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Thomas Bunn (1767-1853) was one of the most influential men in Frome’s modern history.  He had a private income and as a young man trained in London as a lawyer.  He was active in many public and charitable activities in the town – church, education, welfare. No committee was complete without Thomas Bunn.  He gave free legal advice to the poor and was a Trustee of the Blue House and Keyford Asylum.  He promoted further education and wanted Frome to rival Bath in its attractions.  He kept a diary for the last decades of his life, a document that shows him as a busy, curious and kindly observer of life around him.

His story shows us what Frome was like in early Victorian England:  Thomas Bunn was widowed as a young man, but always had an eye for a pretty girl.  There is much around Frome to remind us of Thomas Bunn, from his house -Monmouth House in Cork Street – to the layout of Bath Street to his grave in the graveyard of Christ Church.  A copy of Thomas Bunn’s Diary will be given to each ticket holder, as part of the celebration of his life.