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."

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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...

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Sunley and Icarus

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

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Other Subjects

Red Lion, Kilburn

Red Lion, Kilburn

Closed Pubs has a good picture of the current building and gives: "The Red Lion was situated at 34 Kilburn High Road. This pub was known as The Westbury at time of closure in 2012. Rebuilt in the l...

Place, Commerce, Community / Clubs, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Brandram Brothers and Co.

Brandram Brothers and Co.

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1 memorial
London Hop Trade

London Hop Trade

Hops were introduced to England from the Netherlands. They were grown principally in Kent and brought to London via the River Thames and later by rail to London Bridge. By the mid-nineteenth centur...

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1 memorial
The Establishment Club

The Establishment Club

Peter Cook said this was modelled on "those wonderful Berlin cabarets which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the outbreak of the Second World War". Lenny Bruce, Barry Humphries, ...

Group, Commerce, Community / Clubs, Humour

1 memorial
Baron Herman de Stern

Baron Herman de Stern

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Person, Commerce

1 memorial