Claude Bosanquet's nephew commissioned this monument from Soane on 11 September 1786. Bosanquet (1707-1786) was a successful Huguenot merchant and he bequesthed £10,000 to his nephew Samuel Bosanquet. Samuel was familiar with Soane because of his connections to the Bank of England, where he later served as Deputy Governor (from 1789) and Governor (1791-93). His brother Richard had met Soane in Naples in 1778.

Soane began designs for the monument shortly after his commission, taking sketches of St Stephen's on the 16 September 1786. Soane presented the client with a small drawing (on card) of a proposed design on 21 September. This design was apparently approved, as on 30 September Soane sent working drawings to his mason James Nelson. More fair drawings were taken to the Samuel Bosanquet in October. The work was probably finished in the spring of 1787, as Soane visited the site in March 1787.

The monument was located on the east wall of St Stephen's Church, north of the altar. It was Soane's first wall monument; his heavily shadowed finished drawing reveals a desire create depth and contour despite the monument's low relief.

St Stephen's Church was bombed in WWII and it is not evident that any of the monuments were salvaged.

Literature:
G. Waterfield ed., Soane and Death, 1996, pp. 86-87; G. Darley, The Accidental Romantic, 1999, p.191; P. Dean, Sir John Soane and London, 2006, p. 161.

Madeleine Helmer, 2011