direct connection as an actor with Covent Garden had been interrupted. In the year 1784 Bonnor was sent over by Harris, of Covent Garden, for the pupose of establishing an English theatre in Paris. So prosperous were at first the negotiations, that the 'superb theatre which constitutes one of the grand divisions of the Thuilleries' was taken. The patronage of the Queen of France, on which he had counted, was withdrawn, and the scheme was abandoned. Meanwhile John Palmer, the owner of the Bath theatre, and the first proprietor of mail-coaches, who had been appointed comptroller-general of the post-office, availed himself of the abilities of Bonnor in the arrangement of his scheme for the establishment of a mail-coach service. This led to the appointment of Bonnor as deputy-comptroller of the post-office, and his consequent retirement from the stage. In the Royal Calendar for 1788 Charles Bonner (sic) first appears as resident surveyor of the general post-office, and also as the deputy-surveyor