Person    | Male  Born 4/11/1910  Died 20/11/1964

Bernard Sunley

Categories: Commerce, Philanthropy

Property developer and philanthropist. Born 46 Jugela Street, Catford. Made his fortune in the re-building work after WW2. Died at home, 26 Harley Road, Hampstead.

This was the only picture we could find of him - a painting hanging on the wall in someone else's portrait photograph. Maybe he was very shy.

2015: Having read William Mitchell's book "Self Portrait: the Eyes Within" we can report that Sunley was not shy. He commissioned Mitchell a number of times and is reported as being a Vesuvius of a man: generous, quick to rage and keen on a drink.

2024: The 20th Century Society's page on Arlington House in Margate includes: "Having made his name and fortune building airfields during WWII, Sunley built extensively in the Caribbean in the 1950s, specialising in leisure and office complexes. Like many south Londoners, he was drawn back to the resort town of Margate ... Sunley died young of a heart attack in December 1964, aged 54. His investment in Margate did not prove to be a success. ... Bernard Sunley took the Caribbean model of ‘all-found’, beachfront, leisure developments, already familiar in Havana and Florida by 1960, and transported it to Margate."

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Bernard Sunley

Commemorated ati

Bernard Sunley

City of Westminster Bernard Sunley, 1910 - 1964, contractor and philanthropi...

Read More

Sunley and Icarus

Ayton also designed the unusual bronze plinth for this location, a garden ato...

Read More

Other Subjects

Kingerlee and Sons

Kingerlee and Sons

Builders. An unusual name, so we are assuming that this is the company founded by Thomas Henry Kingerlee, a plumber from Banbury. He moved to Oxford where he established a thriving business, undert...

Group, Architecture, Commerce

1 memorial
Tata Consumer Products

Tata Consumer Products

From their website: "Tata Consumer was formed with a vision to synergise, simplify and scale the principal consumer products interests of the Tata Group under one umbrella Today, we are one of the ...

Group, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Steelyard, Stilliarde or Stalhof

Steelyard, Stilliarde or Stalhof

The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns dominated trade along the coasts of Northern Europe, from the 13th to the 17th century. T...

Place, Commerce, Germany

2 memorials
Stocks Market

Stocks Market

The Stocks Market was where fishmongers and butchers sold their victuals. It took its name from a pair of stocks erected there in 1281 for the punishment of offenders. In 1738 the Mansion House was...

Building, Commerce

1 memorial
D'Oyly Carte family

D'Oyly Carte family

Richard D'Oyly Carte founded the business. Married Helen. Their son Rupert inherited the business and passed it on to his daughter, Bridget.

Group, Commerce, Music / songs, Theatre

1 memorial

Previously viewed

World War 2

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do visit the picture source web site - it has a fascinating collection of maps.  And we enjoyed these photos of current WW2 ev...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

376 memorials
English Hedonists

English Hedonists

The artist Carrie Reichardt is part of this group, probably its main artist, "Mad in England" being her trademark. 2018: Via Facebook Carrie kindly confirmed that she had made this series for a co...

Group, History, Humour

7 memorials
National Theatre

National Theatre

First proposed in 1848, the gestation of the NT is complex (see the NT's own site). The first site for the NT was acquired in 1913, immediately behind the British Museum, at the corner of Gower Str...

Building, Theatre

4 memorials
Leander Club

Leander Club

From Leander Club: "Leander Club is the home of rowing and the most historic, prestigious and successful rowing club in the world, its athletes having won 138 Olympic and Paralympic medals since 19...

Place, Sport / Games

1 memorial
Henry Van Dyke

Henry Van Dyke

American poet.

Person, Poetry, USA

1 memorial