Bell family of Welford, Norts

[Walter 63]

With reference to my older threads "Flying Officer Peter Huxley Looker" on the Surrey page and "Henson family of Kettering" on the Norts page - having found several second and third cousins to Peter, none of which have been able or willing to help, I think my last resort of ever finding any information on Peter Looker will be the descendants of his cousin Henry.

Henry Frederick Bell was born on 17.10.1913, the son of John Henry and Edith Bell, née Henson.  Edith was a sister to Peter's mother Elsie.   Birth registered in Market Harborough.   Address indicated on the birth certificate is "Oxendon Road, Welford".

The 1911 Census has John Henry and Edith Bell living on High Street, Welford.

Now I just cannot seem to find a marriage (he may have never married) nor death registration for Henry F (tried both FreeBMD and all possible listings on Ancestry).

Ancestry did come up with following info from the National Probate Calendar :

BELL Henry Frederick of 10 High Street Welford Northamptonshire died 25 January 1965 at Creaton Hospital Norts Probate Peterborough 30 July to Minnie Martin widow.

With this Henry F having lived at 10 High Street Welford I guess there's every chance that this is the Henry I'm after but how come I cannot find a death registration?

As for Minnie Martin, I first thought she was his wife but then noted in the other probate entries that the widows of the deceased are mentioned with their husband's names so I assume Minnie Martin was a friend.

As this Henry F obviously left his all to Mrs Martin can one safely assume he died childless?

Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Walter

[wozzle]

death index
name; frederick.h.bell
y.o.r. 1965
qtr;jan/feb/mar
dist; brixworth,northants
vol;3b
page; 342
age at death;51
est birth year; 1914

[Walter 63]

Wozzle, thanks so much for your fast reply!

I had come across that death entry but the birth certificate states Henry Frederick Bell, as does the probate entry.  The death index you refer to however states Frederick H. Bell so would this be the same person?   Or is it not uncommon for first names to be reversed?

On the map I saw that Creaton is very near to Brixworth so registering a deceased from Creaton Hospital in Brixworth would make sense.

Thanks again,

Walter

[seahall]

Hi.

I looked at the Welford M.I. today and he is not buried there.

As woozle found the Brixworth R.D. for you it could be Creaton.

The burials held at the N.R.O. do not go to that date.

Maybe getting in touch with the Vicar of the Church to
ask if he was buried there would be an idea.

Sandy

[seahall]

I have just looked through 400+ graves for Creaton
Churchyard/Cemetery and I can not see a headstone
I am afraid.

Sandy

[TonyV]

Walter

In your original posting you said that you weren't able to find a marriage and that he/they may not have married. While clearly that is one possible answer the other one is that the records of an actual marriage have been missed on the GRO index. I have a good friend whose marriage is not on the GRO index despite the fact that his marriage was in the 1960s i.e. a fairly recent event. It took place in an Anglican church in London.  I'm 99.9% certain that when he tells me that he got married he is not misleading me because he asked me to help him research his family history so why would he lie?

Government records are sometimes deficient!

Tony

[Rosie29]

 I knew a Fred Bell of Welford when I was a child. As I haven't lived there for almost 50 years I need to rely on my memory for facts. He owned and ran a Car Repair Service on the High Street and was single.  He lived alone in what seemed to me as a child, a fairly large house and used the grounds as workshop.
There were two other Bells in the village - Len Bell, bus conductor and Vic Bell (don't know what he did).
Vic had three daughters, more or less of my age.  I don't think they were direct relatives to Fred but can't confirm it.
If he died at Creaton hospital there is no reason why he would be buried there, unless there was no-one to claim the body. He had a  boy who worked for him for many years and I think he may have inherited, so could have seen to the funeral arrangements. I can't remember his name but it may come to me soon!
Good luck

[Rosie29]

 Walter, I don't know if you read my mail of 8 September about Fred Bell but here is more information. It has occurred to me that Minnie Martin could have been his aunt. There were several Martin's in the village and she could have been the widow of one of them, in fact I have someone in mind.

Rosie.

[Walter 63]

Thank you all for your input.    I hadn't followed the thread for a while as I was waiting for a death certificate which got lost in the mail!

I in meantime obtained a copy of Frederick Henry Bell's death certificate which mentions he was a Motor Garage Proprietor (Rosie, this matches your recollection!) and that he lived on 10 High Street in Welford.    This still is no proof of course that he was the same person as Peter Looker's cousin Henry Frederick.

However, I just found the probate info for Edith Bell, Henry Frederick's mother and found that when she died in 1949 she lived at 10 High street and that she left her belongings to Minnie Martin (wife of Harry Martin) and to Frederick Henry Bell, garage proprietor!

I am now 100 % sure (if one can ever be that sure in these things!) that Frederick Henry and Henry Frederick are one and the same persons.    This also means that I needn't further look into the family line of Peter Looker's aunt Edith as with her only son dying single and before Peter's mother Elsie, Peter's memorabilia would of course never have been passed onto Fred Bell as he was apparently known.

So that's that.   I've only the descendants of one more aunt and uncle of Peter's to trace now and that takes me back to Kettering - already reached the second and third cousins "level" for those so nearly there.   I am slowly giving up hope of ever finding Peter's memorabilia now but I did manage to bring together two long lost cousins because of my research!

Again thanks to all who have responded to this thread!

Walter