Geoffrey Gambado caricaturist
Henry William Bunbury, 1 July 1750 –7th May 1811
William Bunbury was born in Mildenhall, Suffolk, he was the second son of Sir William Bunbury, 5th Baronet of Mildenhall, from an old Norman family. He was educated at Westminster School and then at Cambridge, his talent for drawing humorous subjects was obvious from an early age. He embarked on a Grand Tour as was so common for the gentry of that period. He studied in Rome. His early work, La Cuisine de La Poste was exhibited at the Royal Academy. His serious work did not earn him acclaim but his caricatures certainly did. He used the pseudonym of Geoffrey Gambado and published a satirical account of life on horseback. Sir Charles Bunbury, 6th Baronet of Mildenhall, was his elder brother, but as he died without issue Henry’s second son became the next Baronet of Mildenhall. We know of Sir Charles Bunbury as the famous friend of Lord Derby who helped him to create the races of the Oaks and the Derby at Epsom. The two brothers clearly both had their own opinions on the role of horses in society.
One of his famous pieces is The Long Minuet as Danced in Bath; it is a truly delicate piece of observation showing the dissimilar dress of the female and her spreading gown and the diminutive man trying to get around the dance without bumping into her valuable attire. On the Death of Charles Bunbury and after Henry died his second son succeeded to the baronetcy becoming the 7th Baronet of Mildenhall. Henry died in Keswick in Cumbria on 7th May 1811.
