Andrew Bond

CmdrAtticusCmdrAtticus United StatesPosts: 1,102MI6 Agent
According to Fleming, Bond's father was a representative for Vickers Armourment. Skyfall implies that his father was wealthy, since he owned such a large Scottish estate that employed a gamekeeper - and I would presume a small manor staff of servants.

The modern equivalent of the Vickers armourment subsidiary today would be a firm like General Dynamics. The salary of an international sales rep is around $76,000 annually. If Andrew Bond was paid an equivalent salary at that time, it would certainly not be enough to own and support an estate and it's staff like Skyfall.

I have to assume then that Andrew inherited it from his family along with a good size investment portfolio (possibly even with Vickers itself).

I realize that the whole SF scenario was cooked up by the writers and is not from Fleming. However, it seems as though they designed this background based on the fact Bond was sent to two exclusive, expensive schools and ended up in his adult life owning used Bentleys and living in an expensive neighborhood of London with a housekeeper. Having inherited wealth would certainly help explain a lot of this.

Comments

  • Gassy ManGassy Man USAPosts: 2,972MI6 Agent
    I don't recall if Fleming went into a great deal of Bond's family history in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but in the film, he's said to be descendant from Sir Thomas Bond. Of course, that could all be a ruse, too, but the notion of Bond coming from a wealthy and connected family makes some sense.
  • AlphaOmegaSinAlphaOmegaSin EnglandPosts: 10,924MI6 Agent
    Fleming only covered Bonds Scottish/Swiss Heritage and early Life.
    1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Gassy Man wrote:
    I don't recall if Fleming went into a great deal of Bond's family history in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but in the film, he's said to be descendant from Sir Thomas Bond. Of course, that could all be a ruse, too, but the notion of Bond coming from a wealthy and connected family makes some sense.

    It was never said that he was a descendant of Thomas Bond in OHMSS. It was just a famous Bond that Griffin Orr plucked out of the air and was trying to connect Bond too, but with little real chance.
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • CmdrAtticusCmdrAtticus United StatesPosts: 1,102MI6 Agent
    I came upon this image of the Arnisdale House hunting lodge built by Fleming's father Valentine in 1989. I wondered if the idea for the Skyfall lodge came from this. Though painted white and set into a more colorful area near the Scottish coast, it reminds me of it. Also looking through Fleming's early years and his family, it seems to me that they could be basing some of Bond's background from SF on Fleming. Though Fleming was born in Mayfair and the family was living at the Brazier Park country house in Ipsden, Oxfordshire (which, by the way, is now a social research school - website http://www.braziers.org.uk), they may have patterned Craig's Bond childhood on Fleming as far as having come from a wealthy family with a Scottish estate. Since they will probably never give anymore details in the future on his childhood, we will never know, but it still seems logical to me.

    Arnisdale House
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    Brazier Park
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    Web_Watermark_M_0362_B23_07357_R_edited_11.jpg
  • thegreatgallingthegreatgalling Posts: 180MI6 Agent
    The That line Vesper says when she is sizing up Bond does stand out when she tells him "my guess is you didn't come from money" she tells him he went to Oxford, or wherever and naturally thought people dress like that - but he wears it with such disdain. She adds he was probably there by the graces of others' charity which explains the chip on his shoulder. Bond all but affirms this is accurate.

    This to me implies that Bond came from modest means and was either adopted (rich Aunt is the usual story) who paid for his education.

    This to me flies against what we see in Skyfall, including a mansion and gamekeeper, unless as it has been mentioned, it was inherited. Or, the Bonds were rich, and their death means James now must live within modest means. Perhaps his education was then paid by the charity of his family and a combination of sources.
  • David SchofieldDavid Schofield EnglandPosts: 1,528MI6 Agent
    The That line Vesper says when she is sizing up Bond does stand out when she tells him "my guess is you didn't come from money" she tells him he went to Oxford, or wherever and naturally thought people dress like that - but he wears it with such disdain. She adds he was probably there by the graces of others' charity which explains the chip on his shoulder. Bond all but affirms this is accurate.

    This to me implies that Bond came from modest means and was either adopted (rich Aunt is the usual story) who paid for his education.

    This to me flies against what we see in Skyfall, including a mansion and gamekeeper, unless as it has been mentioned, it was inherited. Or, the Bonds were rich, and their death means James now must live within modest means. Perhaps his education was then paid by the charity of his family and a combination of sources.

    You have to bear in mind Vesper is a fooking idiot. Other than coming on like a nervous teenager with dialogue to match, she fails to recognise an Omega from a Rolex and then replaces Bond's Brioni tux with a Brioni tux (!!!!!!!!!!?????) because he doesn't dress sophisticatedly enough and yet he has been clad in Brioni since the moment she met him!! And its his own Brioni tux he wears for the bulk of the gambling after the "tailored" one gets cut up on the first date..... 8-) :s

    Fleming's Vesper is a bit of a feeble 50s gel needing man to look after her; the cinematic Vesper is drawn as equally hopeless. Disregard, therefore, all her juvenile speculation about JB and his background.
  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    This to me flies against what we see in Skyfall, including a mansion and gamekeeper, unless as it has been mentioned, it was inherited. Or, the Bonds were rich, and their death means James now must live within modest means. Perhaps his education was then paid by the charity of his family and a combination of sources.

    Precisely, after the death of his parents, Bond was raised by his Aunt Charmian (at least according to Pearson in his widely acclaimed biography of Bond).

    Regarding Vesper, she's not an idiot at all. Not every woman can tell a Rolex from an Omega at a glance - that hardly makes her stupid (not every man can tell either :007) ). And you have to remember: it's a film, the dinner jackets were sourced in real life from Brioni but that's incidental to the plot. Casino Royale, the film at least, relates how Bond became who he is: it's implied that his clothes as well as his tastes in general become more sophisticated as the story progresses.
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • CmdrAtticusCmdrAtticus United StatesPosts: 1,102MI6 Agent
    edited February 2015
    The That line Vesper says when she is sizing up Bond does stand out when she tells him "my guess is you didn't come from money" she tells him he went to Oxford, or wherever and naturally thought people dress like that - but he wears it with such disdain. She adds he was probably there by the graces of others' charity which explains the chip on his shoulder. Bond all but affirms this is accurate.

    This to me implies that Bond came from modest means and was either adopted (rich Aunt is the usual story) who paid for his education.

    This to me flies against what we see in Skyfall, including a mansion and gamekeeper, unless as it has been mentioned, it was inherited. Or, the Bonds were rich, and their death means James now must live within modest means. Perhaps his education was then paid by the charity of his family and a combination of sources.

    The choice word in her summation is "guess". It's hard to say why she believes Bond doesn't come "from money". How? He wears his clothes with disdain (contempt)? Why would she think that? I never got that dialogue even the first time I heard it. It sounded to me that she was just doing her best be verbally put him down.

    In what way does Bond show contempt of his suit? How would you summize anyone has contempt for their clothes? He was impeccably dressed and sporting a Omega for heavens sake.

    Where would she get the idea he went to a prestigious college through charity?
    Obviously, she has no idea what she is talking about and that's pretty clear by the time we get to the third film SF. That whole scenario blatantly shows that Bond's family had substantial finances. By Fleming's account he ended up in Eton and Fettes and that would be because he had a trust that could fund it or.... his Aunt paid for it . After all, it's never mentioned by Fleming, but how do we know she wasn't wealthy as well?

    Bond would not have been left to live modestly after his parent's died. Being their only child, they would have set up a trust fund and he would have also inherited the estate and the family investments. I still think Fleming was using his own family's background for Bond's. Fleming's grandfather founded a bank and was loaded. It's one of the reasons his father Valentine had wealth and Fleming's mother could still be well off after his death. She did her best to guide him into different careers in the military, banking and the stock market, but unfortunately for her, he hated them because he was an artist and had a creative mind. The only hold she had on him was the purse strings. The irony is she died just before Fleming himself, so he did not live long enough to enjoy his inheritance - though his brother Peter did since he lived until 1971.
  • David SchofieldDavid Schofield EnglandPosts: 1,528MI6 Agent
    Regarding Vesper, she's not an idiot at all. Not every woman can tell a Rolex from an Omega at a glance - that hardly makes her stupid (not every man can tell either :007) ). And you have to remember: it's a film, the dinner jackets were sourced in real life from Brioni but that's incidental to the plot. Casino Royale, the film at least, relates how Bond became who he is: it's implied that his clothes as well as his tastes in general become more sophisticated as the story progresses.

    I can only report what is on screen; Vesper's dialogue on the train IS that of a nervous teenager, if she's meant to be a "sophisticated and worldy" as she's portrayed she'd be able to tell the Rolex-Omega difference, still talks total immature rubbish -"contempt" of his clothes :s ??? - and regardless of "implied" and "progresses" she has still seen him wear Brioni suits and kit throughout - how can she suddenly insist "he looks like he belongs"??? He does already!!!

    She's an imbecile because that's the way she's written (though obviously that wasn't necessarily the writers' intention)

    -{
  • BlackleiterBlackleiter Washington, DCPosts: 5,615MI6 Agent
    Regarding Vesper, she's not an idiot at all. Not every woman can tell a Rolex from an Omega at a glance - that hardly makes her stupid (not every man can tell either :007) ). And you have to remember: it's a film, the dinner jackets were sourced in real life from Brioni but that's incidental to the plot. Casino Royale, the film at least, relates how Bond became who he is: it's implied that his clothes as well as his tastes in general become more sophisticated as the story progresses.

    I can only report what is on screen; Vesper's dialogue on the train IS that of a nervous teenager, if she's meant to be a "sophisticated and worldy" as she's portrayed she'd be able to tell the Rolex-Omega difference, still talks total immature rubbish -"contempt" of his clothes :s ??? - and regardless of "implied" and "progresses" she has still seen him wear Brioni suits and kit throughout - how can she suddenly insist "he looks like he belongs"??? He does already!!!

    She's an imbecile because that's the way she's written (though obviously that wasn't necessarily the writers' intention)

    -{

    Yes, but she noticed his "perfectly formed arse", so all the rest can be forgiven! :))
    "Felix Leiter, a brother from Langley."
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    after the death of his parents, Bond was raised by his Aunt Charmian (at least according to Pearson in his widely acclaimed biography of Bond).

    That's not Pearson- that's Fleming himself in YOLT (the obituary).
  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    Been ages since I read it- thanks Barbel -{
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    {[] She appears in the Young Bond series, as well.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Just a thought- according to the film of TMWTGG, Bond's aunt is "tall, slim and dark".... :)) So at least we know a little about her!
  • SFPROPSSFPROPS USAPosts: 380MI6 Agent
    My belief was that it was likely that the Skyfall lodge was an inherited asset. A "gameskeeper" might just get free room and board, which isn't necessarily all that expensive. I'm guessing that Andrew Bond's family had money at one time, but might not be as high in society at the time of his death.

    However, I always thought that the idea that Andrew worked for "Vickers" was a cover. Like many who work for military contractors or embassies, that's just a cover for covert work. The story that his mother and father died in a "climbing accident" always sounded like a cover story for something more sinister. That they both worked in intelligence as their son later did. That they were killed as "part of the job." Bond works for the government but seems to somehow always have money for the nicer things in life, for instance.

    Bond's mother though did come from money according to Pearson's book. Their side of the family are the ones who saw to it that Bond got a top education, despite his efforts to sabotage it.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Maybe compared to the other Boys from really wealthy Bankers families etc
    Bond was look at as an almost "Pleb" as he was only middle class.
    I have read that George Osborne was bullied at school because his family
    Were " Trades People" :))
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  • SFPROPSSFPROPS USAPosts: 380MI6 Agent
    I went back and re-read John Pearson's official Bond biography. It really does appear that the Skyfall writers used this as the basis for most of the back story. Details where added, but the gist of what was told in Skyfall is true to the biography Pearson wrote and nothing in the movie I could find would appear to contradict the biography as far as continuity goes except for one thing. The biography states that the Bonds were buried “in the village cemetery below the mountain” that they died on. However, it's totally possible that James later had their remains exhumed and transferred to the Bond family cemetary at Skyfall.

    In the book, James Bond talked about the old “stone house house in the Highlands” of Glencoe which was “still the centre of the family.” This was where his grandfather Archie Bond lived. Apparently his paternal grandmother had passed before Bond was born. They never called it “Skyfall” but there is clearly a precedent for there being an old stone ancestral family home in Glencoe.

    Andrew Bond started off poor, but due to his rising in the Metro-Vickers company (he rose to become one of the top executives) he was well to do. They moved around a lot when Bond was young due to Andrew's work, but they always had maids and workers at the estates they lived in. However, Bond's mother Monique seemed to suffer from manic depression and spent money, had affairs and was generally a little out of control. Her family never approved of their marriage (Andrew Bond was poor at the time and had lost an arm in the war) and they had little contact with them after, which caused her some grief.

    Monique Bond suffered from a nervous breakdown, causing Andrew Bond to reassess the importance of her and their family to him and he planned a vacation for the two of them to go back to Switzerland to visit her family to sort of reconnect and salvage her health and their marriage. However, things didn't go well there and Andrew and her parents had an epic row which caused Monique to flee to the Alps. Andrew Bond tracked her down and found her climbing up the mountain where they first met - in a pink dress. He finally caught up to her, convincing her to come down and come back to England. People who were watching all this from below the mountain couldn't tell if when they fell it was because they slipped, or maybe she threw herself onto Andrew causing them to tumble.

    James and his older brother Henry had been sent to Glencoe to spend the summer with their grandfather when the accident in the Alps occurred. Andrew's sister Charmain had come from London to break the news that their parents had died in a climbing accident and that they'd be living with her in Kent from then on.
  • BleuvilleBleuville Posts: 384MI6 Agent
    SFPROPS wrote:
    I went back and re-read John Pearson's official Bond biography. It really does appear that the Skyfall writers used this as the basis for most of the back story. Details where added, but the gist of what was told in Skyfall is true to the biography Pearson wrote and nothing in the movie I could find would appear to contradict the biography as far as continuity goes except for one thing. The biography states that the Bonds were buried “in the village cemetery below the mountain” that they died on. However, it's totally possible that James later had their remains exhumed and transferred to the Bond family cemetary at Skyfall.

    In the book, James Bond talked about the old “stone house house in the Highlands” of Glencoe which was “still the centre of the family.” This was where his grandfather Archie Bond lived. Apparently his paternal grandmother had passed before Bond was born. They never called it “Skyfall” but there is clearly a precedent for there being an old stone ancestral family home in Glencoe.

    Andrew Bond started off poor, but due to his rising in the Metro-Vickers company (he rose to become one of the top executives) he was well to do. They moved around a lot when Bond was young due to Andrew's work, but they always had maids and workers at the estates they lived in. However, Bond's mother Monique seemed to suffer from manic depression and spent money, had affairs and was generally a little out of control. Her family never approved of their marriage (Andrew Bond was poor at the time and had lost an arm in the war) and they had little contact with them after, which caused her some grief.

    Monique Bond suffered from a nervous breakdown, causing Andrew Bond to reassess the importance of her and their family to him and he planned a vacation for the two of them to go back to Switzerland to visit her family to sort of reconnect and salvage her health and their marriage. However, things didn't go well there and Andrew and her parents had an epic row which caused Monique to flee to the Alps. Andrew Bond tracked her down and found her climbing up the mountain where they first met - in a pink dress. He finally caught up to her, convincing her to come down and come back to England. People who were watching all this from below the mountain couldn't tell if when they fell it was because they slipped, or maybe she threw herself onto Andrew causing them to tumble.

    James and his older brother Henry had been sent to Glencoe to spend the summer with their grandfather when the accident in the Alps occurred. Andrew's sister Charmain had come from London to break the news that their parents had died in a climbing accident and that they'd be living with her in Kent from then on.

    So now with the new SPECTRE film, they are filming at a glacier in Austria. Now as per the Octopussy book story, will there be a body/bodies found after many years at the end of the glacier?
    Will this be Franz Oberhauser's father Hannes?
    Or my idea is it could be Bond's parents bodies from the climbing accident !
    It could be a far fetched idea-but the plot is supposed to relate to Bond's past and ideas mentioned in the Skyfall film.

    Bleuville.
  • AlphaOmegaSinAlphaOmegaSin EnglandPosts: 10,924MI6 Agent
    I hope they don't go down the Route of having Blofeld as Bonds Half Brother with a Grudge :#
    1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    That too Austin Powers ! :D
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • SFPROPSSFPROPS USAPosts: 380MI6 Agent
    Bond's parents died in the Swiss Alps. Not Austria.
  • minigeffminigeff EnglandPosts: 7,884MI6 Agent
    So sad :(

    cf8028fc.jpg
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  • AlphaOmegaSinAlphaOmegaSin EnglandPosts: 10,924MI6 Agent
    Very......moving Mr Wint.
    1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
  • minigeffminigeff EnglandPosts: 7,884MI6 Agent
    If god had wanted man to fry, he'd have given him chicken wings mr kadd.
    'Force feeding AJB humour and banter since 2009'
    Vive le droit à la libre expression! Je suis Charlie!
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  • stagstag Posts: 2,083MI6 Agent
    Bond must have had upper class/wealthy connections somewhere along the line, there's not many commoners who have family crests & mottos.

    I also wonder, given his career, if JB didn't choose to live somewhat beyond his means & was in debt, though didn't care much because he may never have to pay any loans back?
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