George Edward Bond

George Edward Bond Edward Cordall, born 4 July 1853 in Cheshire married Rachel Smith and had four children. Died May 1914.

He likely faked his death, moved south with Rachel's pregnant younger sister Sarah, took the name George ‘Edward’ Bond, and became a Medway architect.

While searching for a vehicle registration for G. Bond’s car (see previous post) on the Kent History & Library centre we...
07/09/2026

While searching for a vehicle registration for G. Bond’s car (see previous post) on the Kent History & Library centre website I discovered information connected to the Best family, (brewers of Chatham) specifically Major Mawdistly Gaussen Best (1826–1906) owner of Park House, Boxley, a Brevet Major, Kent JP and High Sheriff of Kent in 1881.

There is documentary evidence that George Edward Bond undertook architectural work for Major Best, the principal owner of the Boxley Estate, Maidstone. The Kent History and Library Centre's Boxley Estate architectural archive contains a set of architectural drawings dated 1886 for the construction of two cottages on land at Maidstone Road, Chatham, for Major Best (U4397/3/3/1). These properties would have been designed alongside ‘Holly Bank House’ and ‘Ingleside Villa’ which were also designed in 1886 during Bond’s early career as an architect.

The strongest source I’ve found is the Friends of Medway Archives & Local Studies article on Kennel Farm. It says the Kennel Farm estate stretched from the east side of Dark Lane to the northwest side of what are now Horsted Way and Maidstone Road, and included Pattens Lane. It also says that the land was formerly owned by the Best family.

Four years later, on 31 December 1890, Bond was again commissioned by Major Best, this time producing architectural drawings for proposed stables and associated buildings (U4397/6/1). Possibly on the Boxley estate after he’d purchased Boxley Abbey in 1890.

These records establish a documented professional relationship between Bond and Major Best extending from at least 1886 to 1890. It gives us a potentially important clue concerning Bond's professional development. The 1886 cottage commission appears just as Bond was establishing himself as an architect/surveyor in Rochester. A commission for a major landed estate would have been a significant private-client connection.

Found this little snippet of information in the book 'Motoring around Kent The First Fifty Years' by Tim Harding and Bry...
06/09/2026

Found this little snippet of information in the book 'Motoring around Kent The First Fifty Years' by Tim Harding and Bryan Goodman: See attached image.

So, by 1906, George Edward Bond was possibly involved in the new world of motoring. The Motoring Annual and Motorist’s Yearbook 1906 lists a “Bond, G. E.” as a member of the Kent Automobile Club, founded in 1903 for Kent motorists.

Although this membership provides strong contemporary evidence of Bond's involvement in motoring, it does not by itself prove that he owned a motor car. Surviving vehicle-registration records from the period may yet reveal the registration number, make and ownership of his car.

Bond designed St Ronan's in 1899/1900, his house included an integral coach house. Historic England specifically describes the ground-floor hipped coach-house incorporated into the house.

The Town Hall in all its glory:
04/09/2026

The Town Hall in all its glory:

On this day, 4th September 1896, Bond designs a small almost unnoticable little building in the Brook Chatham.“The site,...
04/09/2026

On this day, 4th September 1896, Bond designs a small almost unnoticable little building in the Brook Chatham.

“The site, on which the Town Hall now stands, was originally a large open space of apparently waste ground in front of St. Mary’s Schools, and was frequently used in days gone by as a pitch for circuses, Wax-work shows, and Menageries.” Edwin Harris Guide to Chatham (up-to-date) 1912.

On 22 November 1890, Chatham was officially incorporated by Royal Charter. With this new civic status came a desire—almost an obligation—for a building that reflected the town’s ambitions. The old Local Board of Health offices were no longer adequate for a borough with growing pride and political presence. The newly formed Mayor and Corporation resolved to commission a grand Town Hall and Municipal Building, something that would stand as a symbol of Chatham’s new identity.

By this time Bond’s reputation had risen to the point where the Chatham Town Council formally adopted his plans for a new Town Hall. They instructed him to prepare specifications and quantities in advance of inviting tenders from builders. The estimated cost was £18,000—a substantial sum, and a clear sign of the council’s confidence in Bond’s vision.

In September 1896 Bond responded with a design in a distinctive Free Renaissance style—bold, confident, and unlike anything else in the Medway towns. The contract to build it went to West Brothers of Rochester, at a cost of £28,000, on land purchased from the War Department. It was a statement of civic ambition carved in stone.

The resulting structure—now Grade II listed—was monumental. Three storeys high with a full basement, it was crowned by a six‑storey clock and bell tower, its octagonal domed cupola rising above The Brook. The clock had three faces; the fourth, curiously, was left blank. The façade included balconies designed specifically for political speeches, while inside a sweeping white marble staircase curved upward in a display of municipal grandeur.

The building was constructed from Portland and Bath stone, giving it a pale, dignified presence. Four classical statues lined the west and southwest roofline, each representing an aspect of civic life: Justice, Music, Agriculture, and Britannia. They announced the building’s purpose before one even stepped inside.

The interior was equally ambitious. The ground floor housed offices for numerous council departments. The first floor contained two committee rooms, a small hall, a council chamber, the mayor’s parlour, and a large ballroom. Every room had a telephone—cutting‑edge technology for the time—and the entire building was lit electrically throughout.

On February 2nd 1898, the fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, laid the foundation stone:
THIS STONE WAS LAID
BY
H.R.H. THE PRINCESS CHRISTIAN,
FEBRUARY 2ND, A.D. 1898.
GEORGE HENRY DE LA COUR,
MAYOR.

Two years later, on 23 January 1900, the Town Hall was officially opened by The Earl of Rosebery (1847–1929), nearly a decade after Chatham’s incorporation.

Don't miss this!!!
03/09/2026

Don't miss this!!!

On this day September 2nd 1908, plan 1989, almost opposite Bond's office in Chatham Intra, at the 'Old Foundry Wharf', h...
02/09/2026

On this day September 2nd 1908, plan 1989, almost opposite Bond's office in Chatham Intra, at the 'Old Foundry Wharf', he designed a 'stable and Van shed'. He came back to this area various times. On the 9th April 1909 more stables and 11th December 1909 desiging a cleaning and dying workshop.

Not quite sure if any of these buildings still survive but the brick building on the right of the image is particularly suggestive:

substantial yellow/brown stock brick;
pitched slate roof;
very large vertically boarded doors at ground level;
another large opening/door at first-floor level;
a form very appropriate to a stable, coach/van shed or carriage building; it sits around a hard-surfaced enclosed yard;
the arrangement is much more industrial/service-yard than domestic.

That upper opening is especially interesting. In a traditional stable/coach-house arrangement it could have served for loading hay, fodder or equipment into an upper loft, while the large ground-floor doors could accommodate carts or vans.

The Foundry Wharf site was already an established industrial/wharf complex well before Bond's 1908 drawing. For example, William Webb & Co. were listed as timber merchants at Old Foundry Wharf in the 1895 directory, while other industrial trades were operating there too:
Bullard & Co. sail makers & ship chandlers, Filley A. H. & Son, valuers & estate agents, Meux's Brewery Co. Ltd. Webb William & Co. timber merchants.

Bond established his architectural practice at Victoria Buildings, 384 High Street, Rochester, (Chatham Intra) where he ...
31/08/2026

Bond established his architectural practice at Victoria Buildings, 384 High Street, Rochester, (Chatham Intra) where he operated as an architect and surveyor. The Victoria Buildings themselves, comprising Nos. 380–384 High Street, were designed by Bond and completed in 1889, their date stone bearing that year.

On this day, 30th August 1902, Plan #1684. Designs for the 3-storey ‘Nurses Home’ near to the main hospital, at ‘St. Ba...
30/08/2026

On this day, 30th August 1902, Plan #1684. Designs for the 3-storey ‘Nurses Home’ near to the main hospital, at ‘St. Bartholomew’s Hospital’, New Road Rochester, costing over £6,000. (Thomas Henry Foord donated £5,500 in 1903 specifically to meet the cost of building and furnishing a nurses' home.)

The building had a symmetrical front with verandas and arches under a triple gable-ended frontage. (With great views of the River Medway behind) The building has been re-designed since (1950's) and added too, and is now almost unrecognizable but still stands. -Colourised version in the comments section-

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Medway Towns
Rochester

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