William Bond & Son records and Bond family papers, 1724-1931 (inclusive), 1769-1923 (bulk)

William Bond & Son was established in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1793 by William Bond, Sr., (1754-1848) an English silversmith and watch maker. His son, the astronomer William Cranch Bond (1789-1859), joined him in the business, which later expanded to include his sons, Joseph Cranch Bond (1823-1860) and Richard Fifield Bond (1827-1866) partners. His other son, George Phillips Bond (1825-1865), also worked for the firm, which manufactured, imported, and repaired clocks, watches, and chronometers.

William Cranch Bond constructed the first American-made marine chronometer, and the business supplied and repaired chronometers for the United States government, which were used in surveys of the Atlantic Coast and the Colorado River. William Cranch Bond and George P. Bond also devised a break circuit device that attached to the escapement of a clock, which became the foundation of the new "American method" of determining longitude. The device, which they termed a "spring governor," earned a Council Medal at the London Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851.

William Cranch Bond and Joseph C. Bond sold their shares in the company to Richard F. Bond in 1857. Other family members who later joined the business included William Cranch Bond's nephew, J. Morton Clinch (1833-1908) and grandson William C. Bond (born 1860). William Bond & Son ceased manufacturing clocks and chronometers in 1889, though it did not close until 1977.

William Cranch Bond (1789-1859; honorary Harvard AM 1842) was an American astronomer and clock maker born in Falmouth, Maine, to Hannah Cranch Bond (1848-1828) and William Bond (1754-1844). He was a partner in the clock making business started by his father, William Bond & Son, and was the first director of the Harvard College Observatory (1845-1859). Bond traveled to Europe in 1815, commissioned by Harvard University to gather information on European observatories. Upon his return, he supervised the construction of a model observatory dome. As funds were lacking for the project, the university put the plans on hold. Bond meanwhile continued his private astronomical pursuits and undertook a survey of astronomical and meteorological data for the United States government in connection with observations to be made by the Exploring Expedition to the South Seas under the command of Captain Charles Wilkes (1798-1877). In 1839, he was allowed to move his personal astronomical equipment to Harvard and serve as its (unpaid) "Astronomical Observer to the University." In 1843, Harvard raised funds to construct an observatory. Bond designed the building and the observing chair, and Harvard bought a fifteen-inch German-built refracting telescope, equal in size to the largest in the world at the time. The telescope was first used in 1847 when it was pointed to the moon. Bond and his son, George Phillips Bond, discovered Saturn's moon Hyperion, and they were the first to observe the then innermost ring of Saturn in 1850. In 1858, Bond was appointed Phillips Professor of Astronomy at Harvard. His published articles include Observations on the comparative rates of marine chronometers, and Occultations and eclipses, observed at Dorchester, Massachusetts (1833); Bond also wrote History and description of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College (1856) and Observations on the planet Saturn ... at the Observatory of Harvard College, 1847-1857. Bond married his first cousin, Selina Cranch (1798-1831), in 1819; they had four sons and two daughters: William Cranch, Jr. (1821-1841); Joseph Cranch (1823-1860); George Phillips (1825-1865); Richard Fifield (1827-1866); Elizabeth Lidstone (1829-1851); and Selina Cranch (1831-1920). After his wife's death in 1831, Bond married Selina's older sister, Mary Roope Cranch.

Joseph Cranch Bond (1823-1860) was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He became partner in the clock making business of William Bond & Son, and was William Cranch Bond's assistant at the Harvard College Observatory. He married Charlotte Jameson, and they had one child who lived to adulthood, Harriet Pierce (1850-1875).

George Phillips Bond (1825-1865; Harvard AB 1845, AM 1853) was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He worked with his father in the clock making business of William Bond & Son and also served as an assistant at the Harvard College Observatory from 1846 to 1859. He succeeded William Cranch Bond as director of the Harvard College Observatory, and Phillips Professor of Astronomy, positions he held from 1859 until his death in 1865. His published works include An account of Donati's comet of 1858. George married Harriet Gardner Harris, and they had two daughters who survived to adulthood, Elizabeth Lidstone and Catherine Harris.

Richard Fifield Bond (1827-1866) was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Like his elder brother, Richard was a partner in the family clock making business, William Bond & Son, and he acquired his father's and brother's shares in 1857. He sailed to Liverpool, England, with the United States Coast Survey chronometric expedition in 1855. Richard married Sarah (Sally) Apthorp Cunningham Clinch (1835-1914), and they had one son, William Cranch (born 1860), who joined the family business, and two daughters, Edith (1862-1878) and Mary (1863-1894).

J. Morton Clinch (1833-1908) was a nephew of William Cranch Bond, and the son of Reverend Joseph H. Clinch. He was educated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and subsequently joined the firm of William Bond & Son, where he worked for nearly fifty years until his death.