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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Durham => Topic started by: Nigel Noake on Thursday 28 January 10 09:17 GMT (UK)
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I am researching the Bell family I am related to. I have traced back to Thomas Bell born in 1811 in Wolsingham. He married Mary Hodgson born 1820 in Stanhope Durham. They had several children including Jonathan Bell born about 1857. Jonathan Bell married Mary Ann Elliott born in 1851 in Warboys. They in turn had several children one of which was Jonathan Ralph Bell (my Grandfather) born in 1891 in Edmonton Hertfordshire.
I am trying to put together a clearer picture of their lives in Wolsingham including dates of death and where they are buried. Can anyone out there help me please?
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Hi Nigel & Welcome to RC!
do you have the census for Thomas /mary?
1851; Wolsingham
Thomas 40 Blacksmith
Mary 29
Ann 5
Mary 9
Jane 3
William 1
jane Hodgson 72 m inlaw b, stanhope
1861:wolsingham
Thomas 50 whitesmith
Mary 42
Ann 15
William 11
Jonathon 4
1881:Wolsingham
Thomas F.H. Bell 70 whitesmith
Mary 61
1891:Wolsingham
Thomas 80
Mary 71
can't see after that so looking for Death of Thomas:
given the extra initials in the 1891 this must be him:
Thomas Frederick H bell dec 1891 weardale 10a /186 age 81
(source freebmd)
Diddy
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Just found the 1871:wolsingham
Thomas F.H.Bell 62 blacksmith
Mary 51
William 21
Jonathon 14
William 61 brother ag lab b. wolsingham
Diddy
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Nigel, there are lots of bell records on DRO:
www.durhamrecordsonline.com
pay to view but good value. found:
marrriage 1/12/1841 wolsingham
Thomas Bell, bachelor, whitesmith full age, son of William Bell, butcher to
Mary Hodgeson, spinster, full age of wolsingham, daughter of Jonathon Hodgson, miner
so thats where the name Jonathon comes from!
Diddy
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found his baptism:
Thomas Heaton frederick Bell born 16/4/1811 bap 7/6/1811 wolsingham
2nd son of William Bell, innkeeper by his wife Elizabeth nee heaton dau of Thomas (source DRO)
Def yours then -seems the F.H was prob H.F origianlly unless curate slipped up!!
will leave you now to digest all that!!
Diddy ;D
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Hello Nigel. Before you pay for anything go to my Wolsingham m inscriptions thread.
Put your request on that thread and I will post the inscriptions.
It cost only a "thank you"
I can tell you that there are 19 gravestones for Bell. Some are old and those I will post, most of the others are of a later date and probably no good for your research.
Adam
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Thanks to all for such rapid and friendly responses. I will check everything out and try to put together the pieces so far. :)
To be continued.......
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hi. I can trace my family thru the Bells to Wolsingham. robert b 1778 had a brother george and both had children christened in halton. their father was william b1732. perhaps one of george's children is your connection or another brother to robert?
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mikecurran ... hello.
I'm interested in Robert Bell b 1778 and William b. 1732 and would appreciate any info you have or point me in the direction of where to find this Robert and William.
I believe a Robert Bell was born Wolsingham in 1807, married 21 Feb 1831 to Mary Collingwood. Your Robert could have been his father.
Robert b.1807 (don't know how many sons he had) named a son George b.1831 and who in turn named his sons (oldest first) Robert, Christopher, George, William, Joseph; three names mentioned in your post. Fairly common names, but perhaps there's a connection.
tks
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hi Peter
the robert bell i have as son of robert b 1778 is apparently born in Halton 1809 and married a mary unknown. the only 'proof' i have comes from ancestry on line sites so i can't guarantee anything. one day i hope to get to england and check things out
Mike
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There is a lot of Geography associated with the Bells.
The nearest Halton is near Corbridge, Northumberland
Edmonton was in Middlesex
Warboys (at the time) was in Huntingdonshire
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Hi Nigel,
We are related! Thomas Bell born 1811 in Wolsingham was my great great great granddad! His daughter Ann(or Annie) was my great great grandma!
If you want to know anything,just let me know,
Thanks,
Carly
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I note that this an old thread and hope it is still active.
I am presently also tracing the BELL family of Wolsingham. My connection is nigh on impossible to trace, but one has to try. There is no short way to tell this story, but it will be worth your while to read on, as it all comes together :)
My surname is HOW and my 3g grandfather John HOW, was registered as the son of Henry How, the Blacksmith in Sarratt, Herts, just up the road from me. However, when I took a Y-DNA test, there were no HOW matches at all, but a host of BELLs from around Cumberland.
John HOW was baptised in 1761 and shown as the son of Henry How and Ann Prenties. Henry and Ann married a month later, which suggests that Henry was not actually John's father, but that his father was a BELL.
A Robert Bell was buried in Sarratt 6 months before John was baptised, and as BELL was not a common name around here, it now seems likely that he was descended from the BELLs of Cumberland.
Only a few weeks ago, I found autosomal DNA matches for several separate people in New Zealand, who are descended from a Robert BELL of Halton Castle, near Hexham in Northumberland. Ancestry shows our probable relationship as 5th-8th cousin, which would put it around the early 1700s, which fits perfectly with my Robert BELL in Sarratt.
I recently found the Parish registers for Halton Chapel online. They are very detailed and beautifully written. They give a Robert Bell 1809 as the third son of Mary Charlton of Halton, native of the parish of Ovingham, and Robert Bell - Husbandman of Halton, native of the parish of Wolsingham. Thus although he gives his birth place on the census as Halton Castle, he is actually from Wolsingham. A few months later there is a Jane Bell, 1st daughter of George BELL of Halton, also native of Wolsingham. It appears that the BELLs. It seems likely that the BELLs of Wolsingham were landowners and Farmers that owned land a few miles away in Halton.
I then found Robert the younger with his wife Mary in 1851. They are at West End Farm, Kirklevington Yorksire, where he is a Farmer of 500 acres. Along with 4 children is a cousin called Mary Charlton who is a Governess, born in Friern Barnet, Middx. That makes her the daughter of Mary Charlton's brother. Sure enough in 1841 she is at Sopers Pond Farm near Potters Bar, and a couple of miles from Barnet. Her father is Ralph Charlton, Mary's brother. Now, Ralph is not a common name, so the fact that Nigel's grandfather also has Ralph in his name, and that he is born at Edmonton, near Enfield, suggests there may be a connection there.
Hopefully the Halton Chapel register will help make sense of a lot of the threads on here.
Now all I need is a few more autosomal DNA matches from descendants of the BELLs of Wolsingham. Does anyone on this thread have a DNA test online at Ancestry?
Regards
Phil HOW, in Croxley Green, Herts.
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Pdadme...
This may interest you.
My ancestry, as far as I can trace, goes to Wolsingham.
There was a George Bell, baptized 25 Dec 1831 in Wolsingham, lived on Angate St. Uppertown and migrated with family to Australia, arriving Sydney on 14 Nov 1879.
He married Margret Little in 1852 in Wolsingham.
George was my G2 grandfather and the above is 100% correct.
I've trace back earlier but am unsure of the data.
I believe George's father was Robert Bell born 1807 m Mary Collingwood.
I think Robert's father was also a Robert b. 1776 and listed on above Robert's baptism as a farmer.
Common names of males were; George, Robert, Christopher, William.
The above fits in with your posting re names and farmers.
Let me know if the above is of interest.
Thanks and regards,
Peter Jones
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Hi Peter,
Great to hear from you. It certainly seems likely that there is a connection. Most of the Bells seem to have been connected with sheep, one way or another. There are Bells at or around Hexham, who were Husbandmen, Skinners, Tanners and Glovers, as well as blacksmiths. Emigrating to Australia and New Zealand must have been very tempting for sheep farmers. Moving from the dark and cold dales of Northumberland and Durham to the sunnier climes must have seemed like a dream to them, especially as migration was assisted by the government.
Do you have a DNA test online? It would be most interesting to see if we have a match. As my Robert Bell was born some 3 or 4 generations before your one in Wolsingham, Any sort of a match would confirm both your research and mine back to Wolsingham in the early 1700s.
I have found your George in the 1841 in North Uppertown, Wolsingham, with his parents Robert and Mary and 4 siblings. The second eldest is named Robert, which would suggest that perhaps George was named after a brother or ancestor. Robert is a Cartwright, which is an allied trade to the Bell blacksmiths of Hexham.
Interesting that there is also a William and Ann Bell, shown as a separate household in the same house. William is also a Cartwright aged 15, so probably a nephew, and Ann is independent and could be William's mother.
I just found Hannah and William in 1851. Hannah is the wife of Joseph Bell of Stanhope, and William is their eldest son. Joseph is a farmer of 74 aces and wheelwright. That would suggest that Robert and Joseph are brothers. Stanhope is only about 5 miles from Wolsingham, so perhaps Robert was also born there.
Thanks for this. It is another thread to follow, and another way of procrastinating from all the important things I should be doing :)
As you say, a lot of this is surmise and circumstantial, but if I can tie any of the DNA matches in to Wolsingham, I would be just a little closer to finding my lost paternal line.
Regards
Phil How
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hi Peter
the robert bell i have as son of robert b 1778 is apparently born in Halton 1809 and married a mary unknown. the only 'proof' i have comes from ancestry on line sites so i can't guarantee anything. one day i hope to get to england and check things out
Mike
I have DNA matches with several people in New Zealand, who are also descended from Robert of Halton castle. He was born 1776 in Wolsingham and married to Mary Charlton. Robert jnr was bap 28 Jun 1809 and married Mary Brittain from Eaglescliffe, Durham. They moved to Kirkleavinton in Yorkshire, then eventually to Eccleston in Lancashire.
I am desperately looking for other descendants with DNA tests online.
Regards
Phil How
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I am researching the Bell family I am related to. I have traced back to Thomas Bell born in 1811 in Wolsingham. He married Mary Hodgson born 1820 in Stanhope Durham. They had several children including Jonathan Bell born about 1857. Jonathan Bell married Mary Ann Elliott born in 1851 in Warboys. They in turn had several children one of which was Jonathan Ralph Bell (my Grandfather) born in 1891 in Edmonton Hertfordshire.
I am trying to put together a clearer picture of their lives in Wolsingham including dates of death and where they are buried. Can anyone out there help me please?
There is a Ralph Charlton, who was born 1789 in Ovingham, Northumberland. He married Mary Anne Clarke of Nazeing in Essex, and they had at least 5 children. In 1841 they are at Sopers Pond Farm in Enfield, then they moved to Bell's Farm at Stapleford Tawney, Essex. Their eldest daughter is registered as born in Edmonton.
Ralph's sister was Mary Charlton, who married Robert Bell b1776 Wolsingham.
Another brother Forster Charlton also had a farm at Stapleford Tawney.
Robert and Mary's son Robert Bell married and moved to Kirk Leavington, Yorkshire, and in 1851 Mary Charlton is staying with them as a cousin. She is described as a governess born in "Frying" Barnet, Essex. She is Ralph's daughter, born near Friern Barnet. I am trying to trace another Robert Bell, from the same family, who was buried at Sarratt, Herts in 1761. He was my 5g grandfather.
Do you have a DNA test online?
Regards
Phil How (Croxley Green, Herts)