John Bonnycastle1

#10, (1751 - 1821)
FatherJohn Bonnycastle1,2 (1727 - 1781)
MotherMary Toogood1 (s 1725 - 1779)
Pedigree
ChartsWilliam Bonnycastle of Hillmorton to John Bonnycastle of Woolwich
Early Bonnycastles - Descendants of William
Ancestors of Hope Lyall Rudd (Jen's line)
Ancestors of Allan Lorne Bonnycastle (Dick's line)
Bonnycastle Ancestors of Alan H C Lankford (Deborah's line)

Family

Bridget Newell (1754 - 1825)
Children

Life Events

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 
Research Note England Marriages index at MyHeritage suggests Holt as Elizabeth's surname. 
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 
Note.In the year 1780, Revd George Crabbe used to meet Bonnycastle and others at a small coffee house near the exchange in London. He mentioned the many hours of consolation, amusement, and instruction when they met after the studies and labours of the day. Crabbe's son writes, "With Mr Bonnycastle he formed a close intimacy and attachment; and those who are acquainted with the character of that respected man will easily imagine the pleasure and advantage Mr Crabbe must have derived from his society. To eminence in his own vocation he joined much general knowledge, considerable taste in the fine arts, colloquial talents of a high order, and a warm and enlarged heart." Other who met them were Isaac Dalby and Reuben Burrow. He also mentioned that at one time Mr Bonnycastle was employed to revise a correct a manuscript of Cowper; but he and that poet did not agree in their tastes -- Mr Bonnycastle being a stanch advocate for the finish and polish of Pope, while the other had far different models in high estimation.9 
(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.5,10  
Item On 5 Dec 1782 John Bonnycastle wrote a letter from Woolwich to his brother [Robert] in Hardwick.11
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 Bonnycastle of the Parish of Woolwich, Widower; Bridget Newell 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.12
Marriage Licence for John Bonnycastle & Bridget Newell
Archbishop Court of Canterbury Faculty Office, 6 October 1786
MarriageHe married Bridget Newell 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.13
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.14
 
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.15
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.16 
AssociateJohn Bonnycastle was an associate of George Crabbe, 1754-1832, a surgeon, poet, and clergyman. The following is a letter that Bonnycastle wrote to Crabbe:

Woolwich Common, Oct 24, 1807.
Dear Sir,--Being from home when your kind letter, with a copy of your Poems, arrived, I had no opportunity of answering it sooner, as I should certainly otherwise have done. The pleasure of hearing from you, after a silence of more than twenty-eight years, made me little solicitous to inquire how it has happened that two persons, who have always mutually esteemed each other, should have no intercourse whatever for so long a period. It is sufficient that you are well and happy, and that you have not forgot your old friend; who, you may be assured, has never ceased to cherish the same friendly remembrance of you.--You are as well known in my family as you are pleased to say I am in yours; and whenever you may find it convenient to come to this part of the world, both you and yours may depend upon the most sincere and cordial reception. I have a daughter nearly twenty, a son upon the point of becoming an officer in the engineers, and two younger boys, who at this moment are deeply engaged in your poems, and highly desirous of seeing the author, of whom they have so often heard me speak. They are, of course, no great critics; but all beg me to say, that they are much pleased with your beautiful verses, which I promised to read to them again when they have done; having conceded to their eagerness the prémices of the treat. It affords me the greatest gratification to find that, in this world of chances, you are so comfortably and honourably established in your profession, and I sincerely hope your sons may be as well provided for. I spent a few days at Cambridge a short time since, and had I known they had been there, I should not have failed making myself known to them, as an old friend of their father's. For myself, I have had little to complain of, except the anxiety and fatigue attending the duties of my calling; but as I have lately succeeded to the place of Dr Hutton, who has resigned the attendance at the academy, this has made it more easy, and my situation as respectable and pleasant as I could have any reason to expect. Life, as my friend Fuseli constantly repeats, is very short, therefore do not delay coming to see us any longer than you can possibly help. Be assured we shall all rejoice at the event. In the mean time, believe me, my dear Sir, your truly sincere friend, J. Bonnycastle.9
 
Item.

London. July 9.
It is the custom of some of the London booksellers to give weekly dinners to their literary and other friends. Hence you sometimes find at the same table, characters who would never have met except under the auspices of roast beef and Madeira wine. It was these which brought together "Jack Wilkes and the venerable Samuel Johnson."

A bookseller's dinner is doubly a treat to his guests. It offers an indirect but agreeable compliment, by telling them their own fame has enabled him to treat them so sumptuously.

The republic of letters is never more respectable than on those occasions of good humor and liberal mirth, when all the arts and sciences find themselves encircled round the festive board. The man who is in the habit of associating with his enemy will frequently finish by esteeming him. Mr. Malthus, who, in opposition to the " Political Justice," has written an essay on the " Principle of Population," a work of some fame, was lately seated at a bookseller's dinner next to Mr. Godwin.

Yesterday, I found myself at Mr. Johnson's, the bookseller, in St. Paul's Churchyard, where, among those to whom I was introduced, was Fuseli the painter, and a Scotch gentleman who is publishing in Scotland a new edition of Ossian in the original language."

The English don't say much at the table till the first course is finished ; but their manner of eating soon throws them into a gentle fever which invites to sociability when they have sufficient confidence in the company. Mr. Bonnycastle contributed not a little to the entertainment ; though remarkably merry, I suspect he is a mathematician, for he remarked that "the ball on the top of St. Paul's would appear ten times larger if placed on the ground at the same distance." The difference in the medium of vision was concluded to be the cause of this ; but one of the company, who thought it much easier to be certain of a thing than to ascertain its truth, proposed to Mr. Bonnycastle to go and measure the circumference of the ball and then make the experiment.17
 
AssociateHe was an associate of Leigh Hunt, a critic, essayist, poet and writer.10 
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.3,13 
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 1823.5,18 
Note.In his journal, Joseph John Gurney, an evangelical Minister of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), records meeting Dr Olinthus Gregory "a most agreeable and instructive companion." From his journal, "Dr Gregory gave us an interesting account of Hutton and Bonnycastle, his two predecessors in the mathematical chair at Woolwich; awful instances, especially the latter, of the danger of permitting science to exclude religion."19 
AssociateHe was an associate of Henry Fuseli, a British painter, draughtsman, and writer on art.10 
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.20
Notice in the London Gazette
3 March 1810
Note.In the summer of 1813, Bonnycastle's friend George Crabbe visited London. His son writes, "One morning to our great satisfaction, the servant announced Mr Bonnycastle. A fine, tall, elderly man cordially shook hands with my father; and we had, for the first time, the satisfaction of seeing one whose name had been from childhood familiar to us. He and my father had, from some accidental impediment, not seen one another since their days of poverty, and trial, and drudgery; and now, after thirty-three years, when they met again, both were in comparative affluence, both had acquired a name and reputation, and both were in health. Such meetings rarely occur. He entertained us with a succession of anecdotes, admirably told, and my father went as frequently to Woolwich as other engagements would permit."9 
Item.

Mr. Bonnycastle, the Professor of Mathematics to the Royal Military College at Woolwich, died this year (1821), in the seventieth year of his age;[58] he had been for more than forty years the intimate friend, occasional companion, and always a great admirer of the talents of Fuseli. Bonnycastle was a mathematician of celebrity, independently of which he had a fine taste for poetry and English literature[324] in general; his memory was retentive, his knowledge extensive, and he was ever ready to communicate what he knew. His conversational talents were of the first order, and he occasionally enlivened his remarks with apposite anecdotes. As he was the friend of my youth, I feel much satisfaction in recording here my gratitude for instruction and many acts of kindness received from this amiable man.

The following anecdote will afford a proof of the delicacy and feeling of Bonnycastle's mind, and also of his excellent disposition. When his "Introduction to Astronomy" was published, it was reviewed with a considerable degree of asperity in a popular work of the day. Several of his scientific friends, and Reuben Burrow in particular, considered that it had not been fairly dealt with by the reviewer, and they determined to discover the writer: they at length found out that it was Mr. Wales, Mathematical Master of the School of Christ's Church Hospital. Burrow, who was a man of quick sensibility, and an excellent mathematician, was determined to avenge the cause of his friend, and constantly expressed anxiety for the appearance of some new book by Wales; at length one was published, upon "The Method of Finding the Longitude at Sea by Chronometers."[325] Burrow procured a copy of this work, had it interleaved, and wrote numerous remarks on, and confutations of many parts of it, which he carried to Bonnycastle, and said, "As you have a more polished pen than myself, use these observations of mine, and make up a sharp review of this paltry book for the public." Bonnycastle lost no time in doing this, and was on his road to London, with the review in his pocket for publication, when he accidentally met Wales, who was then in so bad a state of health that he appeared to be in the last stage of a consumption. This affected the mind of Bonnycastle so strongly that, on his arrival in London, he immediately burnt the manuscript review, being determined not to hurt the feelings of a man labouring under disease, and thus perhaps to accelerate his death

Another anecdote about a dinner at Johnson's remarked that Bonnycastle and another mathematician were conversing upon the infinite extension of space.21 
WillJohn Bonnycastle wrote a will dated 17 Aug 1816.22
DeathJohn died on 15 May 1821.23
 
BurialHe was buried on 22 May 1821 in St. Luke's, Charlton, Kent.23 
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 proved 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. The Death Duty Registers noted that Francis Baily of Verulum Buildings Grays Inn Lane administered the estate.22,24 
ObituaryHis obituary was published in 1822 in the The Annual Biography and Obituary for the Year 1822.25
Last Edited20 Jan 2022

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.
  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. Edited by his son, The Life and Poetical Works of the Revd George Crabbe (Albemarle Street, London: John Murray, 1847).
  10. Sir Leslie Stephen ed. Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, London(1921-22) (http://www.ancestry.com, digital images), Bonnycastle, John p 824.
  11. Letter from John Bonnycastle, Woolwich, to his brother, dated Dec 5, 1782 (J Kolthammer, unsourced photocopy p1).
  12. Allegation for John Bonnycastle and Bridget Newell, Archbishop Court of Canterbury Faculty Office, 6 October 1786 (Family History Library, Film #355,536).
  13. Microfilm of the Parish Registers of St Martin Ludgate, 1558-1812 (Family History Library, 374477).
  14. Edward Cave and others, "Gentleman's Magazine" (publication, London, 1731-), Oct 1786, p.995.
  15. The London Gazette, online at www.gazettes-online.co.uk, Issue 15589, 31 May 1803, page 9.
  16. Microfilm of the Bishop's Transcripts of St Mary's Lewisham, 1801-1809 (Family History Library, 288425), No. 992.
  17. James Walker Austin, Literary papers of William Austin, with a biographical sketch by his son, James Walker Austin (Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1890). Viewed at archive.org.
  18. 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.
  19. Memoirs of Joseph John Gurney: With Selections From His Journal and Correspondence. Edited by Joseph Bevan Braithwaite. 4th Edition. Philadelphia: J B Lippincott & Co., 1857. Digitized copy accessed on Google Books.
  20. The London Gazette, online at www.gazettes-online.co.uk, Legal Notice re Bonnycastle and Hommey, Issue 16347, 3 March 1810, page 7.
  21. Henry Fuseli and John Knowles, The Life and Writings of Henry Fuseli (n.p.: H Colburn and R Bentley, 1831). Viewed at Project Gutenberg.
  22. 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.
  23. 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).
  24. Index to Death Duty Registers, 1796-1903. Originals at The National Archives. Image viewed at Find My Past. John Bonnycastle, 1821, PC, Register 3, Folio 950.
  25. 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.
  26. Letter from Humphrey Bonnycastle (Philadelphia) to a friend in England, 1838; University of Virginia Library (Charlottesville, Virginia).
  27. Baptisms of St Mary Magdalene Woolwich, Kent. Register at London Metropolitan Archives. Image viewed at Ancestry. Charlotte Bonnycastle, 1788.
  28. Baptisms of St Mary Magdalene Woolwich, Kent. Register at London Metropolitan Archives. Image viewed at Ancestry. Mary Bonnycastle, 1790.
  29. Baptisms of St Mary Magdalene Woolwich, Kent. Register at London Metropolitan Archives. Image viewed at Ancestry. Richard Henry Bonnycastle, 1791.
  30. Baptisms of St Mary Magdalene Woolwich, Kent. Register at London Metropolitan Archives. Image viewed at Ancestry. William Joseph Bonnycastle, 1793.
  31. Baptisms of St Mary Magdalene Woolwich, Kent. Register at London Metropolitan Archives. Image viewed at Ancestry. Humphrey Bonnycastle, 1795.
  32. Baptisms of St Mary Magdalene Woolwich, Kent. Register at London Metropolitan Archives. Image viewed at Ancestry. Charles Bonnycastle, 1796.