Thomas Bunyan

Buried: 19/02/1889, aged 68
Plot no: 82938 | Section: K06 / C7

Thomas Bunyan was a member of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and also a Chief Warder of the Tower of London. This grave was discovered by Abney Unearthed volunteers as they added plot numbers and grave details to a previously unmapped area of Abney Park.

Thomas Bunyan was born on 15 March 1820 in Cavers, Roxboroughshire, Scotland and was baptised there on 22 July that year.

When he was 18, Thomas Bunyan joined the 79th Foot Regiment of The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders on 27 April 1838. Within four years of enlisting in the regiment Thomas had been promoted to Corporal and in another four years he had become a Sergeant. He served as Drum Major for almost two years, was Colour Sergeant for over seven years and became a sergeant major on 2 October 1856.

At Stirling Castle, on 28 May 1859, on his own request, Sergeant Major Thomas Bunyan was discharged. His length of service was calculated as 21 years and 42 days. During that time, he had served in Gibraltar for seven years and five months; in Canada for three years; in Turkey and Crimea for two years and one month and in India for one year. The report on his character and conduct states that ‘his character has been very good. He has never been entered in the Regimental Defaulters’ book or tried by Court Martial'. He served in the Crimea and has received a medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol.

On 7 June 1859 when Thomas was admitted as a Chelsea Pensioner, his height was recorded as 6 foot 1 inch; he had dark hair and a ‘swarthy’ complexion. His trade was listed as ‘stocking weaver’. (UK, Royal Hospital Pensioner Admission and Discharge Book P 167-168).

At the time of the 1861 census, Thomas was living at Montague Road, Peckham, with his wife Isabella, 36, their baby daughter, Cathy Angus, and Isabella’s widowed mother, Catherine, 52. Like Thomas, Isabella and her mother had been born in Scotland. Thomas’s occupation was recorded as ‘Drill Instructor of the 10 Tower Hamlets Out Pensioners of Chelsea Hospital Warder of the Tower of London.’

In the 1881 census Thomas’s rank/profession was ‘Chelsea Pensioner, Yeoman Porter of the Tower of London.' Isabella and their three children were living with him at the Tower of London. Cathy was 20 and helping at home. James, 29, was a clerk in the National Provincial Bank, and John Angus, 12, was a scholar. Thomas’s position at the Tower would have meant that the family resided in Byward Tower (now the visitor entrance to the precinct).

The Yeoman Porter was the name for the Chief Warder. Thomas would have been responsible for the discipline of the Warders, and would have had to report issues to the Tower Major. The Yeoman Porter is in charge of the gates, wickets, drawbridges, and entrance, and (as Wardrobe Keeper) would have to oversee the care of the Warder’s uniforms, accoutrements, and arms. The post includes a general superintendence of the Warder’s houses and checking that only warders occupy them. The boundary marks of the Tower Liberties are annually inspected by him, and their condition is reported to the Major. The Yeoman Porter also asserts the rights of the Tower authorities over Postern Row and George Street by closing the iron bars across those thoroughfares for one hour on the first working day in August. He also acts as clerk in the office of the Constable, and has charge, under the Major, of the books and papers therein.

When Thomas arrived at the Tower of London the Yeomen would have replaced their red tunics for the everyday blue version that were written about in the Illustrated London News in November 1858. In 1869 he would no doubt have been discussing with his fellow Yeomen Warders whether the Metropolitan District Railway would eventually extend the line to near the Tower or not. He was probably there when the Fenian Bomb exploded in the White Tower on 31 January 1885.

Thomas died on 19 February 1889 at the Tower of London. His estate was valued at £620 17s 6d (approximately £51,000 today). After Thomas's death, Isabella moved to North Finchley with her two sons, both were bank clerks. After marrying in 1886, their daughter Cathy had died in 1898 aged 37. Isabella died in 1914 aged 83. Both are buried with Thomas.