A landscape and marine painter, Bond was born in Liverpool in 1833 and was apprenticed to a picture restorer and dealer. He is known for his paintings of old buildings and harbours, and was himself a keen sailor. We don’t know when he visited Ireland, but living in Liverpool, where he exhibited his work at the Walker Art Gallery, he would have had easy access across the Irish Sea and he is known to have exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin.