Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Bell (1782........)

Thomas did not settle in Australia but his son did

Back to . . .48th Foot .The Northamptonshire Regiment

Descendants

Information supplied by Carol Wood carolwoo@netspace.net.au

Area Settled :

 

 

Children :

1 . William Bell (b........d.) settled in Australia

2 . James,Bell (b........d.)

3 . Margaret Bell (b........d.)

History & Achievements :

He was not strictly in this category as he left Australia but he did have land grants in Tasmania which his family
administered after his death and one of his sons, William Bell, settled in Australia. 
Thomas Bell was born 14 Dec 1782 at Dunse Berwickshire (now called Duns) and his parents were William Bell and Janet nee Corsnip.  Presumably Thomas Bell had a reasonable education somewhere as he was said to be a civil engineer when in the Army.  Thomas joined the  48th Regiment at the  age of 17 yrs as an ensign.  He was at the blockcade of Malta.  In 1801 he was promoted to Lieutenant.  He was promoted to Captain in 1805 just before he married.  He was wounded at Albuera in 1811.  For commanding the regiment  at Salamanca in Spain, the Pyrenees, Niville & Orthos in 1813 he was promoted to Major. Appointed CB (Commander of the Military Order of the Bath) and awarded 4medals and the gold cross. Information from Colonial Secretary's Letters Index
BELL, Thomas. Major, 48th Regiment
Arrived in Sydney on the "Lloyds" in 1817 as commander of a detachment of the 48th Regiment; in 1818 he was sent to Hobart in the "Lady Castlereagh" to command the military garrison there and was appointed a justice of the peace, engineer and inspector of public works; he departed the Colony forMadras in 1824.
Mary Bell was heavily pregnant when she boarded the ship in Ireland and gavebirth to their daughter Margaret off the Island of Madiera soon after sailing.  There is no record of any other children being on board the ship
with them but it is thought the two older children were in Scotland staying with relatives and attending school. He came to Australia in 1817 (Sydney) and then proceeded to Tasmania where he was responsible for overseeing
public works.  Thought to have designed the Richmond Bridge and responsible for naming Salamanca Place in Hobart.  Left Australia in 1824 to serve in India.   He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in Sept 1827 while serving in Madras where he stayed until 1829.  He retired from the Army in 1843 at theage of 61 years.  Two of his sons, also served with him in Madras in India.
Thomas Bell married on  19 January, 1806 at Hints, Staffordshire to Mary Caroline Bourne.  The couple had 2 sons and 5 daughters.
Mary and Thomas Bell retired to Shaldon in Devonshire, England where they both died.

RICHMOND, TASMANIA
Richmond Bridge, Tasmania. c.1823. Designer uncertain (possibly David Lambeor Major Thomas Bell). Built by convict labour. Coursed rubble.
Thomas Bell was given a grant of 800 acres on the Jordan River between Apsley and Bothwell and called it by the rather bizarre name of Four Square Gallows Farm.  He then got another 1200 acres north of the first lot as a
grant from Governor Brisbane.  In 1828, while he was in India, he purchased another 1000 acres.  This is quite a lot of land given the size of Tasmaniaand being so close to Hobart would have been worth owning in future years.
BELL General  England  Freeholder  House & Farm ,Pool's Marsh  11/Apr/1866 BELL Thomas  Not Known  Freeholder  Rutland Parish, Agricultural & Grazing
Farm  11/Apr/1866
ELECTORAL ROLL Legislative Council  DISTRICT OF DERWENT  for the year commencing August 1856  TASMANIA
BELL Thomas  Out of Colony  Freehold Estate  Grazing Farm, Parish of Rutland
Aug 1856
Bell, Major C.B. Superintendent of 48th regiment
 

References

Family Members, Military records  ,Pay rolls, Pay Musters, Cemetery Records, Church Records & General Muster Records, Mitchell Library ,Sydney Australia

Relatives and Descendants

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Last revised: November 09, 2008.