William Robinson Bell

[*Sandra*]

Small world.

This only came to my attention through the CWGC appeal in October 2024.

The nephew of William R Bell lived in Egremont and died in 2019 buried in Egremont Cemetery. The family were friends of my parents for almost 70 years.

My Mum was the Godmother to the Great Nephew so I knew where I could find him last year.

I'm sure CWGC would have made him aware of the dedication service. He has the photograph so may even have travelled and visited the gravesite all ready. I will get in touch and ask ?

Regards
Sandra

[*Sandra*]

Great-Nephew is not aware of a dedication service, needs to try and find out the details  ??

[Jos, Whitehaven]

I've just received an email from the CWGC after contacting them a few weeks ago to ask what was happening. I submitted William's case to them, the first time almost 10 years ago (2015) but was lost in during the process (3x!). They were going to inform me when they were putting the headstone in place (but didn't). I only found out by going round that way and saw it had been fitted.

To quote from the reply:
Our apologies that the date of installation was not passed on to you; due to the volume of work our Regional Team undertake, headstone installations can often be last minute and are subject to change due to workload and weather conditions, which can lead to short-notice installations.

To be honest, this isn't the first one in Whitehaven Cemetery where this has happened. William was accepted by the CWGC as an official casualty in January 2023 and in September 2024 agreed that he was buried in Whitehaven Cemetery, and the headstone ordered from France in October 2024, arriving in the UK in May 2025. It's how they operate to manage all the good and hard work they do and it tends to all work out fine in the long run. 

Obviously, the headstone needs to be in place before any dedication service/prayers go ahead and it seems they have a separate department who deal with anything along those lines. While I notified them about a relative I know (and have kept them informed) the gentleman you know must be slightly closer in kinship (and for various reasons only some information is released). I couldn't understand why the extra writing had been added to the headstone.

This is the reply on that question:
In this instance the Local Authority stipulated that this (headstone inscription) must include the name of Lance Corporal Bell’s relative in the same grave and was agreed upon by the next-of-kin.

I can appreciate any department of the CWGC won't be giving out family details of living relatives at least without permission, and rightly so. I'll send them another email to ask if they will pass on information about the council graveside memorial. We do know of one of William's relatives (Bell family) who has been kept informed through this long process, but maybe these relatives are not in close contact with each other? The gentleman you mention in this thread seems to have a slightly closer kinship or at least regarded that was by the CWGC and since October 2024 is designated as a next of kin'.

Thanks for assisting with this.

Photographs of the headstone engraving attached, if you're interested. 

[Jos, Whitehaven]

A brother of William Robinson BELL, John Thomas BELL, then of Parton, registered William's death, as can be seen from the copy of the death certificate, a key document in submitting William's case to the CWGC in 2015 and for the second time in 2019.
This same John Thomas BELL was listed as next of kin for another soldier enlisting to the Army in WW1 (1915). I've attached a screenshot of these.
There is a BELL family tree son Ancestry where the 'owner' lists another WW1 soldier who died, a James BELL, as another brother of William Robinson BELL. Although this James BELL was also from Whitehaven he has different parents and not a sibling. William Robinson BELL did have a brother called James, but would seem to be different to the soldier who died in 1916.
Maybe the living relatives would like to see these images and update the online family tree?
Regards

[*Sandra*]

They already had the photograph of the headstone a few months ago.  Great-Nephew would be classed as the next of kin because he is the nearest relative of William.  CWGC prefer to have near relatives.

The family tree is a partial work in progress.

More important they know the date, time and details of this gravesite service.
Sometimes not so easy to travel from one end of the country to the other at the drop of a hat.

Great to see William Robinson Bell is not a forgotten soldier.

Regards
Sandra

[Jos, Whitehaven]

They already had the photograph of the headstone a few months ago.  Great-Nephew would be classed as the next of kin because he is the nearest relative of William.  CWGC prefer to have near relatives.

The family tree is a partial work in progress.

More important they know the date, time and details of this gravesite service.
Sometimes not so easy to travel from one end of the country to the other at the drop of a hat.

Great to see William Robinson Bell is not a forgotten soldier.

Regards
Sandra

If you are still in touch with relatives of Lance Corporal William R. Bell, and they are interested in their extended family tree, could you pass these 1918 newspaper clippings about two of his brothers please?   These are newspaper clippings from 'The Whitehaven News' (Sep. 1918) about the wedding if the younger brother, Andrew Bell. His best man was another brother James (Jim), still alive at that time. The family notice confirms Andrew Bell's family link, in that it mentions his grandfather as the Cemetery Keeper at Whitehaven.                                                                                                                               After the CWGC has accepted and filed away the documents they require to prove a deceased person is an official war casualty, if family members subsequently come forward, they don't seem to pass other family information they've been given, no doubt for good reason. They were only of incidental interest in trying to get William recognised as an official war casualty but likely to be of more interest to the extended Bell family, but if it isn't that's fair enough. Thanks.