John Bonnycastle1

#10, (29 December 1751 - 15 May 1821)

FatherJohn Bonnycastle1,2 b. 18 Jun 1727, d. 1781
MotherMary Toogood1 b. s 1725, d. 28 Apr 1779
John Bonnycastle|b. 29 Dec 1751\nd. 15 May 1821|p10.htm|John Bonnycastle|b. 18 Jun 1727\nd. 1781|p8.htm|Mary Toogood|b. s 1725\nd. 28 Apr 1779|p9.htm|John Bonnycastle|b. s 1695\nd. 27 Feb 1773|p6.htm|Jane Buckle|b. s 1695\nd. 19 Jan 1762|p7.htm|||||||

OccupationJohn Bonnycastle was a Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Military Academy and an author.
 
BaptismHe was baptized on 29 Dec 1751 in Hardwick, Buckinghamshire.1 
EducationHe was educated in Hardwick, attending the local school run by Dr. Bridle. At his death in 1792 at 85 years of age, Revd John Bridle, rector for 33 years, was noted as having endowed two schools viz 1 for 18 boys and 1 for 12 girls.3,4 
OccupationHe taught a couple of days a week at the school run by Rev. Dr. James of the Greenwich Academy and at a school at Chiswick run by Dr. Crawford in 1769.5
 
MarriageHe married Elizabeth Rolt on 21 Feb 1772 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire.
John was a bachelor of Bromley, Middlesex. Elizabeth was a spinster of Chesham and signed with an X. The witnesses were Mary Bonnycastle [likely John's mother] & John Holder. They married by license [it has not yet been found].6 
Item. In October 1774, the London Magazine added a mathematical department which was a series of questions with responses published two months later, mainly from members of the London Mathematical Society. A frequent correspondent was John Bonnycastle.7 
Item. In 1776, Mr. Bonnycastle was noted to be "Master of the Academy at Hackney," and in 1777 as "Teacher of the Mathematics, Leman-street, London."7 
Item In 1777, John Bonnycastle noticed a letter in the London Magazine with solutions to some problems. The writer was George Anderson, a young labourer from Buckinghamshire. Bonnycastle was "not less pleased than surprised at this attempt of a young man from the same county with himself, of whom he had never heard. Mr. Bonnycastle, accordingly, on his next visit in Buckinghamshire, procured an interview with the young genius, whom he found threshing in a barn, the walls of which were covered with triangles and parallelograms. Such was young Anderson's bashfulness, however, that Mr. Bonnycastle could not draw him into conversation, until he won his heart by the loan of Simpson's Fluxions, and two or three other books."8 
(Heir) WillHe was named an heir in the will of his father John Bonnycastle dated 13 Jan 1781 in Weedon, Hardwick, Buckinghamshire. He was to inherit a legacy of £50.2
OccupationJohn Bonnycastle was a tutor to the Second Earl of Pomfret's children for 6 months in 1782 at Easton Neston in Northamptonshire.5 
Occupation In Dec 1782 John Bonnycastle took the post of Mathematical Master to the Drawing Room in the Tower at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He was paid 100 pounds per annum.5,9  
Item On 5 Dec 1782 John Bonnycastle wrote a letter from Woolwich to his brother [Robert] in Hardwick.10
Item In 1784 John's sister Mary and her two children went to London to live with him after her marriage broke up.3 
Marriage LicenseHe obtained a marriage license on 6 Oct 1786 in Archbishop Court of Canterbury Faculty Office. Information from the license: John of the Parish of Woolwich, Widower; Bridget of the Parish of St Martin Ludgate London, spinster age 30 and upwards; to be married in the Parish Church of St Martin Ludgate London.11
Marriage Licence for John Bonnycastle & Bridget Newell
Archbishop Court of Canterbury Faculty Office, 6 October 1786
MarriageHe married Bridget Newell, daughter of William Newell and Hephzibah Apletree, on 7 Oct 1786 in St Martin Ludgate, London.
Information from the certificate: John Bonnycastle of parish of Woolwich, Kent, widower & Bridgett Newell of this parish [St Martin Ludgate], spinster, married in this church by licence by Nathl Moore, Curate. Witnesses were David Henry [Bridget's stepfather], Mary Cave, J Johnson [John's publisher], Wm Wilson Parish Clerk.12
Marriage of John Bonnycastle & Bridget Newell
7 Oct 1786 at St Martin Ludgate, London
Newspaper Published Oct 1786.
Marriages: "Mr. Bonnycastle, of the Royal Academy at Woolwich, and author of some valuable publications, to Miss Newell, of Lewisham.13
 
Research Note **Some sources have his second wife as Bridget JOHNSTONE, an aunt of their son Richard Henry's wife, Frances. I have found no supporting evidence for this. 
Item John Bonnycastle and Matthew Thomas Francis Hommey conducted a school at Woolwich for young gentlemen preparing for the Army. The attached advertisement describes the course of study.14
Notice in the London Gazette
31 May 1803
(Witness) Marriage John Bonnycastle witnessed the marriage of Matthew Thomas Francis Hommey to his wife Bridget's half-sister Hephzibah Henry on 19 Jul 1806 in St Mary's Church, Lewisham, Kent.15 
AssociateJohn Bonnycastle was an associate of Henry Fuseli, a British painter, draughtsman, and writer on art.9  
AssociateHe was an associate of Leigh Hunt, a critic, essayist, poet and writer.9 
AssociateHe was an associate of Dr Charles Hutton, an English mathematician who also taught at the Royal Military Academy. Hutton was buried in the same churchyard as John Bonnycastle on 4 Feb 1823.5,16  
AssociateHe was an associate of Joseph Johnson. Johnson was his publisher and at Johnson's dinner table John met with many of the famous men of his period; among them were Joseph Priestly, W. Cowper, Erasmus Darwin, and Henry Fuseli. Johnson was one of the witnesses at John's marriage in 1786 in 72 St. Paul's Churchyard, London.3,12  
Item On 3 Mar 1810, John Bonnycastle and Matthew Thomas Francis Hommey dissolved their partnership in the Firm of Bonnycastle and Hommey, which conducted an Academy at Charlton, Kent for boarding, lodging, and instructing young Noblemen and Gentlemen. Hommey intended to continue it on his own.17
Notice in the London Gazette
3 March 1810
WillJohn Bonnycastle wrote a will dated 17 Aug 1816.18
DeathJohn died on 15 May 1821.19
 
BurialHe was buried on 22 May 1821 in St. Luke's, Charlton, Kent.19 
Gravestone The gravestone inscription reads:
Sacred to the memory of John Bonnycastle, Esq., late Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, born Janry., 1752, died May 15, 1821.
Also the body of Bridget, his wife, who departed this life Oct 19th, 1825, aged 73 years.
John & Bridget's burial place
St Lukes, Charlton, Kent
ProbateHis estate was probated on 27 Sep 1821 in Prerogative Court of Canterbury. By the oaths of Francis Baily & John Knowles Esquire two of the executors to whom administration was granted having first sworn duly to administer power reserved to Bridget Bonnycastle widow the Relict the other Executor.18 
ObituaryHis obituary was published in 1822 in the The Annual Biography and Obituary for the Year 1822.20

Family

Bridget Newell b. 10 Apr 1754, d. 19 Oct 1825
Children

ChartsThomas Bonnycastle of Blakesley to John Bonnycastle of Woolwich
Early Bonnycastles - Descendants of Thomas
Ancestors of Hope Lyall Rudd (Jen's line)
Ancestors of Dorothy Kent Bonnycastle (John's line)
Ancestors of Allan Lorne Bonnycastle (Dick's line)
Bonnycastle Ancestors of Alan H C Lankford (Deborah's line)
Last Edited30 May 2009

Citations:

  1. Microfilm of the Parish Register of Hardwick-with-Weedon, Buckinghamshire, 1558-1900 (Family History Library, 0919230), John Bonnycastle baptism, 1751.
  2. Will and Administration of John Bonnycastle of Weedon in the parish of Hardwick, 13 January 1781, proved in the Archdeaconry of Buckinghamshire, 25 August 1781 (Family History Library, 0088527).
  3. Letter from V Finch, England, to D Ledbetter, dated October 1977.
  4. Microfilm of the Parish Register of Hardwick-with-Weedon, Buckinghamshire, 1558-1900 (Family History Library, 0919230).
  5. Letter from V Finch, London, England, to J Kolthammer, dated 23 March 1993.
  6. W.P.W. Phillimore and F.W. Ragg Buckinghamshire parish registers, marriages, Phillimore, London (1902-1923).
  7. T.T. Wilkinson 'Notae Mathematicae', The Mechanics Magazine, LXI, July-Dec 1854, page 122 , viewed on Google Books.
  8. Alexander Chalmers, The General Biographical Dictionary (London: J Nichols and Son, 1812), viewed on Google Books, page 180.
  9. Sir Leslie Stephen ed. Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, London(1921-22) (http://www.ancestry.com, digital images), Bonnycastle, John p 824.
  10. Letter from John Bonnycastle, Woolwich, to his brother, dated Dec 5, 1782 (J Kolthammer, unsourced photocopy p1).
  11. Allegation for John Bonnycastle and Bridget Newell, Archbishop Court of Canterbury Faculty Office, 6 October 1786 (Family History Library, Film #355,536).
  12. Microfilm of the Parish Registers of St Martin Ludgate, 1558-1812 (Family History Library, 374477).
  13. Edward Cave and others, "Gentleman's Magazine" (publication, London, 1731-), Oct 1786, p.995.
  14. The London Gazette, online at www.gazettes-online.co.uk, Issue 15589, 31 May 1803, page 9.
  15. Microfilm of the Bishop's Transcripts of St Mary's Lewisham, 1801-1809 (Family History Library, 288425), No. 992.
  16. Microfilm of the Parish Register of St. Luke's Church, Charlton next Woolwich, Kent, 1815-1872 (Family History Library, 0254596), Baptisms, marriages and burials, 1815-1837; baptisms and burials, 1838-1839; baptisms, 1867-1871; burials, 1860-1861, 1865-1871; baptisms, 1872.
    The parish church of St. Luke's Charlton next Woolwich became Old Charlton in 1908.
  17. The London Gazette, online at www.gazettes-online.co.uk, Legal Notice re Bonnycastle and Hommey, Issue 16347, 3 March 1810, page 7.
  18. Will and Administration of John Bonnycastle, Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Military Academy Woolwich, 17 August 1816, proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 27 September 1821.
  19. Leonard Morgan May Charlton: Near Woolwich, Kent: Full & Complete copies of all Inscriptions in the Old Parish Church & Churchyard...", Blackbeath Press, London (1908) (Family History Library, 477361).
  20. The Annual Biography and Obituary for the Year 1822 (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1822), viewed on Google Books, No. XVI, John Bonnycastle, Esq. obituary, page 437.
  21. Letter from Humphrey Bonnycastle (Philadelphia) to a friend in England, 1838; University of Virginia Library (Charlottesville, Virginia).
  22. Evelyn Luttrell, Bonnycastle Family Tree, undated but likely circa 1950.
  23. Evelyn Luttrell, Bonnycastle Family Tree, undated but likely circa 1950, stated that birth records were originally taken from an old family Bible; Charles' birth date was reputed to be 6 Nov 1796.
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