James Bonnin

James Bonnin (about 1782 – 8 January 1850) was an English property developer who built more than three hundred houses in the Brompton, Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea areas of London.

James Bonnin's birth and baptism records have not been found, but he was probably born between 1775 and 1782 in or around London. His parents were James Bonnin and his wife Susanna (formerly Brown) who were married in St Marylebone in 1770. Little is known of his early life, but it his clear that he was of French Huguenot extraction, as many of his siblings were baptised in French churches in and around the city of London.

James Bonnin has been described as "the builder who more effectively than another left his stamp on present-day Brompton." Around 1806, He was involved in a number of developments in the Hans Town area. James was then describing himself as a carpenter and undertaker. In 1815, the London Gazette reports a James Bonnin - builder, carpenter, dealer and chapman - of North Street, Kensington being declared bankrupt. However he seems to have recovered rapidly from this setback: in a trade directory for 1816-17 he is listed as a timber merchant with an address in Sloane Place. About 1819-20 James Bonnin was involved in building in Knightsbridge (including Trevor Square), and in 1821 he undertook the initial development of Brompton Square.

His subsequent work was divided between for the Alexander Estate (starting in 1826) and Smith's Charity, which owned substantial areas of land in the Brompton area. His first contract for the charity started in 1822. He built a terrace of eight houses for the charity, (Onslow Terrace: later demolished to make way for the underground railway), on what is now the western end of Brompton Road.

Bonnin worked with a surveyor appointed by the charity, whose job was to handle the details of contracts and approve designs for the buildings. In 1828 George Basevi, an architect who was a cousin of Benjamin Disraeli, was appointed surveyor. James Bonnin was a meticulous builder who produced high quality buildings and from then on, Basevi designed the houses and Bonnin built them. Between 1833 and 1844 they built Pelham Crescent, Pelham Place, part of Pelham Street and a small area of Fulham Road on either side of the Pelham Street junction.

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