painter and military officer, was born on 19 May 1791 at Gibraltar, where his father, an army officer, was stationed. As well as the drawing instruction which was part of any army officer’s training, Thomas studied drawing and painting in England in 1818 and at Paris in 1822. He came to Sydney early in 1838, then went to Norfolk Island in January 1839 with the 80th Regiment. Between April and September 1839 he was acting commandant there.
In April 1840 Major Bunbury was sent to New Zealand in HMS Buffalo in charge of a detachment of his regiment, first posted to the Bay of Islands then to Auckland. At the end of the year Jane Franklin, wife of the governor of Van Diemen’s Land, visited him at Auckland and reported that his 'whare’ (house) was lined with his own paintings, one being a full-length self-portrait. At the beginning of 1844 Bunbury was deputy-governor of New Zealand, then he and his troops left for Sydney in May. They sailed for India in August. On the way the ship was wrecked on one of the Andaman Islands. The passengers and crew lost all their personal possessions, Bunbury presumably losing many sketches and paintings.
Artistic activities are occasionally recorded in Bunbury’s autobiography, Reminiscences of a Veteran , published anonymously in London in 1861. They include references to painting and sketching on Norfolk Island, although no examples painted there or in Australia have been located. He died at his home in Regent’s Park, London, on 26 December 1861.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
