Son of a Bap­tist min­is­ter, Bon­ner at­tend­ed the Plais­tow School, and Raw­don Bap­tist Coll­ege in Leeds. He was or­dained in 1884, and pas­tored at in Sale, Che­shire (1884-1895), and the Port­land Cha­pel, South­amp­ton (1895-1900). He went on to be­come in­volved in the Bri­tish Sun­day School move­ment, start­ing as sec­re­tary in 1900, then serv­ing as pres­i­dent of the Na­tion­al Sun­day School Un­ion (1922-1923), and of the Bap­tist Un­ion (1931-1932). His works in­clude:

• A Handbook to the Bap­tist Church Hymn­al, Re­vised (edit­ed with W. T. Whit­ley), 1935
• Some Bap­tist Hymn­ists, 1937

Sources

Hymns

1. Father, Hear Thy Children’s Voices
2. Gently a Voice Is Pleading
3. God of Little Children
4. In Hope, and Love, and Steadfast Faith
5. Now When from One Another Parting
6. We Join Our Hearts and Voices

Music

1. Bonner
2. Come and See