Now, it must have been with this James Bond that our family turned into Dissenters. There was at Newbury at that time, a very famous preacher named Benjamin Woodbridge, who was Rector of Newbury. He was an excellent clergyman, "Before he left the town, there was scarcely a family in it where there was not praying, reading, and singing of psalms". But he would not conform, and was ejected from Newbury Rectory, but he still used to come back and preach, and as he had expressed a wish to be buried in Newbury Church, he was brought back surreptitiously and buried in a grave near the chancel, no name being put on it! It is still there, one of four large gravestones at the east end of the nave, in front of the chancel. It is known to be his grave. Our James Bond II., left Benjamin Woodbridge some money in his will. We became dissenters about then. The connection is obvious. Benjamin Woodbridge outlived James by three years.

In James's will, his eldest son James was his executor, and five of his grandchildren, Anne & Sarah Crother and Mary, Sarah, and Rebecca Blake seem to have been expected to live with James, as the interest on legacies of £50 each was to be paid to any one of them who did not live with James, who presumably kept it for their keep otherwise, until they were 21, when each got the capital. This seems to indicate that they were all orphans. James Bond II had nine or ten children.

Now, here is an interesting supposition. James Bond II., left money to a Benjamin Avery, who oversaw his will, as well as to Benjamin Woodbridge. James' third grandson was christened Benjamin. Was this in memory of these men? Benjamin became a well known Turkey Merchant, and "Benjamin" became the principal family name for several generations. There were about two before. Benjamin was my grandfather with four "greats". James Bond II., left fifty shillings to the poor of Newbury. Most of the Bonds left something to the church or to the poor.

There was in 1662, a Jonathan Bond in Newbury, whom I cannot trace in the records unless he was Jonas, or Jonas's son (see pedigree). He paid tax on three hearths, but was in arrears of three shillings.

James Bond III, succeeded to his father James Bond II., who died in 1681. He lived in a house called "The Cock", which had at one time been an inn, in Bartholomew Street, Newbury, and he owned a lot of land round about Newbury and at Enborne, just to the west, which he bought from various people enumerated in his will. He married first Judith and then Mary, who was our grandmother with five "greats", (to my generation). He was well off, and was made a Common Councillor in 1687/8. He is simply described as a gentleman in his will, but as his second son John in his will is described as a flax dresser, it seems the business was going steadily on. (John died soon after his father.) For working flax, much water is necessary, and both Newbury and Enborne are on the River Kennet. No doubt they grew flax on some of their land. This John had a son John, who became Mayor of Newbury in 1734, and in 1744 was appointed to a committee to deal with the question of butchers living outside the town and their use and abuse of local privileges in the market. In 1745, this same John, son of John, was appointed to a committee, to get into their possession and examine the accounts for building the new Town Hall. In 1752, he was granted a lease of the land belonging to the Charity School, for 21 years at £25 per annum6, and to pay all taxes on it, but after this he became rather a nuisance, and got behind with his rents both for this, and in consequence of his Offices under the Corporation, and as a trustee for Mr. Cowslade's Charity. Well, we don't know his side of the question, perhaps he thought they owed something to him, and took his own way of recovering it! James Bond III., died in 1705. His eldest son was also James, who was described in the Gentleman's Magazine as a "considerable sail cloth maker" at Newbury, so the business seems to have prospered.

James Bond III. died in 1705. He was married twice, first to Judith, the second being Mary. He had five children, Judith having the first two. They were James, John, Benjamin the Turkey Merchant, Elizabeth, and Edward. John had a wife, Sarah, and two children, John and Elizabeth, before his father died, but Benjamin, Elizabeth and Edward were not yet of age (21), when James died, and John, with Mr. John Hore his father-in-law, and a Mr. Joseph Collins, were to be guardians, and see to the tuition of the three younger children till they were of age. Mary the second wife was left well provided for, but not guardian of the children. As three were hers, would this follow in any case? I think not, at that date.

When James had married Mary7, an indenture had been made, between James and a Mr. Thomas Clarke, of London, a silkman, that whilst James was alive Mr. Clarke was to have the use of certain lands lying in Newbury for the rent of one peppercorn a year. But when James died, Mary was to have £600, and then the indentures were to become void. She actually got more, (see will). There is no explanation, but I suggest that Mr. Clarke may have been Mary's guardian or father, and the value of the fields may have been a safeguard against her being left unprovided for?

A silkman would, I suppose, in those days have imported silk? And silk came from the East, on camels via Turkey. Is there a connection here between this mysterious silkman, and Benjamin's becoming a Turkey Merchant? As the Gentleman's Magazine calls him;---"Benjamin Bond, the Turkey Merchant, a gentleman of good repute and fortune." (Gent. Mag., LXIV, Feb. 1794. p.184.) John Bond, Benjamin's guardian, died soon after his father. James left Benjamin £500, a good sum in those days, and also "all four closes of meadow and arable land lying in the common field called Eastfield and Westfield in Newbury. Lately bought from Mr. Johnson".

Benjamin did well. He married a lady named Catherine, and became a Turkey Merchant, with an office in Leadenhall Street, opposite Billiter Lane (now Street), and a home in Tooting. He was well off. His children were Benjamin, John, (our gt. gt. gt. grandfather), George, Catherine, Mary, and possibly other daughters. Benjamin must have been a good father, as John in his will speaks of him as "my late and honoured father". Benjamin was buried in Bunhill Fields, where Bunyan preached, in the City Road, and where many dissenters were buried.

Benjamin the son married Miss Elizabeth Hopkins, and their son changed his name to Bond-Hopkins, and Quartered their two shields together, putting hers on the heraldic right, and his on the left. His seems to have been altered in the process, as it had a pean chevron and ermine lion for a crest, instead of the black chevron and black lion or blue horse. The diagram on this page will make this clear. Benjamin Bond-Hopkins was M.P. for Ilchester.

The reason for the change of name may have been, that Elizabeth was the heiress of John Hopkins. John Hopkins was a relative, and became immensely rich on the death of, "Vulture" Hopkins. This was another John Hopkins, who was given the name of "Vulture" because of his rapacious way of making money. He left £300,000. He must have been a most unpleasant character, for in his will he more or less willed that none of the money was to go to anyone living at the time, it was mostly to go to children yet unborn. The nearest relations took the will to court, and the judge allowed that the will was absurd, and had the money divided between the three next of kin. John Hopkins, Elizabeth's father, was one. He had been a farmer in Essex before. "Vulture" Hopkins lived at "Brittens" near Dagenham, in Essex. (See Gents. Mag., 1787, Vol LVIII., page 511.)

John Bond, the second son of Benjamin the first Turkey Merchant, and my gt. gt. gt. grandfather, married Sarah Cowley. He lived at 44, and then at 40, Crutched Friars, and later at St. Mary Axe in the parish of St. Andrew Undershaft, both in the City of London, and he also was a Turkey Merchant, and at one time a director of the East India Company. (In one place, the Gents Mag. wrongly calls him a West Indian Merchant and of Mitcham. This was someone else.) It was he and some of his sons that started the Bond Bank, in 1790 or 1791. He died in 1801. He was very well off, having many estates and much money, all of which were very fairly and wisely left in his will. His estate at Vauxhall was to go to his wife for life, and then to his eldest son. His sons were Benjamin, John, and Joseph. The interest on £300 left by his father to the Protestant Dissenting Meeting House at Lower Tooting, was to be continued for the time being. The bank was at 2, Exchange Alley, just off Lombard Street by the Royal Exchange, and is now covered by part of Martin's Bank. It was at first called "John Bond & Son". and later "John Bond, Sons and Pattisall". More of this later. John died in 1801. Buried in Bunhill Fields. Will most interesting.

The third son of the first Benjamin Bond was George. He married a Miss Eleanor Chitty. Her father was Sir Thomas Chitty, Bart and owned a lot of land, with farms, a manor house, and the parish church, at Merton, near Tooting, in south west London.

At his death, he left all this to Eleanor and George. There is a most interesting wall plaque in memory of all of them in the church. George's youngest son, Charles Frederick, became clergyman there, and later George's grandson by his fourth son, (he had five), Essex Henry Bond, who had Essex Henry Bond B.A., (they had lived in Essex). George's eldest son, John, died at twenty one. Thomas the second son, commanded the East Indiaman "Royal Admiral", and his brother Essex Henry commanded it afterwards. Thomas seems to have lived in Deptford as his father died in his house there.

George Bond, the third son of George and Eleanor, is well known. He was a barrister, and was made a Kings Sergeant a year before he died of a chill. He was of the Middle Temple. He was a very witty man, and usually won his cases by delighting the jury, which must have consisted of very ignorant people at that time, for they often brought in a verdict;--- "We find for Bond and costs", and as my father pointed out, a jury does not find for the barrister, but for the plaintiff or defendant, as the case may be. It was thought that he would have been made a judge, but his early death at 49 prevented it. His wit was coarse, but so was all humour at that time, and one must not judge a man out of his period. He married Kitty Cooke. He died after only three years of marriage, leaving two children, and another not yet born. He had a sister, who married Mr. Brown.

Now I come back to Benjamin's second son, John, our gt. gt. gt. grandfather, who married Sarah Cowley. He died in 1801. He had three sons, Benjamin, born in 1762, John, who died when only 31, and Joseph. Their bank was started about 1791, being mentioned in the list of bankers the following year. (John was a merchant and banker.) All went well for 40 years, until the slump after the Napoleonic Wars. They weathered 1825, one of the worst years when banks were going down like nine pins, but in 1831 they had to stop payment. But they did not go bankrupt. Benjamin, (already an elderly man), and Mr. Pattisall, and possibly Joseph, (I do not know when he died), went on doing their best with what was left, and in 1841 everything was properly paid off, and the bank quite clear of debts. Old Benjamin had died in harness, in 1838, cared for by his niece, Mary Ward, his wife, his brothers, and his eldest son having died before him. Mr. Pattisall made the final payments. I have this on the authority of the London Institute of Bankers. I think we owe them our respect. No one ever lost money through a Bond. Most of the banks that were knocked out by that slump went bankrupt and their clients lost their money.

Now we come to George the musician, Benjamin's second son. (shown on family tree). He was not mentioned in his father's will, though he was the only son left. I wonder if he shocked his father a little? He was quite different from the rest. Instead of going into business, he became a musician, playing the double bass, in an orchestra, I presume, and he married a French wife, and in a church of England church. And all the rest were dissenters! There may have been friction, I don't know. He was married in 1806, in St. Olave's Church Hart Street, in the city, to Elizabeth Siday, and they had three sons and two daughters. He lived whilst the boys were boys, at 18, Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell, according to his son George's school entry at Christ's Hospital, though he was not a ratepayer there. At that time there were, I believe, gardens at Clerkenwell where orchestras played. His eldest boy was Charles John Bond, who was the forebear of the "St. Quintin Bonds". His second son was Francis John, and his daughters Eliza Mary8 and Harriett Jane. George's musicianship came down very strongly in many of his descendants. His other son was also named George, and he was the original of the portraits of himself and his wife of which some of you possess photos,--- my grandfather.---

Now, my father told me, that George his grandfather was a very eccentric man. He lavished money on his two elder sons, even keeping a pony for them to ride on, but he would have nothing to do with little George. He got George into Christ's Hospital when he was only seven years old, and left him there for seven years or a little longer, never having him home. When the seven years were up, they gave him his coach fare home,(it would not have been far), but instead of going home, he went down to the docks, and signed on on a sailing ship bound for Russia. And he went to Russia in her. He didn't have such a bad time. He was the only member of the crew who could read or write, and he used to write the men's love letters for them, and they treated him quite well. But the life was of course very rough, and after they got back he went, not home, but to an aunt who had always been kind to him. She got him a job in a wine merchant's office, he rose to be a partner in the firm, and died a very rich man. He only lived to be 65. My father thought he overworked. He was hard at it in the city all day, and used to get up at five every morning to work in his garden, as he was very fond of gardening. He lived in Hampstead, and later at Willoughby House, Laurie Park, Sydenham. He is buried at Highgate Old Cemetery with his wife and some of his family. His wife was Caroline Selina Woodward, of a theatrical family, I believe, and many of her descendants were good amateur actors. George Bond was a good and nice man. They were married in 1840, on the first of January. He died in 1875.

Now, George the musician's behaviour is a puzzle. And what was Elizabeth Siday doing, never seeing her little boy, I think the answer must be, that she died at or soon after his birth. This would explain everything, including the kind aunt. She may have been a Mrs. Kimpton, who was still sending George her nephew presents when he was fifty. I have a book she gave him on his fiftieth birthday. And how could a man on a musician's salary have afforded a pony? Also my father told me, that he was well off and rather influential, and should not have sent the boy to Christ's Hospital, as he could well afforded to pay for the boy's education. Father gave me a clue, which has I think explained all this, though I have not got absolute proof of it. The clue was, that when father said his grandfather was eccentric, he gave us an example of it that he "called himself Augustus, though his real name was George". I find, that a man known by both names died in 1851. His wife had to swear before the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, that he used both names,--- she thought his name was George Augustus, but he knew it wasn't, and signed his will "George", and so he signed his first marriage certificate and his son's school entry. I think it must be the same man. The wife as I expected was not then Elizabeth Siday, but Marguerite des Fontaine, another French name! Perhaps one of Elizabeth's friends? And his profession was dockmaster at the East India Docks. I have a vague memory that my father did say once that George held this post, but it is not clear enough to go upon. But when one considers that George's grandfather John Bond had been a Director of the East India Company, and his fairly near cousins captains of East Indiamen, this does seem a likely post for his family to have got him into, when his growing family became more than a musician's salary could bear. To hold the post of Dockmaster, the Port of London Authority has informed me, George would have had to have a Captain's Certificate. This I presume, would have meant several years at sea? Does this explain why little George never lived at home? Was the father at sea and the mother dead? And does the better paid post explain the pony? These are my own conjectures, my father did not suggest them. But perhaps if the mother had died in child birth, father avoided getting too near the awkward questions I should certainly have asked, as I was young when he told me about little George never living at home. But if the father was at sea, who looked after the other boys? The Dockmaster lived in the Master's House in the Dockyard, that would not have been the home little George never went to, as his father was 2nd Dockmaster in 1834, and Dockmaster in 1838. Perhaps an aunt cared for them. I have copies of George's 1st marriage certificate, and of his death, and have seen the will, if all belong to the same man. Little George was born in 1810.

George the musician, and Dockmaster, who is said to have played quite exceptionally well, had Charles John9 as his first son. Charles John a professor of music died as the result of a fall from a "penny farthing" bicycle. He was 71, not a young man at the time. He married Isabella Maria Leatham. His eldest son was Floriel St. Quintin Bond, a doctor, trained at the St. Thomas's Hospital (London). He practised at Havant, near Portsmouth, and is buried near there at Warblington. When the boy was to be christened, the godparents could not agree about a name for him. So they agreed, to open a book at random, and to take the first name they came to. "Floriel" was the result of this, but in use he was always called "Frank". He married Mary Anne Frost, and they had Charles, a professional violinist, Edith, Bertha, and Arthur, a sailor. He was in the merchant navy, and died as the result of a fall into the hold of his ship. This family was so musical, that their evening pleasure was to join in playing all the classical quartets and quintettes. Their mother, Cousin Mary to us, was a splendid pianist. Dr. Bond played the 'cello, Charlie and Bertha violins, and Edith the viola. Charles John's second son George, was one of the best English opera singers of his time. He died of a chill, unmarried.

A sister of Charles John and daughter of George the musician, named Harriett Jane, married a Dr. Cane. Their daughter also Alice, married Mr. Alexander Oakes. He was in the Diplomatic Service, and he wrote a most valuable book, about statistics, I believe, and he was knighted, becoming Sir Alexander Oakes. Their son, Charles Seton Crosby Oakes, became a master at Charterhouse. He married a french wife, Germaine Marie Madeline Bourcard, and they had a daughter Charmian. He had a sister, Charmian, too.

Charles John Bond also had two daughters. Isabella Maria, who married Mr. Marcus Louis, a solicitor of Wales. They had a daughter, Marcia, who emigrated to America, where she met with a bad motor accident, losing the sight of one eye.

Charles John's other daughter, Fanny, married Mr. William Speed Q.C. After his death, she married Lloyd Elsgood.

The Speeds had Kate, who married Mr. Parsons, but had no children. Mabel, who married Martin de Selincourt, who was in business in a big way, owning Swan and Edgar's in Regent Street. Their daughter Dorothy married Mr. A.A. Milne, the well known author, and they had a son Christopher Robin Milne. Theodore Speed did not marry. Launselot Speed was an artist, drawing regularly for "Punch". Harry Speed was a clergyman, and Elmer Speed was a Colonel in the Guards, and later a stockbroker.

Now I go back to the youngest son, George, of George the musician; George Bond, this son, imported wine. (You remember that I told you that he started in a wine merchants office and rose to be head of the firm?) He had eight children by his wife Caroline Selina, whom I once saw at Brighton where she ended her life. I was only three and a quarter years old at the time, but can distinctly remember being taken to see her. She was sitting at the far end of a long room, on the left of a window in a big chair, and she talked to me a little, but she did not play about with me as the aunts would have done, so I thought her a little dull. She was very old at the time, much too old to play about, and died a few months afterwards. She was very pretty. Some of you have photos of the portrait by Lucas which I have of her. They were my grandparents.

Caroline Phoebe Bond, the eldest of George and Caroline's children, married William Brissault Minet, who was an engineering officer on that enormous ship, "The Great Eastern". He died very young, leaving a son, also William, and two daughters, Elsie10 and Maud. This William went into the wine business in which my father George Phillipps Bond had followed his father, George. William married Edith Smith, and they had eight children. Elsie died fairly young of a rheumatic complaint. Phyllis married Mr. Taylor, Commander in the Navy and they had William, June and Antony, who was in the Fleet Air Arm. Doris married Mr. Somers, who was in a bank, but they had no children. Marjorie married Mr. MacFerson, and they had Michael and Anne. John married Marian (Molly) Evans, and they had Shirley (Sally), and Susan. Sally married Mr. Charalam bos Anagyros Papageorgieu, a Greek, who had spent a good deal of his early life fighting the Communists in Greece, after the second world war. He became a journalist, and later obtained a Greek Government post, and they settled down in Athens. To date (1957) there are two little girls. Peter was married twice, and has two sons. William did not marry, and became a printer at sea. He had a wonderful escape during the war, when a high explosive bomb went off only seven yards away. He threw himself to the ground, and the pieces flew over his head. He was in the balloon barrage. John was very delicate, but did some very good propaganda work for the Government. He is the head of an insurance company. Peter also served in the second world war, as a Lieutenant.

Mary married Mr. Edwards, and they have two sons.

Ellen, or as she was always called, Aunt Nellie, second daughter of George and Caroline, married Mr. Frank Donald Campbell.

I do not know whether the following story about him is exaggerated, but it seems he was an extravagant man, keeping it is said, twelve horses and a donkey. He seems to have used the horses both for riding and driving, and he was very short sighted, riding them hard on bad surfaces which he did not notice, so that they were constantly going lame. And my mother told me, that on one occasion, when his mother-in-law, Caroline Selina, was going to stay at the Campbells, and was expecting to be met at the station by a nice carriage and pair, she was terribly affronted to be met by the coachman with the donkey cart! All the horses were lame! Aunt Nellie was very beautiful. They had two daughters, Violet going to America, and Doris marrying Mr.Greenwood.

My own father came next, and if it had not been for his interest in the family, and for a number of things he told me about it, you would not have this account of the family to read!

His name was George Phillipps Bond, spelt like that! It was the name of his godfather, a Mr. Phillipps, who was only 21 years old at the time. Mr. Phillipps only died a few years before father, living to 97, when my father was between 70 and 80. I believe that Mr. Phillipps' father was an old friend of the family.

George Phillipps Bond followed his father in the business of importing wines, having their office in the City. In my father's time it was called, "Forbes, Cunningham, and Bond". He retired when he was about 41, and much later the business was bought by "Whistlers". He lived at No. 7, Brunswick Place, York Gate, (called Upper Harley Street now), near Regents Park. He was married twice. His first wife was Miss Miriam Prosser, who was said to be very good looking. Father was too. He was tall and thin when he was old, later wearing a short beard. He had no children by Miss Prosser, who died young. He then married Miss Susan Smith, usually called Minnie, a name given her in childhood. She was one quarter Irish, on the side of her grandmother, whose people were O'Connors. They had three daughters. The eldest daughter, Constance Victoria, was a very good athlete, playing hockey for Sussex, and for the South of England for two years, when she went to British Columbia and Vancouver Island, spending about fifteen years there on and off. She was also good at tennis, golf and skating. She was very musical, playing the piano and violin well. The next, Gertrude Estella, was also good at games, until she became a complete invalid with spastic paraplegia. She was a thinker, as also was father. She had a beautiful nature.

I, Florence Cynthia Bond, am the last of the three. I have never been much good at anything. "A Jack of all trades a master of none!" I once could paint, and I was keen on The Girl Guides, and still have a piece of land here at Battle, where London Guides come to camp. Also I have a little orchard which is called a fruit farm.

Father was a good cricketer, and played for his school, Mill Hill, and for the Crystal Palace Club when they lived in Sydenham. He became nearly blind and deaf, but never gave any trouble. Feeding, dressing, and going for walks by himself to within six days of his death. My sisters were born in London. Then they all went to Cyprus House, Exmouth, then to Basingstoke where I was born, and then to Eastbourne, Sussex, where they are all buried in Ocklynge Cemetery, where I shall join them, if all goes well.

The next of George's children was Eliza Mary, who married Edward Morley Chubb. She was called Aunt Lizzie.

There were seven children;......

Harry Percy, who married Gertrude Elizabeth Hollister, and had two children, Elsie Florence who married Sydney Starling, and Winifred Evelyn, who married Harry Entwistle. They had a son, Peter.

Eva Lilian, who ran the Ladies' League Agency for many years for governesses etc., in London, and who was very musical.

Edward Vivien, who married Alice Smith, but had no children. He fought in the Boer War, and later farmed for years in Canada. He was known as "Div".

Hugh Alford, (known as "Pip"), who married Edith Pannell, and had one son Vivien, who has two daughters, Vivian Ann and Jacqueline Susan.

Kitty Trevylyan, who married Victor Donald Geddes. They lived in Buenos Aires where her daughter Kitty Rowena and son Roland were born. Subsequently they went to Chile. Rowena, (Ronnie), came to England during the 1939/45 war, as a W.A.A.F. (Women's Auxiliary Air Force), and when demobilized married James Blair, and went to live in Buenos Aires. She has two children, Donald David, and Isabella Patrica. Roland married Ione Winifred Duncan, and lives in Chile. He has five children, Sandra, Nicola, Philip, Roger, and another son named Richard.

Eliza Mary Chubb's next child was Elsie Muriel, who was secretary of a publication called "The Spotlight", for many years. She retired to East Dean, near Eastbourne, Sussex.

The last child of Eliza Mary was Gerald, who died young.

George and Selina's next child was Frederick. He was born in 1848, and died two years later.

Next came Gertrude Jane Kimpton Bond, who married Douglas Bigwood, they had three sons, Hubert, Claude, and Vernon. Claude emigrated to America about 41 years ago, where he still is, and it was owing to his kindness and trouble that I was able to obtain a copy of Dr. Alan Kerr Bond's book, from which I have taken details about the Bonders, some of the Bond ships, and the de Earths. He was twice married, the second time to Ruth11, a lady of Swedish descent. He is lame from a serious accident. Vernon Bigwood enlisted in The Buffs at the beginning of the 1914/18 war, and was killed. His name is in the Regiments Book of Remembrance in Canterbury Cathedral. Hubert, the eldest, was very delicate. He was a very big baby, "Brighton's prize baby". I think he weighed 14 lbs. at birth, his mother being a very small woman, and it was thought impossible to save both mother and child. The doctors made their greatest effort to save the mother, but to their surprise the child lived too. But it was delicate as a result of the way it had to be squeezed. Hubert went in for growing chrysanthemums in Guernsey, which the doctors thought would be best for him, and when elderly he went to California, near his brother Claude. He was very musical, playing the piano, and was a very kind, gentle, man.

George and Selina's next child was Jessie Isabella, also musical and good at theatricals, as also was my father. She married Brevet Colonel Noel Roberts, of the R.A.S.C., and much of their time was spent in India, and then Aldershot. They had Phyllis, who married first Banks12, and then Colonel John Hayter. Their only child, Simon, was killed at 18 in a motor cycle accident. Jessie and Noel Roberts' second child was Sybil, who was also very good at theatricals. In fact, she produced many amateur plays. She has not married. Years ago, she went to South Australia as Secretary to the Governor General, Sir Winston Duggan, and when he was sent again for a second term, Sybil went as secretary to his wife. And she has been doing that ever since, taking on each Governor's wife in turn. She must be invaluable to them, when new, as she knows all the ropes and people.

George and Selina's last and eighth child was Alfred. He married, but had no children. He used to import tea, so he was the last of the Bond merchants. He died six weeks after my father. He was very kind, and when he used to come and stay, he used to take me to a sweet shop and buy me a supply of sweets.

After George's death, Caroline Selina moved to Brighton, at the end of her life, where she enjoyed trotting up and down the front in her carriage and pair. But owing to the failure of a company in which a great deal of the families money had been invested, that had to go, and she lived very simply at the end. In fact, the family was very much impoverished,though all managed to make their way. My father was affected least, as he had followed my grandfather in the wine business, and worked in that until he had made enough to retire on, in his very early forties. He helped educate one of his sisters children who had been left badly off. My father also inherited the families good ear for music. He could play the banjo, and always in tune, and he had a gift for writing funny rhymes such as "Limericks". My sister Gertrude also could do this. That which was left of the family trust money was wound up with the consent of all concerned, only a few years ago.

There are no men left with the Bond name in this part of the family now, and when Bertha St. Quintin Bond and myself pass on to further activities, there will be no women either, but there are plenty of descendants through the females.

6. The original text was marked "see note at end" at this point but I was unable to find any notes that were relivent. - PJE. Return

7. The surnames of the wives are unknown. Return

8. Who married the Reverend Henry Fleetwood Sheppard. (She would have been the aunt of Eliza Mary Chubb.) Return

9. He lived in Brighton Return

10. Elsie married an actor and had two sons. Return

11. Surname not known Return

12. Christian name not known Return

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