This letter also appears on the Victorian Web

Ignatius Bonomi 1787-1870

The letter written by Joseph John Scoles from Argyll Place on 13 November is addressed to "Robert Hay Esq, Ormiston Hall, TRANENT." In it there are references to Bonomi: it seemed that this man was Ignatius Bonomi (1787-1870) a member of the Institute of British Architects. His father was also an architect, and it was his young brother Joseph who was with Scoles in Egypt in 1822. Ignatius worked originally in Durham, where he not only had a considerable clientele among the local aristocracy and the clergy — - both Anglican and Catholic, but he also held the post of Surveyor of Bridges for the county of Durham. It was his experience in building bridges that led the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company to employ him in 1824, to design the second railway bridge in England (at Skerne dear Darlington).

Burn Hall, Durham

In 1842 he took John Augustus Cory as a partner. Cory was a pupil of Joseph John Scoles — another link between these two architects. Ignatius Bonomi was a competent designer in neo-classical and Gothic styles, and in the 1830's he had been engaged as architect for Burn Hall County Durham, (a job which had taken more than 13 years), and various other commissions in Yorkshire. From the entries in his biography, he appears to have taken a rest until 1842. Maybe he did not return from Italy in May 1839!