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| St Marylebone Parish Church, York Gate, Marylebone, NW1, Sunday, 25 May, 2014 Photo available for reuse under this Creative Commons licence. |
Henry Kaye Bonney (b. 22 May 1780, bap. 23 May 1780 at St Mary, Tansor, Northamptonshire), son of Henry Kaye Bonney and Bridget Morgan, married Charlotte Perry (b. 28 Oct 1783, bap. 30 Oct 1783 at St Dunstan's, Stepney), daughter of John Perry and Elizabeth Brown, at St Marylebone Parish Church, Marylebone Road, London on 15 May 1827. They were married by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Lincoln, John Kaye. A newspaper announcement of the time read, "On the 15th Inst., the Venerable Henry Kay Bonney D.D. [Doctor of Divinity] Archdeacon of Bedford, to Charlotte, second [actually 4th] daughter of the late John Perry, Esq., of Moor Hall, Essex." While the Parish record says that "The Reverend Henry Kaye Bonney Clerk [in Holy Orders], of the Parish of King's Cliffe in the County of Northamptonshire, a Batchelor, and Charlotte Perry of this Parish, a Spinster, were married by Licence ...". Witnesses were Phil Perry and Thomas Perry, who were Charlotte's older brothers and Richard Perry, her half-brother.
Henry Kaye Bonney was 46 and Charlotte Perry was 43 at the time or their marriage, so it's no surprise that the couple did not have children. Using the misogynistic terminology of the time, however, Bonney's biography refers to Charlotte's death as "after a childless union of nearly twenty-four years", which takes no account of age and infers personal failing on her part.
Henry Bonney had succeeded as rector of All Saints Church, Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire after his father's death in 1810, a position he held until his own death in 1862. King's Cliffe Heritage tells us that the church's "carved wooden font cover was carved in the 1820s by the Rector, Revd H K Bonney using mediaeval timbers he had brought from Fotheringhay. Bonney used other timbers from Fotheringhay to make pew ends in the choir stalls and to build a three-tier pulpit-cum- reading desk (see sketch by Bonney)."
Bonney has been described as indefatigable and when he wasn't attending to his various ecclesiastical duties, writing books, drawing, carving, he also sat as a Magistrate, on the bench with John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer.
In 1841, H K Bonney (60) Clerk D.D. was listed in *West Street, Kings Cliffe, Oundle, Northamptonshire with Charlotte Bonney (~55). The household had four servants, two female and two male, living in: Jane Dixon (40), Elizabeth Palmer (25), John Broughton (20) and Thomas Dawson (15). *The Old Rectory in King’s Cliffe, is located on West Street (now No. 21).
Charlotte Bonney died at Kings' Cliffe, aged 67, on 26 Dec 1850 (1851 M Quarter in OUNDLE Volume 15 Page 233). The Stamford Mercury of 3 Jan 1851, reported, "DIED: At King's Cliffe, on the 26th ult., Charlotte wife of the Ven. H. K. Bonney, D.D., Rector of that parish, and Archdeacon of Lincoln, aged 67." Charlotte Bonney was buried on 3 Jan 1850, in All Saints Churchyard, Kings' Cliffe. Charlotte Bonney's Will with three Codicils was proved in London on 27 Mar 1851, on the oaths of Richard Perry, her half-brother and Richard Green, her nephew, two of the executors.
In 1851, Henry K Bonney (70) Widower, Archdeacon & Canon of Lincoln and Rector of Cliffe Regis, birthplace Tansor, Northamptonshire, was listed at 9, James Street, St Mary Magdalene, Lincoln. Staying with him was Henrietta Bonney (66), his unmarried sister. They had five servants listed in the household, two footmen, a cook and two female house servants. (One of the footmen was George Grey (27) from Holwell, Dorset. George Grey had been a witness to the last Codicil to Charlotte Bonney's Wills, in 1845.)
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| Henry Kaye Bonney |
Archdeacon Henry Kaye Bonney died at King's Cliffe on 24 Dec 1862, aged 82 (1862 D Quarter in OUNDLE Volume 3B Page 119). The Cambridge Chronicle and Journal of 27 Dec 1862 reported "Dec 24, at King's Cliffe, the Venerable Henry Jaye Bonney D.D. [B.A. 1802], Christ's College, Rector of King's Cliffe, Archdeacon of Lincoln, and Cannon Residentiary, in his 83rd year." Henry Kaye Bonney was buried on 1 Jan 1863, also in King's Cliffe Churchyard, with his late wife.
The Leicester Guardian of 31 Dec 1862 wasted no time in announcing that the Archdeaconry of Lincoln had become vacant upon Henry Kaye Bonney's death. The position was filled in 1863 by William Frederick John Kaye, only son of the late Bishop of Lincoln, John Kaye (who married Henry Kaye Bonney and Charlotte Perry). It was said that John Kaye was Henry Kaye Bonney's friend. However, the Kaye middle name being the surname of Bonney's grandmother, Grace Kaye, one wonders if they were also relatives.
On 28 Jan 1863, the Will with three Codicils of the Venerable Henry Kaye Bonney late of King's Cliffe in the County of Northampton and the Close of Lincoln in the City of Lincoln Clerk D.D. Archdeacon of Lincoln and Cannon Residentiary of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln deceased who died 24 December 1862 at Kings' Cliffe aforesaid was proved at Lincoln by the oath of George Henry Nevinson of Leicester in the County of Leicester Gentleman the Nephew one of the Executors. Henry Kaye Bonney left an estate valued at 'under £14,000', which would, sadly, only be about £2.2M today.
Speaking of relatives ... George Henry Nevinson was the son of Henry Kaye Bonney's youngest sister, Charlotte Sarah Bonney and her husband Edward Henry Nevinson. Charlotte Bonney (née Perry)'s brother Thomas Perry had married Maria Jane Watlington (and Watlington is also a family name), whose mother was Charlotte Nevinson. Nevinson is hardly a common name, so there's another familial connection to be researched one day.
East window, Archdeacon Henry Kaye Bonney memorial, 1863
"The East window [of King's Cliffe Church] has 15th Century stonework in a style called ‘Perpendicular’. It was re-glazed in 1864 to a design by William Wailes as a memorial to the Revd Archdeacon Henry Kaye Bonney, Rector of King’s Cliffe from 1810 until his death in December 1862. Mediaeval stained glass removed to make way for this window was re-used in 1897 in the windows in the North and South aisles." [Source]
After Bonney's death, I wondered what became of his faithful man servant, George Gray. In 1871 and again in 1881, I found him employed as Butler to the Bankes family at Winstanley Hall, Winstanley, Wigan, Lancashire.
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| Photo © Tom Presland (cc-by-sa/2.0) King's Cliffe from Willow Brook, Wednesday, 8 September, 2010 Photo available for reuse under this Creative Commons licence. The 17th-century house with three gable windows was The Rectory. |