The son of the artist Henry William Bunbury; educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge, he enlisted in the army and died at the Cape of Good Hope. He was a sometimes-friend of Robert Southey.

REFERENCES TO Charles John Bunbury:

Robert Southey to Grosvenor C. Bedford, 5 January 1795 in The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey (London: 1849-1850)

Robert Southey to John Rickman, 30 March 1804 in The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey (London: 1849-1850)

Robert Southey to C. W. W. Wynn, April 1807 in The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey (London: 1849-1850)