Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bonnor, Thomas
BONNOR, THOMAS (fl. 1763–1807), topographical draughtsman and engraver, was a native of Gloucestershire. In 1763 he was awarded a premium by the Society of Arts, and he became one of the ablest topographical artists of his time. There are many plates of mansions, churches, and monuments drawn and engraved by him in Nash’s 'Collections for the History of Worcestershire,' published in 1781-2 ; Collinson’s ‘History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset,' 1791; Bigland’s ‘Historical, Monumental, and Genealogical Collections relative to the County of Gloucester,' 1791-2; and Polwhele’s ‘History of Devonshire,' 1793-1806. He also designed some illustrations to the works of Richardson, Smollett, and Fielding, and in 1799 published four numbers of the ‘Copperplate Perspective Itinerary,' containing views of Gloucester Cathedral and Goodrich Castle, for which he also wrote the descriptive text. He exhibited some drawings of architectural remains at the Royal Academy in 1807, and died between that date and the year 1812.
[Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists of the English School, 1878.]