Thomas Bunn, Frome
The elder surviving son was James (1726-1759) who became a solicitor and steward to Sir Richard Bampfylde, but who died unexpectedly young.
He bought properties along Cork Street in 1757; there he built the substantial Monmouth House in 1770[1] and its stables,[2] as well as other investments in the area.
[6] My father gave, in addition to his medical advice, his money, his prayers, and in a cold wintry night left his great coat on the bed of a poor woman who had not sufficient covering.
He entered the offices of an attorney in Chard to train as one, but found his tutor to have "not an idea beyond worldly objects" and employing him and the other staff 'like hired waiters in a manner which we could desire no improvement'.
[9] His mother and sister, both named Jane, began a Sunday School from 1780 in Monmouth House:[10] by 1785 there were 250,00 children enrolled across the country following the example of Robert Raikes in Gloucester.
The new street involved the demolition of many tenements, including Anchor Barton and "such an accumulation of dung-heaps, slaughter-houses and tallow-melting houses as to be indescribable".
[16] The new wide carriageway modelled on Union Street, Bath established a new southern route running up from the Market Place.
Bunn's persuasion paid off; it remains one of Frome's notable buildings, now a bank with the ground floor enclosed.
Again in 1839 he paid for the repair of fences of shrubberies throughout the town: "I, who am comparatively poor, must either incur the expense or see the most pleasing objects which surround us in a state of neglect and ruin."
In 1841 along Bath Street he paid for trees and shrubs to be planted[27] - one of Bunn's stock still survives: a Cedar of Lebanon.
He had his secretary transcribe "sixteen anti-slavery petitions to be signed by the inhabitants of Frome, and the numerous societies who attend at different places of worship.
In 1845 a building in Palmer Street was occupied "where I found nothing but dirt and want of space for our collections, our lectures and our sub-librarian’s family, but such is the will of the majority."
In October 1845 Bunn himself, then in his eighth year, gave a lecture to an audience of 300 on the subject: ‘The existence of God provided by the structure of the human mind’.
Within a year he resigned his secretaryship and was unhappy with a proposal "to invite all the professional men in the town to give lectures without exception, not considering how many are disqualified from various causes.
[34] He continued to provide legal advice to individuals from all work of life, always free of charge: a petition to allow a wife and children to join her transported husband in New South Wales, apprentice indentures, will disputes, debt distraints, charity applications, attempts of deception, domestic violence.
He commented freely on the cruel application of the law to the poor and of general social injustice: "I cannot pass over the infamy of persons with incomes of thousands of pounds yearly neglecting to pay their debts.
He was distressed by the upkeep of St John's churchyard, "kept in a slovenly, neglected state by a poor gravedigger who was not half paid for his labour".
He provided land for a non-conformist burial ground, though he commented: "Primitive Methodists .... Their views are narrow like most other peoples.
After his death in November 1839, Bunn wrote "he contrived to make himself despised, and detested, and passed many years in a gaol [for bankruptcy and debt].
He visited members of the extended Sheppard family,[41] who also served with him as fellow trustees of the Almhouses, Blue School, and Keyford Asylum.
It was examined by a local historian, Derek Gill, who edited and published in 2003 a selection of entries, organised into different aspects of his life.
I prefer an appearance of good taste in building but I never recommend a shilling to be expended in ornament unless the money is first provided to pay for it."
His younger sister, Arundel lived in her own property in Bristol, "the best economist and the best reader in the family"; she died in 1845 aged 74 after a long series of debilitating illness.
When Bunn died on 15 May 1853 aged 86, it was his wish that Monmouth House be given to the Frome Literary Institution, but his will of 85 pages of multiple bequests was so complicated it was set aside.
.... he remains as the supreme example in the history of Frome of the man who points the way to the future and so contributes to the development of the community which he adorned.
Close under the high wall that backed on to the gardens of Catherine Street he would sit in a little alcove looking out on the far side of the valley.
