Capt. Henry Bond snr.

Henry Bond was born in 1813 in Hesketh Bank, near Tarleton on the south bank of the River Ribble. He was the youngest child of William and Alice Bond. Henry joined his older brothers (John, William and Michael) in going to sea. He married Jane Brade in 1836 and in the following year he is recorded as master of the newly-built Mary, which was managed and part-owned by his eldest brother William. Capt. Michael Bond also had shares in this vessel and was already living in Ulverston. In 1841, Jane was living with her parents-in-law in Hesketh. Presumably Henry was away at sea at census time. The registration document of the Fox in 1841 shows Henry to be the master, and that he owned shares in her.

Sometime between 1841 and 1843, Henry and Jane Bond moved to Furness. This coincided with decline in importance of the River Douglas ports (Hesketh & Tarleton) and a general movement of Tarleton sea captains to the Furness and Duddon ports. The Bonds settled in Greenodd and had two surviving children Henry, born in 1843 and Eliza, born 1853.

In April 1856 Henry 'of Barrow' took delivery of a new vessel the Eliza Bond. She plied the coastal trade predominantly between Barrow, Duddon or Ulverston and the ports of the Dee and the Mersey. There was an occasional foray across the Irish Sea! Her cargoes included coal, gunpowder, general goods, sulphur and ore.

On the personal side, Henry's wife, Jane died in Dalton in 1856. He married again sometime before the census of 1861. His second wife was Janet Mc.Callum, a widow. In 1861, the family were living in Burlington Road, Barrow.

Henry had obviously had close links with the Ashburner family from his earliest days in Furness. His brother, Capt. Michael Bond, was master and part-owner of a vessel, Margaret, built by Richard Ashburner at Greenodd in1848. Henry, himself, was a shareholder in two of the early Ashburner schooners. In September 1865 the Ashburner schooner Alice Latham was christened by "Miss Bond (Eliza), daughter of one of the owners".

By the 1860s Henry jnr. had joined his father as mate on the Eliza Bond. This partnership endured until Henry snr.'s death on the 13th October 1866. The Barrow Herald reported on the 26 October 1866:

THE CHOLERA IN BARROW: On Saturday morning last Captain Henry Bond, who had just arrived in Barrow from Saltney on the previous day, healthy and well, had an attack of cholera and after a few hours illness died................

Sources :

1. Information provided by Sue Bond.