Knightsbridge Living
James Bonnin
James Bonnin was the builder Pelham Crescent, Pelham Place parts of Pelham Street, and later of Egerton Crescent and Egerton Terrace. He was also involved in construction the nearby Alexander Estate (now the Thurloe Estate).
His first building contract with the Smith’s Charity was in 1822. At the time Bonnin was engaged in building Brompton Square. It is presumably his work there which commended him to the trustees. The contract provided that Bonnin should build a terrace of eight houses, to be called Onslow Terrace, on what is now the western end of Brompton Road. In return he would be entitled to leases of the new houses for 60 years at a ground rent of £42 per annum. This was the pattern of finance for new houses on the estate - the builder would construct houses at his own expense and would make his profit from letting the houses at a full market rent or by selling them outright. The Smith's Charity had to take the long view - they would only receive a ground rent until the builder's leases expired. (Onslow Terrace was demolished to make way for the construction of the underground railway.)
The trustees appointed a surveyor to look after the estate's interests. The surveyor's job was to handle the details of contracts and approve designs for the buildings. The estate's London surveyor at the time was John Booth, who had been appointed in 1819. It soon became apparent that he was not up to the job. The trustees were particularly displeased that he allowed to insert in the agreement the right for Bonnin to build himself a cottage with an adjoining workshop and timber yard immediately behind the new terrace. In fact, Bonnin lived there and used it as his base of operations from from 1826 until 1838.
in 1828 Booth was replaced by George Basevi. Basevi was a very different character. He was an architect of genius. Bonnin was a meticulous builder. From then on, Basevi designed the houses and Bonnin built them.
So, when in 1832 eight and a half acres of land suddenly became available for development when the tenants of a nursery went bankrupt and the lease was forfeited, Basevi chose James Bonnin to construct the new houses he had designed for the site.
An agreement was signed on 1st June 1833 covering the eastern half of Pelham Crescent and Pelham Place, Pelham Street between Pelham Place and Fulham Road, and a small area of Fulham Road on either side of the Pelham Street junction. On 21 October 1838 a second agreement gave Bonnin the other, western, half of the development: the west side of Pelham Place, the west half of Pelham Crescent beyond Pelham Place and a further western stretch of Pelham Street. Work proceeded quickly. By 1843 all the Pelham Crescent houses were occupied . The houses in Pelham Street were also completed in 1843 and Pelham Place followed in 1844.
James Bonnin was also allowed to build two cottages side-by-side behind the west side of Pelham Place, one of which, Pelham Cottage, Bonnin occupied himself. He lived in several houses on the Smith’s Charity estate over the years. First there had been the cottage and workshops which Booth had allowed him to put up behind Onslow Terrace. His son, James, took that over in 1839 when Bonnin senior moved to No. 3 Pelham Place. It seems that once Pelham Cottage had been completed, Bonnin took up occupation there. In 1842 he built a large house at the end of Sussex Terrace for his own occupation. He was also allowed to have a large yard at the side and a workshop at the rear. moved to a new house which he built at the end of Sussex Terrace. This was his last home on the estate.
By 1843 it would seem that the Bonnins had agreed to split further work on the estate between them. On 25 July 1843 the trustees entered into an agreement with James Bonnin junior to construct 6-10 (even) Pelham Street and some houses on the north side of Pelham Street which were eventually demolished to make way for the South Kensington station. It appears that James Bonnin junior had been working with his father from the start of the development but this was his first independent venture. On the same day, the trustees concluded a building agreement with James Bonnin senior for a much bigger project on the site of Brompton Grange. Brompton Grange was a house with extensive gardens constructed by Michael Novosielski for his own occupation in the early 1790s.
The new development was to result in the construction of Egerton Crescent, Egerton Terrace, Yeoman’s Row and Crescent Place. James Bonnin senior may only have been directly involved in the construction of Egerton Crescent. He may have sub-contracted the rest of the work. Builders like James Bonnin often made a profit by underletting building plots to other builders at improved ground rents, if they were not in a position to do the building works themselves. Most of the houses were completed and occupied by 1848 and the last in 1849.
To finance these various development the Bonnins entered into arrangements with lenders and with other speculators. Stephen Phillips, a timber merchant, was Bonnin senior’s principal backer in Egerton Crescent. Phillips was also James Bonnin junior’s main backer in Pelham Street. Phillips took leases of many of the houses in the crescent in his own name from the Charity and then underleased them to Bonnin or other builders at a higher ground rent. Presumably Phillips paid a lump sum to Bonnin as the price of obtaining this immediate rental advantage. The builders then mortgaged their underleases to raise additional capital on the basis that they would be very much more valuable once a lettable house had been erected. We know that Bonnin borrowed £2,000 from a wine merchant in Pelham Crescent, on the security of his underlease of Nos. 50-53 Egerton Crescent.
The Basevi - Bonnin team ended in 1845 when Basevi tragically died, falling from one of the towers of Ely Cathedral which he was inspecting. James Bonnin senior fell on hard times. In July 1846 he was declared bankrupt. (It does not seem that his financial difficulties ever caused him to cut corners on his building work.) He explained his financial difficulties as being due to taking on more than he could afford. There was a depression in the Kensington housing market about this time which may have caught him over-exposed financially. He managed to persuade the Kensington Board of Guardians to give him money so that he could emigrate to South Australia.
He made it to Australia with his wife and four of his children on 26th December 1849, but died of an illness only a few days later on 8th January 1850 in Adelaide.
His son James Bonnin junior also went bankrupt in 1848. But he was quickly back on his feet. In 1848 he was appointed Inspector of Nuisances for the Kensington Board of Guardians. Soon he continued his business as a London builder, but not on the Smith’s Charity’s estate.
