BONNELL, James (1697-1774). A fine manuscript journal of travels in England between 10 August and [?]2 September 1717, titled: "An Account of a month's Travell Round the North West[sic] & South West of England from London to Oxford & Worcester & round to Chichester &c. In all Nine Citys. In a Continued Distance of 160 mile from London." 8vo (151 x 100mm). "Title" and 184-leaves, written in black ink on rectos only, with numerous blank leaves at the end interspersed with 18-pages of accounts relating to the tour. Bound in contemporary speckled calf (rubbed). Provenance: Harvey Bonnell (armorial bookplate); and thence by descent. A COLOURFUL ACCOUNT, PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED, OF A YOUNG MAN'S TOUR FROM LONDON ACROSS THE WEST OF ENGLAND IN 1717. Taking in the attractions of Windsor, Oxford, Worcester, Gloucester, Bristol, Bath, Wells, Glastonbury, Salisbury, Winchester and Chichester, amongst many other places, the journal also provides detailed descriptions of the interiors and gardens of noteworthy houses along the way including Blenheim, Wilton and Dyrham Park; there are lively accounts of partying at Worcester and Bath, and numerous introductions and flirtations. In Henley: "... we had very good diversion with ye young Girls being for the most part of a very cheerfull disposition"; in Oxford, a service at the Cathedral "... was very indiferently performed, and the Church of a very indiferent structure"; Queen's College: "... is new and the fine Chapell not at this time finished"; in Worcester: "... a very genteel place and we had the fortune to be very well acquainted with all the best of ye city, as Miss Kitty Stevens, Fanny Paine, Sophia Sheldon, Molly Moore, 4 Miss Betsons, particularly pretty Miss [?]Ann, Sally Pansford, Sally Boostor, Miss Berkley, Miss Travil, Patty Carey di Twitty, Sicilia Twitty, wth. many others ... Memorandum - Mr Cooke, altho' I invited him to supper never asked me to drink a glass of wine. Memorandum - Mrs Cooke has a Beard, one inch long, all black ... we rose about Ten, I having not been very well"; on Bristol: "This City is the most dirty, noisy, drunken, ill-natured, homely place I ever met ... I think Wopin [ie Wapping] in London to most like it, tho' to its advantage"; in Bath, they hit the town: "... to ye Pump room, to prayers, walks, Dinner, Rafflin's room, & walks, & at Night, gaming room, & Ball, being Tuesdays, & Fridays. On Saturday evening we visited the Pump room & Walks so late yet no Company; we went to ye Billiard table, Hazard Table & Harrisons rooms, very full ..."; in Salisbury: "... after dinner we went to ye Master of St. Cross in a chariot for 5/ where Mr Thomas went to visit a Lady of his acquaintance, who made us very welcome, a dancing master being there, and the Children dancing - the Lady desire me to take out a Lady was visiting there, which I did, and danced a Minuet with her, and after that another ..." Meals en route are described in exhaustive detail; this, for example, at The Angel in Oxford (at the time the foremost coaching Inn of the city but demolished in 1876): "... we had this Night 2 Rabbits fricasied, with a Loin of Mutton, 2 fowls and half dozen tarts, and a handsome desart, 2 flasks of french wine, 1 of port, and a pint of Mountain with Lemons, etc"; and at Chichester: "... we had for Dinner at ye Upper end a noble Dish of Fish with Schrimps, & Oyster Sauce, at ye Bottom a Chine of Mutton - one one side some Pig, on tother, a most incomperable rich backed pudding, Pickles in ye middle - the first course ended, the table was a second time furnished with at ye Upper End, a Dish of Partridges, the lower end Artichokes, on one side Tarts, on tother Lobsters, these being taken away, ye next consisted of desert - in ye Middle Grapes - at upper end Nectralles, at lower, plumbs, in a row on one side Currants, & figs, tother Damsons & Peeches, being 7 dishes, from thence we went home ..." James Bonnell, who was about 19 and single when he kept this journal, was of Spring Gardens, Westminster. His sister, Sarah, left money in her will to found a school for poor girls in West Ham in 1769. 'The Sarah Bonnell School', one of the oldest schools for girls in England, still flourishes in Stratford, east London. Of James Bonnell's later life, not a great deal is known beyond some official records: he was Lord of the Manor of Purleigh, Essex, in 1759, and he purchased Pelling Place and adjoining land including Beaumont Lodge in Old Windsor, Berkshire. The Bonnell family memorial is in the Monoux chapel of St Mary's church, Walthamstow.
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