Francis Robert Bonham

Francis Robert Bonham (6 September 1785 – 26 April 1863) was a British party agent and politician.

Early life

He was the only surviving son (another two died in infancy) of Francis Warren Bonham, a landowner from Kildare who had moved to London with his wife Dorothea. After home schooling Bonham was accepted into Corpus Christi College, Oxford where he finished his BA in 1807, joining Lincoln's Inn in 1808 and being called to the bar (although he never practised law) in 1814.

Political career

In August 1830 he was elected a Member of Parliament for Rye and served as assistant Tory Party whip until 1831, when he was defeated in the general election. After his defeat he continued to work in Rye as a party agent for the 1832 election, and until 1837 acted as the Tory Party's chief electoral expert (replacing William Holmes). He served as Storekeeper of the Ordnance in Robert Peel's first government from 1834 and in 1835 was again returned to parliament, this time for Harwich where he served until 1837 and again also served as assistant whip.

Later life

Despite being out of parliament in 1841 Peel again appointed him Storekeeper of the Ordnance, a position he resigned in 1845 after a scandal involving improperly-bought railway shares.[1] He remained as an unpaid volunteer until 1853, when he was appointed as a Commissioner for Income Tax to prevent him from becoming bankrupt.

He died on 26 April 1863 at home, with many of his papers having being collected by Peel and destroyed apart from a few texts now in the Peel papers of the British Library.

References

  1. Gash, Norman (2004). "Oxford DNB Bonham, Francis Robert". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
Political offices
Preceded by
Henry Duncan
Storekeeper of the Ordnance
1834–1835
Succeeded by
George Anson
Preceded by
James Hanway Plumridge
Storekeeper of the Ordnance
1841–1845
Succeeded by
Thomas Hastings
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
De Lacy Evans
Richard Arkwright
Member of Parliament for Rye
1830–1831
With: Hugh Duncan Baillie
Succeeded by
De Lacy Evans
Thomas Pemberton
Preceded by
Christopher Thomas Tower
John Charles Herries
Member of Parliament for Harwich
1835–1837
With: John Charles Herries
Succeeded by
Alexander Ellice
John Charles Herries
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