Denis Bond

Denis Bond, politician, was buried in a vault in Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey, where Oliver Cromwell was later buried. But by Royal Warrant of 9th September 1661 his body, together with several other followers of Cromwell, was disinterred and buried in a pit in the churchyard of St Margaret's Westminster, outside the Abbey. In 1966 the twenty one names of those exhumed were carved into the west tower of St Margaret's with the inscription:

This tablet is erected by the Cromwell Association to the memory of the undermentioned whose remains were disinterred from Westminster Abbey at the time of the restoration of King Charles II and were in September 1661 buried in this churchyard

A modern stone over the vault in the Abbey where he was buried records his name.

He was born on 30th August 1588, a son of John Bond, merchant, of the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset and his wife Margaret (Pitt). John was sometime mayor of Weymouth. Denis travelled abroad on business and held political offices in Dorchester where he had his clothing business. In 1640 he became Member of Parliament for that town and served in the Long Parliament and in councils of state during the Commonwealth period. He was also master of the Savoy Hospital in London.

By his first wife Joane Gould he had two sons John, also an MP, and William, and three daughters. By his second wife Lucy Lawrence he had four sons, including Samuel, a politician, and Nathaniel a lawyer, and two daughters. He died on 30th August 1658.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004