As has been the way since the beginning of time, in the year 1842 in the quaint village of Kirkham, Lancashire a romance started up between Thomas Bond, a mechanic, eighteen years old, who was originally from Manchester and the eldest daughter of a local family, Alice Barnes. Alice was 23 years old. Marriage between the two was unlikely because Thomas was a minor but after a time, Alice became pregnant and as the expected baby became obvious to all, they finally married on the 9th of January, 1843 in the Parish Church of Kirkham Lancashire.
Their son William was born just two months later on 11 April 1843 and he was duely baptized at the parish church of Kirkham on the 18th of April of the same year. After his birth, the young family moved to the nearby large town of Preston. Another son, James, was born and was baptized at Saint John’s Church on the 21st of September of 1845 but sadly did not live long enough for his birth to be registered. A couple of years later on the tenth of March, 1847, Thomas and Alice had a daughter Frances. Young William was almost four years old. Soon after, Alice became pregnant again and gave birth in September of 1848 to a daughter who they named Cordelia after Thomas’ mother but the baby was not strong and she died that same December. When Willliam was seven, his brother Thomas was born. In March of 1851, at the time of the census, the family was living in the parish of St. James Church at 30 Brunswick Street in Preston. Thomas gave his occupation as a mechanic and the family included three children: William, aged 7, a scholar; Frances, aged 4, a scholar and young Thomas who was one year old.
In mid 1852, Thomas and Alice had their sixth and last child. She was baptized Curdelia Ann on the 20th July in 1852 at Saint Johns Church in Preston but again the baby was weak and she died a few months later. Tragedy continued to follow the family and William’s brother Thomas took ill and died May 4th in 1859 at the tender aged of nine years.
When the next census rolled around in 1861, the family was living at 38 Oxford Street, still in Preston. Thomas was 37 years old and was employed as an agriculturer machinist. Alice was 42 years old. Their two remaining children were living with them. William was eighteen years old employed as a plumber and his sister Frances was only fourteen but already working as a cotton weaver.
Life had not been kind to the Bond family and it should not have come as a surprise that William yearned to escape his lot. He ran off to Lisburn Ireland at a time when the Irish were still escaping in droves looking for a better life in England and elsewhere after the devastating famine years. At the age of 24, on the 17th of October 1867, William Bond enlisted in the Royal Artillery, in the 10 division Coast, Regiment number 17544 in Lisburn. He listed his occupation at the time as a plumber. He was described as being 5 feet 8-3/4 inches tall with sandy hair, grey eyes and fresh complexion. His religion was the Church of England.
Soon after enlisting, on the 3rd of December, 1867, he was sent to Malta. William settled into military life, determined to make something of himself. He studied hard and on the 16th of July 1868, William was awarded a Second Class Certificate of Education. He remained in Malta until the 27th of October in 1873 when he was sent to Feudorum Castle. In 1875 he moved on to Devonport and then to Dover in 1877 and finally to the Isle of Wight in 1878. William was thirty six years old.
