Henry Bonham

Henry Bonham 1765 - 1830

Henry had been born to Samuel Bonham and Sarah (née Richardson) into a family of merchants. He himself became a prominent financier of overseas trade in the City of London as well as a top end insurance broker. His grandfather had been a slave trader but Henry was a well-known abolitionist.

In 1803, at the age of 38, he had become a director of the East India Dock Company and by 1812 he owned at least 9 ships known as East Indiamen. Here are some of them with the times he owned them:

The Essex 1803 to 1821, when it was demolished.

The Calcutta 1804 to 1809, when on her fifth and last voyage she was captured by the French Navy and was exploded in the Bay of Biscay by a British Navy ship.

The Asia 1805 to 1809, when it was wrecked on a sandbank in the Bengal River.

The Abercrombie Robinson owned by him from 1825 to 1829.

The Edinburgh 1825-31.

The launch of the Edinburgh in 1825 and showing the Abercrombie Robinson under construction at Blackwall. Drawing Royal Museum Greenwich.

The East India Dock Company had been set up to build the third set of wet docks on the Thames between 1802-06 and were for the exclusive use of the East India trade. The administration was vested in thirteen directors including Henry Bonham who was the major initial investor of £12,000 (circa £974,020 today). Although the cost of the build was excessive at £322,608 (circa £24,107,332 today) the dividends reached highs of 10% at times and no doubt made Henry a rich man.

The East India Docks 1803-06

By 1821 Henry had also inherited several properties in Essex from his uncle. However, his feet remained firmly on the ground throughout a political career spanning 25 years representing Leominster 1806, Sandwich 1824 and Rye 1826. He was unaligned to any party declaring that his principles were those of perfect independence. Henry died in Hastings leaving his real estate to Henry his eldest son, £39,000 (circa £4,125,904 today) to Charlotte his wife and the remainder to his children excluding both Charlotte his daughter, who had already taken a marriage settlement and, strangely, Charles who had his naval career to provide!

Research by Anne Smedley (March 2024)

Return to 30 Brunswick Terrace page