The Bonds of Newbury and London - The Bonds of West Buckland and Somerset

You will remember that I mentioned earlier, that Robert and Elizabeth Bond, the first Bonds of Earth, had either a third son, or at least a near relation? He, whoever he was, was the forbear of the Bonds of West Buckland in Somerset, who later became the London Bonds, producing amongst them the only member of the family to become a Lord Mayor, of London.

The first of them was a William Bond, whom the Heralds agreed was descended from a younger house of Earth, or from at least a near relation. They used the chevron with three bezants, but with a crescent on it, which is an Heraldic "difference" denoting that the family came from a second son. (Not third, as one might think. Obscure here!) Dr. Bond in his book suggests that this William may have been the builder of Henry VIII's great warship, the Henri Grace a Dieu, or Great Harry. A William Bond certainly was paid for fitting it out, but it may not have been the same. There are other families of Bonds not connected with this one, though no doubt all descended from the Bonder.

Whether he made the Great Harry or not, William certainly produced two famous sons, besides other children. There are two very fine monuments to them in St. Helen's Church, Bishopsgate.

The first reads;-- "Here lyeth the body of William Bond, Alderman and sometime Sheriff of London, a merchant adventurer, and most famous in his age for his great adventures both by sea and by land. Obit 30 die Maii, 1576." A translation of his Latin epitaph reads as follows;-- "Behold under this tomb, William Bond, the flower of the merchants which Britain has produced lies buried. He having suffered much amongst waves and rocks, enriched the shores of his country by means of foreign merchandise." Here he is favourably compared with Jason bringing home the golden fleece. "Alas that death cannot be bribed with gold! The Flower of Merchants, William Bond, lies buried." He was a citizen and haberdasher, alderman, and sheriff in 1567. He purchased Crosby Place in Bishopsgate in 1567. This house, at the time the highest in London, has been taken down and reerected in Chelsea. At one time the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards king Richard III., had had the house, and at another time Sir Thomas More. The second son of the first William Bond was the Lord Mayor. He was Sir George Bond, citizen and haberdasher, Master of the Haberdashers in 1587, Knight and Lord Mayor 1587, the year before the Armada. He died in 1592. There is a portrait of him in Haberdashers Hall, in Staining Lane off Gresham Street.

Dr. Bond states in his book, p. 64, that Camden says that ;-- "from a daughter of the Lord Mayor, (Sir George Bond), descended the Duke of Marlborough". If it were so, and if as the Heralds, Denis Bond, and the West Buckland and London Bonds themselves thought, they were really part of this family, this means that Marlborough's great descendant of our own times, is about sixteenth cousin to the rest of the family. An astonishing thought!

Sir George's great grandson was the Bond of Peckham. It was country there then, and this Sir Thomas Bond, a baronet, had a house there with a most beautiful garden. It was a famous garden, mentioned by Evelyn in his diary. Sir Thomas used to collect all sorts of fruit trees, getting them from France. He had fine views of London and Greenwich and the Thames from the house. His son Henry succeeded him. He was a friend of Charles II., and James II., they used to go down to Peckham to hunt with him, in the country. But he was no fair- weather friend, for when James II., was turned out, Henry went with him into exile, (or it may have been partly due to financial difficulties resulting from his father's attempt to build Bond Street, which got beyond his resources), and did not return for many years. The mob pillaged the house and spoilt the beautiful garden. It was in the formal style usual then. His son and grandson went on in England,and then the male line died out, though this is uncertain.

Now I am going back to William Bond, the merchant adventurer. His tomb in St. Helen's Church, Bishopsgate, consists of himself and his wife at a priedieu, with six sons behind William, and one daughter behind his wife, who was a Miss Hill. Among other ships he owned the Pelican, hiring her out to Drake, who went round the world in her, naming her The Golden Hind in compliment to Sir Christopher Hatton, whose crest a golden hind was, and who partly financed the venture.

Next to William the merchant adventurers monument, is another even more elaborate one to Martin Bond, Williams third son. The monument was erected by one of the sons of the sons on Williams monument. It shows Martin in the armour of the time, sitting by his tent, with a sentry, and another soldier holding his horse. The words read;--

"Memoriae Sacrum. Neere this place resteth ye body of ye worthy citizen and soldier Martin Bond, Esquire. Son of William Bond, Sheriff and Alderman of London. He was Captain in the year 1588 at ye camp at Tilbury, and after remained Chief Captain of ye trained bands of the Citty until his death. He was a merchant adventurer, and free of the Company of Haberdashers. He lived to the age of 85 years, and dyed in May 1643. His piety, prudence, courage and honesty, have left behind him a never dying monument".

"how prudent was this soldier, and how noble his mind, his country and his superior officers knew. How great his piety, how extensive his liberality, the poor can testify, as also the religious and the pensioners on his bounty. This soldier and citizen, ages cannot produce one out of a thousand to equal, nor is his like remembered. William Bond. Esq., has erected this as a memorial of his uncles worth."

Not many years ago the Haberdashers Company renovated his monument and that of his father.

Most of these people were buried in St. Stephens Church, Wellbrook, near the Mansion House. They owned Bonds Court, a small alley just by the church, and some of them have been there up to fairly recent times. (See old London Directories).

Bond Street was begun by Sir Thomas Bond of Peckham. But it proved too much for his financial resources. There is a lot about this in "From Berkeley Square to Bond Street", published in 1952 by John Murray, Albermarle Street London. Written by B. H. Johnson.

Returning to William Bond, the merchant adventurer, Hakluyt only mention him once. He had a quarrel with the Muscovie Company, for trading to Narve, in Lapland of Finland, without their consent.

There are pictures and the inscriptions in full of the Bond tombs in St. Helen's Bishopsgate, in "Annals of St. Helen's Bishopsgate" by the Rev. J. E. Cox. Published by Tinsley Bros., 8, Cathering Street. Strand. 1876. A copy is in the Guildhall Library, but they have not got one at present at the British Museum Library.