James Bonar

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1757–1821) was a Scottish lawyer and amateur astronomer. He served as Solicitor of

Excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

in Scotland, and was known as a scholar and supporter of learned societies.

Life

The grave of James Bonar, Canongate Kirkyard

The eighth son of John Bonar (1722–1761), previously minister at

Cockpen, Midlothian Cockpen is a parish in Midlothian, Scotland, containing at its north-west corner the town of Bonnyrigg, which lies south-west of Dalkeith. It is bounded on the west and north by the parish of Lasswade, on the east, by Newbattle and on the sou ...

but in 1757 minister of West Church

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, and his wife, Christian Currier (d.1771), he was born on 29 September 1757. He was educated at the

High School, Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

, and attended

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

. Bonar early entered the excise office, but became noted as a scholar. He was a member of the

Speculative Society The Speculative Society is a Scottish Enlightenment society dedicated to public speaking and literary composition, founded in 1764. It was mainly, but not exclusively, an Edinburgh University student organisation. The formal purpose of the Society ...

of Edinburgh University, admitted 9 December 1777, and elected an extraordinary member on 24 December 1781, and was for several years treasurer of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. He was one of the original promoters of the Astronomical Institution, and one of the founders of the Edinburgh Subscription Library in 1794. In March 1788 it was Bonar who discovered

Deacon Brodie William Brodie (28 September 1741 – 1 October 1788), often known by his title of Deacon Brodie, was a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of a trades guild, and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a housebreaker, partly for ...

robbing the excise office where he worked, at Chessel's Court on the

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...

(still extant). From 1800 he was living at Paterson's Court in the Broughton district of Edinburgh. Paterson's Court lay next to Broughton market at the west end of what is now Barony Street. In 1798 he was elected a Fellow of the

and served as its treasurer from 1798 to 1821. Bonar died in his house in Broughton on 25 March 1821. He is buried in

Canongate Kirkyard The Canongate Kirkyard ( en, Churchyard) stands around Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. The churchyard was used for burials from the late 1680s until the mid-20th century. The most celebrated burials at the kirkyard are ...

on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

in Edinburgh. The grave lies in the north-west corner of the eastern extension. Most of his children and grandchildren lie nearby.

Works

Bonar was author of the article on "Posts" in the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'' of 1794, and the articles on "Alphabet Characters", "Etymology", "Excise", "Hieroglyphics", &c., in the ''

Edinburgh Encyclopædia The ''Edinburgh Encyclopædia'' is an encyclopaedia in 18 volumes, printed and published by William Blackwood and edited by David Brewster between 1808 and 1830. In competition with the Edinburgh-published ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', the ''Edin ...

'' 1808–18. He wrote also ‘Disquisition on the Origin and Radical Sense of the Greek Prepositions,’ 1804. Bonar edited the new edition of ''Ewing's Greek Grammar'', and contributed articles to the '' Edinburgh Magazine'', ''

Missionary Magazine A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

'', and ''

Scottish Register Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

'', 1790–5. He published an English edition of

Holbein Hans Holbein may refer to: * Hans Holbein the Elder Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Ältere; – 1524) was a German painter. Life Holbein was born in free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsa ...

's ''Dance of Death'', 1788, and wrote the memoir of his brother

Archibald Bonar Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and '' bald'' meaning "bold". Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon . Erkanbald, bishop o ...

in the second volume of his sermons.

Family

In March 1797 he married Marjory Pyott Maitland and they had five sons and three daughters. His sons included James Bonar,

Horatius Bonar Horatius Bonar (19 December 180831 July 1889), a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'cheyne was a Scotland, Scottish churchman and poet. He is principally remembered as a prodigious hymnodist. Friends knew him as Horace Bona ...

and

Andrew Bonar Andrew Alexander Bonar (29 May 1810 in Edinburgh – 30 December 1892 in Glasgow) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900), Free Church of Scotland, a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'Cheyne and youngest brother ...

all leading figures in the Free Church of Scotland.

References

Citations

Sources

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonar, James 1757 births 1821 deaths Scottish lawyers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Perth, Scotland People of the Scottish Enlightenment 18th-century Scottish writers 19th-century Scottish writers Scottish encyclopedists