[1] After his father died in 1826 his brother Thomas, headmaster of Rugeley Grammar School, gave him an education and a home for seven years.

Bonney left Britain on 5 August 1834 in the John Craig and arrived at Sydney on 12 December 1834, where he became clerk to Mr Justice Burton.

On 1 March 1837 he was the first to overland sheep, bringing some 10,000 belonging to Ebden to Sugarloaf Creek, Victoria station a tributary of the Goulburn River.

On about 21 March 1837 he discovered the rich, fertile Kilmore Plains in a journey that included blazing the trail of the Sydney Road.

Bonney later wrote that amongst his proudest achievements were founding the fertile district of Kilmore and the route of the Sydney Road.

It was the hottest season of the year, and groups of aborigines were continually being encountered, but the party kept on good terms with them by Bonney using the unique and peaceful process of playing his flute for them.

Returning to Port Phillip by sea, Bonney brought another herd of cattle overland to Adelaide in February 1839, travelling through south-west Victoria rather than following the River Murray, a longer but safer route.

When responsible government came in, Bonney was elected a member of the South Australian House of Assembly for East Torrens, and became commissioner of crown lands in the first ministry under B. T. Finniss.