James Bonar was born in 1852 . He was educated at Glasgow Academy and University, in Leipzig, Tbingen and Balliol College, Oxford. He became a lecturer of political economy in East London (1877-1880), examiner at the Civil Service Commission (junior, 1881, senior, 1895-1907) and deputy master of Canadian branch of Royal Mint (1907-1919). He became president of Section F of the British Association and Vice President of both the Royal Statistical Society and the Royal Economic Society. Bonar was an authority on Malthus and on Smith.
From the guide to the Papers of James Bonar, 1852-1941, political economist and historian, 1926-1939, (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department)