To celebrate Quantum of Solace we look back at Bond
- 00:02:47
- ITN
To celebrate Quantum of Solace we look back at Bond
An aristocratic spy may have inspired Ian Fleming's 007, according to a diary which has surfaced. John Bond worked as a secret agent in the 16th Century and belonged to an aristocratic family whose motto was 'Non Sufficit Orbis' - The World Is Not Enough. The Bond family live in the Isle of Purbeck where Fleming went to Durnford School and are well known in the area. The journal is written by John's son Denis retrospectively. It details his father's exploits with Sir Francis Drake and his successors believe it shows he worked as an Elizabethan spy. Fleming would not have seen the diary but experts believe he may have heard stories about John Bond's exploits. One entry from 1573 tells how John took a woman and child hostage and threatened to kill them so that he could escape the Bartholomew's Day massacre in France. The diary has remained in the family but has previously been unseen in public. Will Bond, the great-grandson of John, said: "Denis's diary does not tell us exactly what his father John was up to but he was clearly a man of action, and he appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time too regularly to be mere coincidence. "It is highly likely that Ian Fleming would have been aware of the Bond family; it is possible he also knew that there was a colourful past. "It is one of those amazing twists to the tale." John saw the motto, which can also be translated as 'The Earth Is Not Enough', in a Spanish palace. He adopted it for the Bond family motto as a joke because the Bonds originated in the 1300s from a place called Earth in Cornwall. Mr Bond added: "So Fleming may not have known it, but the Bond family motto 'Non Sufficit Orbis' probably really does spring from John Bond's service as a spy and Fleming probably used the wrong translation; in this context it should have been 'Earth is Not Enough'. "Of course for vain King Philip 'The world is not enough' is what he meant - the favourite world domination 007 theme." Fleming used the motto in his 1963 book On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It was later the title of a Bond film. Rodney Legg, Dorset historian and author said: "Fleming once said 'everything I write has a precedent in truth'. "He created these characters from people he knew. His Bond is as much a reflection of himself and the colourful characters around him. John Bond is part of the inspiration for it all."
ITN | October 31, 2008
