Agent 007 of Gwynedd
- Yen Ho
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
I've been hearing about this story for a long time, and I didn't believe it at first. But the more the story keeps popping up in front me, the more I have to write about this in my blog. Is it really true there was someone in Lower Gwynedd who shared the name with the spy character we know and love?
The Bonds Come to Gwynedd
James Bond (1900-1989) was born on January 4, and the youngest son of Francis and Margaret Bond. Originally from Uruguay, his father Francis came to Gwynedd in 1892 after his sister Adelaide was married into the prominent Ingersoll family. He was in love with the Gwynedd scenery that he purchased both the Samuel Beaver and George Danenhower lots in 1900. While waiting for his new mansion to be built on that property, he and his family lived at the old Spring House Farm that is currently owned by the Lower Gwynedd Township.
The architect behind Francis E. Bond's home was Horace Trumbauer, who was responsible for designing the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the buildings on the Duke University campus.
Following his Father's Footsteps
Francis had a fascination with birds that he travelled to South America to study them, thus becoming an amateur ornithologist and shared his love of birds to his children, including James. After his mother Margaret died in 1912, Francis donated over 100 bird specimens to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. They were birds he studied while traveling in the Orinoco Delta and Paria Peninsula, Venezuela. You can read about it here!
After his father remarried to an English woman in 1914, the family moved to England where James attended one of the most prestigious universities in the country: University of Cambridge. James returned to the United States in 1922 to pursue his lifelong passion of ornithology. In addition, he joined the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia where he remained for over 40 years. Instead of traveling to South America like his father, James went to the Caribbean where he studied birds there, and jotted down his findings in his 1936 book, Birds of the West Indies.
The Name is Bond. James Bond.
When his 1936 book came out, a fellow bird hobbyist came across his name on the book after purchasing it, and decided to use his name for his character in his debut spy novel, Casino Royale. His name was Ian Fleming, a British intelligence officer in World War II.
"In 'Forging a Bond,' a sidebar to an article about Assumption Hall by P.W. Fox in the Fall 2001 edition of Montgomery County Town and Country Living, it notes that James Bond’s wife, Mary, sent a note to Fleming about the selection of her husband’s name and Fleming replied, 'It struck me that this name – brief, unromantic and yet masculine, was just what I needed. In return, I can only offer your James Bond unlimited use of the name Ian Fleming for any purpose he may think fit.'"
- Michael Rocco, "The name of 007 came from Lower Gwynedd resident James Bond."
James and his wife Mary visited Fleming his home in Jamaica in 1964 before he passed away, and Fleming gave them an advanced copy of his book You Only Live Twice which he wrote inside, "To the real James Bond from the thief of his identity."
After the James Bond character became a well-known name, James wanted to have little involvement with the character. Robert McCracken Peck, senior fellow at the Academy, visited the Bond couple and heard their stories and trips to the Caribbean. Anytime the character was mentioned to James, he would switch the conversation back to birds. But there were times his wife and friends would joke about how similar he was to the character.
"'His wife used to joke about this – that he was often carrying guns,' Peck said. 'He would go in and out of the Caribbean, carrying shotguns and pistols and so on and the people at customs would – after the Fleming books started coming out – do a double take. Look at his passport. Look at all the guns. Then just nod and let him through.'"
- Sinead Cummings, "James Bond has a Philadelphia connection that may surprise you."
Bibliography
Bond Centennial and Heritage Committee and Marion K. Rosenbaum. Gwynedd-Mercy College. (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2006): 17-27.
Cummings, Sinead. "James Bond has a Philadelphia connection that may surprise you." Philly Voice. Last modified December 5, 2019. https://www.phillyvoice.com/james-bond-name-origin-philadelphia-no-time-to-die-movie/.
"GMercyU: Home of the 'Real' James Bond." Gwynedd Mercy University. Accessed June 14, 2025. https://www.gmercyu.edu/james-bond.
Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 20, n. 19 (1905): 295.
Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 20, n. 20 (1905): 313.
Rocco, Michael. "The name of 007 came from Lower Gwynedd resident James Bond." The Reporter. Last modified September 24, 2021. https://www.thereporteronline.com/2001/12/12/the-name-of-007-came-from-lower-gwynedd-resident-james-bond/.
Scott, J. D. Montgomery County 1877, Gwynedd, North Wales, Ambler, Royer's Ford, Limerick Station, 1877.
Smith, J. L. Montgomery County 1893, Upper and Lower Gwynedd Townships, Lansdale, North Wales, Spring House, Ambler Right, 1893.
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